The Sun.
London, England, 1866-02-12 00:00:00

Newport Market Refuge.

The annual meeting of the subscribers to and the
friends of this practically useful charity was held on
Saturday afternoon at Willis's Rooms, the Earl of
Carnarvon in the chair ; and there were present the
Bishop of Oxford, Mr. W. H. Gladstone, M.P.,
Mrs. W. E. Gladstone, Commodore Ryder, Sir H.
Hoare, Mr. Rankin, &c.

The Rev. Mr. CHALmEßshaving opened the meet-
ing with payer,

Mr. SHAW (the secretary) read the report of the
committee, of which the following is the substance :
This refuge has been in full operation during
the whole of 1865, with the exception of the period
between June 6 and Oct. 3 ; 18,707 nights lodgings
have been given, and 46,059 rations distributed.
During the summer months the large upper ward
was occupied as a ragged school by the poor chil-
dren of the market. The committee have kept steadily
before them one special object of this refuge, viz.,
that of providing work or situations for those in-
mates whose characters will bear investigation. 4851
men and women have thus been provided for; and
40 girls who sought shelter in the refuge have been
placed in penitentiaries. About 70 gallons of soup
have been supplied weekly from the refuge since the
commencement of winter, at Id. a quart to many of
the destitute families in the crowded districts ad-
joining the refuge ; the work has been greatly aided
by the kindness of the committee of the Union Club
in giving a liberal supply of broken victuals. In ac-
cordance with a resolution passed at the last annual
meeting an effort has been made to found an indus-
trial school for destitute boys in connection with the
refuge ; and a sum of £5OO from the fund collected
by the public appeal of Dec., 1864, has been allotted
in aid of this object. The committee, however, re-
gret to state that, owing to the geat difficulty and
expense in securing suitable premises, they havebeen
unable as yet to open the school. The committee ac-
knowledge the continued sympathy shown by the
press and the public generally in the condition of
the houseless poor. One happy result of this interest
attaching to the work of nightly refuges, and of the
publicity afforded to the wretched state of those who
apply to them for relief, has been the passing of the
Houseless Poor Act. Thanks are specially due to
Capt. Walter, of the Commissionaire Corps, for help
in finding employment for several cases of this de-
scription ; also to Mrs. IW. E. Gladstone for adding
to the refuge funds a sum of £5OO, being a moiety of the
munificent gift placed at her disposal by the libe-
rality of the Messrs. Sassoon, in memory of their
father. This sum has been invested in Consols. The
committee wish to remove a very common miscon-
ception. It is generally supposed that many pro-
fessional beggars frequent the refuge, but this is not
the case ; the tickets supplied to them by subscribers
are not presented here. As a class the beggars fare
better, and spurn our meagre accommodation, and
the pittances of bread and coffee so gratefully re-
ceived by a more deserving class ; we therefore re-
spectfully claim a share of that support so profusely
bestowed upon professional mendicancy."
The CHAIRMAN, in a brief address, called atten-
tion to the objects of the society, pointing out the
classes of destitute poor to whom it opened its doors
as those whom misfortune, illness, or the vicissitudes
of trade or calling rendered destitute. Quoting from
the appendix of the report, he mentioned several
extreme cases of persons who had once moved in re-
spectable society, and had been driven to apply for
relief at the refuge—one being that of a draughts-
man, formerly employed in a government office ;
another, a surveyor ; and a third, a colonial magic-