The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1874-02-09

MS last gold ring, and his wife's only silk dress at
the pawnbroker's ana expects to be turned out OF
his room before the middle OF the month.
Perhaps a sadder case than oil, a man not yet
middle aged, q genial. wholesouled gentleman,
well known formerly IN arlstob -atIc circles,
and who kept his pleasure yacht and horses, hav-
ing lost his property In speculation lost the of
his limbs, and then, by strange coincidence lost
all his friends, and after vainly trying support
his wife and four children by writing for the maya
zines Is now literally freezing and starving, while
his wife has gone mad with ner trouble.
SO lar we have In this article referred only to the
male victims of 'accdentaln poverty for the obvi-
Gus reason that they are the ones which, IRON the
nature II the case, most prominently force them
selves upon the attention OF the observer but the
female victims are quite as numerous and their
cases even more strongly provocative OF
sympathy. During their recent walks, the
representatives OF the HERALD have met.
alike by day and by night, decent
men in the last stages OF distress. too poor to
have home or tOod yet too proud, too feminine as
yet to beg or to seek the shelter OF the station
houses; too unfamiliar with the Dlodus Operdndt
OF misery to know where to go IN their distress;
women who have been in some cases delicately
reared, and until lately supposed to be beyond the
reach Of poverty.
OUT IN THE SNOW IN SLIPPERS AND NO SHAWL.
woman, young and rather pretty, giving the
name OF Josephine Dean, was met ON Saturday
night last at the corner of Fourth avenue and
Twenty second street, clad only in aght, almost
summer dress, without any shawl or outer cover.
ing, and trudging YEARLY along, with an evident
lack OF purpose and shod only In thin pair of
slippers On her head was an old straw bonnet,
and her face was pinched and pale. She accos ted
no one, but we merely took the liberty OF &C.
costing her and learned her pitifu story.
She was an English girl well educated,
and had taught music and French. During the
panic she had lost all her pupils. She had then
played the piano for a week in music hall in the
Bowery and then had lost all regular employment.
She had tried to earn board and wages as a cham
bermaid but was discharged as being unit tphys-
lcaly} for her duties. Then she had kept OF
starvation for while at the point of the
needle, and finally had succumbed. She
was now literally homeless, clothes
less, foodless, ireless, hopeless wanderer.
TRIO OF MISERY.
other cases Of a similar character can be only
too readily cited. There are three sisters Phia-
delphians. now residing in the top floor of house
in West Twenty.siXth street. They are educated
and refined ladies, but penness at present. One
had obtained some engraving to do, but was TOO
much OF an Invalid to do it; the other had taken
in some sewing and embroidery; while a
third obtained little copying. But work
day and night, as they did, they could not
earn enough to live on, and had 1t not been for
the assistance Afforded them by "the Sisters Of the
Stranger" they would literally have starved or
frozen to death. There was no stove in their
ROOM and no bed-only some straw In o corner.
They never took their clothes or from Sunday to
Sunday, and when found out at last by the charita
BILE one of the poor women had laid them down
to die.
BEGGING IN VELVET CLOAK.
Several instances are known In which respec Ia
BILE ladies have stayed in bed for days and nights
together because they had neither food nor fire,
and one woman, Mrs. Free, widow, who had
pawned everything else in the world but vel vet
cloak, in which she hid her misery and rays. alb
solutely stopped lady going to church and begged
from her fifty cents with which TO purchase the
first food she had eaten for forty-elght hours
THE HONEST POOR WHO HAVE NOT FOOD NOR FIRE
A Mrs. Caldwell, in East Eleventh street, an Old
widow, with two half grown children, all three out
OF work, is lying, with her two children, all sick,
ON some straw In a room without any furniture or
IRE.
A Mrs. Mack, neighbssr of hers, with two chill
dren, has lived upon 81 so for ten days, having
been able TO earn no more and being too sick 10
60 out and beg. Last Saturday she and her family
"lived" upon a crust Of bread and q cup OF tea.
Mrs. Mcnamara, a washerwoman, OF No. 42O East
Eleventh street. having lost all her customers by
the panic most Of her former patrons now doing
their washing at hOme) is for the first time in
her honest hard working life penness, as are also
Mrs. Kelly. next door TO her, and Mrs CoYle,
q very deserving creature, with two little
children, who are starving. Mrs. Elizabeth
Barnes, a taioress, has lost all her work and all
hope OF money, and is without food or fire, but
with tn children, in the front basement Of No.
426 East Eleventh street, while Mrs. Magraw, her
neighDor, is similarly situated, only she has four
children; and capacious as the HERALD is it could
be filled, every column of It, with cases OF acct
dental, undeserved poverty OF a similar nature
and horror. "The poor we have always with u.s."
but seldom such poverty as now.