, 1875-03-21
THE POOR-HOUSE.
,oent Of The Row at the Institution.
Two Of the Paupers Lodged IN the
County Jail.
An Old Man Robbed Of His
Wife's Gifts.
suggestions Of Correspondents

A3HEEVoA4OAAS W. o~A ~@k
A1.irs 1t the Poor-House are greatly demorai-
;v.d Ths humane gentlemen who act a. ward
40. ..bosses," and sub-os:cials in general. have
heen rudely thwarted IN their noble Efforts at
s.ciuoating the inmates by systematic And
ta.ntifuI course Of starvation and neglect
The inmateA, With ~ eccentric wllfulness,
r.,nse TO be starved. No parallel instance
., obstinacv and ingratitude has oc-
,,rred smong tho enlightended and Christian
,.t;ons Of the nineteenth century. IhlnK OF
~ Here arc sre about 1,200 people, living on OF
,he bounty Of the Cook County tax-payeTs.-
dwelling in nice, big. old wooden tenemen's'
br,It By tho county, eating bread (wlth some
tiuos ~ allowance OF soup) fakeo AZ 1uo
eounty's expense and yet, contrary 10 .ne "
rrct wishes and intimations o1 tne
officials. they actually refuse 10 o.o
otr. eren after they have long been rec'p'en1S
pf public charity. But who coulo e1pees pau
ccr to take liberal and reasonaole We" -
things? 4 pauper is By his very natu,o .uso0
naturae.-a being out Of the eeae'~1 o'ool'
.-o..,,,. n ha .bhored and dospised, and gos
nd Of Us soou ~ possible. a..
~, eone such supposltion as the ABOVE, tne
poor.Honsa authorities have been heretofore
a-ocaeanr. In their treatment OF the pau
,,r5er their control they have not
es,- ,1,,ned the passive policy, in leaving the
.:.s -ithout food, the naked without clothing,
Int ther have also actively assisted men, women,
md children into tho grave by persistent abuse,
Exposure, and cruelty
TIE ATTENTION OF TIE PUB1Io
Was first drawn to the vast "rongs
,,nicted upon the inmates OF the
poor-Horss by An article in last
SUNDAYS TRIBUNE In that article the
e7,ter detailed faithfully his experiences during
th,ee davs' residence At the Poor-House in the
.haracter Of an inmate. By thus visiting the m
,+,tution in disguise, he WAS enabled to observe
hs daily inner workings free from all glamour OF
nr.pa.ation. The publication Of this article nat
n,ally caused profound sensation amoung the
pocr.nouee oficials, coming. AZ it did, 30
nnexpected1y, and overwhelming them with eri-
asnre of their misdeeda But this Was not ALL
The issue OF tho paper containing the article fell
,nto the hands OF the paupers themselves, and
r7e.ted even greater senEation- The poor,
6oxn-t1odden creatures began to comprehend
the depth OF their misery as they
bid not before: They boy. fele, H. the@ s'eo,
10 make an ef1or1 to litt themselves out of their
slouch Of dcepond. Instinctigely they knew
hat the press and the aympathy OF the people
vould be with their cause.
TIE MOMENT CANE At LAST.
On St. patrick's Day, when the long tiles OF
uniformed Irishmen were marching meTIlly
thrnrrh Tho streets Of Chicago, to the
music OF hundred bands; strange age
sceno uas beng enacted III as tne Ma
County Poor-House. A man WAS oraok. ne
mas carpenter by trade, and was employed up,
70 one OF the new buildings; but ho affiliated
With the paupers. He, having money ana oeinE
irast. fcli 70 drinking from black bottle which
ho su1rcptitlously suuseled into the Poor
House. Being tho only drunken .:En man a.nons
1TD people, lis condition was readily noticed
Hanneninc upon the grounds in the afternoon
he wns ordered within doors py funct1onaI1
rs1,ad ..Jobpny" Welch. With drunken bravadc
hi. man refused to comply. Welch ti1reatenee
him With the calaboose. he laughed Welcs
tnen attempted to seize and drng him to the stu:
Inn donr. He resisted, and the crowd aroune
evidently sided with him. Low mutterloss were
heard rs Of pent-up storm. But "eicn wa
not to be frightened BY any o. 1ness
tokens. He knew the paupers too well 10 sup
noee for LII instant that they would be able te
sfFer auy resistance.
Yet contrary to all expectation
TEE PAuPERs RESISTED.
They fell upon Welch Tltn nsse Ano cioos, ~.
vouid have made an end Of him in half-a-mlnut'
hid il uot been for the fortunate arrival Q!
..r!;lu. the burly Milesian 'bus-driser- ''alks
1bout him right and left and succeeded in cap
turing three of the r1ngieaqets. 1neee W. ~,
rsnsined that evening. On the following morn
in1 they we're atraigned before Justice Llnscote
snd charged with assault and battery.
n, ~. mart of the % proeecntion tho wituesse
ve1n nnmerous. including Warden Kimberly
LOAN Welch. and Mike O'Neill. and their testl
1nony all pointed to the fact that the ro'
hsd been instigated and carried on .
tie three demons who sat still u i
shscklea mon the prisoners bench. Each
asserted that one Of the men had struck 1ohnn
Nelch and knocked him down.
The prisoners had no witnesses, as indeed, D
opportunity had been Given them to OBTAIN any ~
They pleaded s' not guilty" and we're tined -
each By the Justice. In the case o. one Q. .nsn
named Coyle the fine WAS suspended, on acconn
Of PREVIOUS good behavior. The other $"
p1isoners, after being sentenced, we're hur11e
into Chicago, where they speedily found lodging
: IN the County Jail
During the afternoon TRIBUNE reporter paid
7isit TO the two men in the County jail. he fonn
them safely slowed away in cell No. " and look
Ing very miserable. The older Of the two men
Dennis Mccarthy BY name, had but Attie 70 !, e.
forhi,cseK. except that the testimony winch ha
caused their imprisonment had been nntru
from beginning to end. The man T: Z: y BfaeE
however, had more to sag, and Was 'as1sn N ~
promises 70 make to any one who "ou4o secu1 .,[
his release from JAIL SUCH 1u4i eApo1,1 Va ~
horrors Of the poor-House rs would mak
a ,r stand on end Not spesa ffsn non3
the reporter was obliged TO Leave the matter
One statement made by 0'B1ien, which Is worth
of notice Us being confrmative OF the genefs
reckless treatment Of the sick described By IL
TR1.rsE reporter VINO sojourued at the roo!
House, was to the effect that, On one OF the cols
est days Of last winter, little girl IN the Ia
t.sges Of consumption was carted in "hee
barrow from enc Of the Pest-house
70 tic other, distance Of 500 yardl
md caught such severe cold that death 81
usd in a few hours. Both Of the prisoners 81
a1tremely anxious to get ont Of jail and go !
work but it IL very doubtful that they viii
Able to ret the necessary bond to secure an a
peal In the meantime they arc ready to g.
fifty witnesses to prove that they did not assam
anybody in the Poor House, and thatthe little O.
nbezanoe of spirits that they showed on tho o. o.
eakion MAS merely the result Of dE.nklng na u
much whisky. ''And il yon wnht to & kno
where ne got the whisky" said oBr1en;; .e
iuat get me out of here and I'll tell you-
ANOTHER CASE
In last SUNDAYS article on tho sPoor-Hons
mention was made Of an old man "ho was s11Ie