The New York herald., 1876-12-12


Two days guess lived smoke of the pipe.
stonccutter III have iiyed tor three weeks on
httc money borrowed from my sister, who is living
ou. could not borrow again from her little earnings,
and thought might ms well 10 the Island hrst rs
last IL Will come TO thousands OF workingmcn before
the winter is oyer.n
Another stonecutter .--"IIave lived a whole week
a cnp oi coffee and bread once every two days.
! did not 20 TO where got II until was almost fam
ished slept in the station house every night
4 mason said:-"Aiter four months OF idencss
thought might rs well 80 drst as last The men
A blacksmith sald:-"I gave all I had to relative,
who has ia &c iamily and made up my mind TO go to
SAID waiter:-.i have been out Of work nine weeks
and have been living on ihc charity OF trends Tor
three weeks Thought 1t better 10 60 as there
chance Of employment
JUDGE purrY's views
Judge Duffy called al the Tombs and asked
by 'hc reporter Tor ms views on The condition OF Toe
workngmen. The Judge has, OF course an abundant
opportunity OF obsrrvibg the class OF men who apply
10 him voluntarily to be TO the Island Further
more he takes great interest in the workrngmans
unfortunate condiuon al this time, and is xious
have au opportunity OF giving his services IN any way
that would tend to bring them reei IN the present
emergency On the reporter stating the object OF his
VISIT the Judge sand -
The dcs,nuion among the working classes OF this
city Is really alarming For some weeks past have
had daily abunaant proof OF IT, Its piiiiul thing TO
SEQ the condition TO which our workingmen
reduced, and, worse than all, the prospect
before them Tor The winter promises to place
them body, in far worse circumstances Than
they are even in at the present ne have sent hun
dicds Of them to the Island Tor shelter These men
any earthly chance Tor them to live b. honest labor
As yon know Tor the past three years they have been
gradually becoming poorer and poorer. At Tins time
We them. after some four five months OF stag
naut trade reduced to almost absolute poverty How
many thousands Of thcm there this city hungry
who do not get morsei OF food the whole day long
God only knows AS have said, they are daily COM
ing before the police magistrates, asking, voluntarily
TO be sent to he Island. some dnys nave had hliy
OF them before me- not few Of them coming IN sheer
desperation to tell me how completely ororn they
are and then gong away, not wiling still
course, when hunger and cold sling too BITTERLY they
have TO sink their manly pride and accept tho only
licl lett TO them. have questioned these men TO
their condition In nearly every instance they had
bccn out OF work Tor several months. Noscven
casona JOB had they got
GLOOMY OUTLOOK
Thc little savings they had been able 10 lay by and
the assistance friends or relatives had becn able gyc
them all exhausted. But worse than all, after
every cort had been made to get work. and aer every
chance for the coming months had been carefully can
vassod tho terrible conclusion had reached that
there was To be an idle winter
'.They have told me that for the great bulk OF tho
workngmcn there IS not tue remoest chance Tor work
this winter have questioned them as &c what they
knew Of tho condition oil the workingmcn with whom
they aro acquan ed and their reply Is invariably that
among he working classes as whole their condition
is next to dcstItution Men of family have sold a
much OF the household furniture as was salablc and
the tools OF tho mechanics pawncd Tor The litto
sums that can be raised on them. All tho who
have come to this Court for relief thus ia, have been
young, strong and healthy willing aud able to work.
You could sec in their faces that they had
been suffering from want have noticed that
cants, and II wc nrc 10 have increase
IN this way what may we expect when the bitter win
doubt that each DAY will add during tho winter
months hundreds 10 the list Of tho utterly desiitute
Since thore will be no work Tor the follows that
there must be an absolute want IN thor iamilies"
TERRIBLE PICTURE
''IIave you had mothers before you asking for tho
committal OF their children to the institutionsgn
"Yes, a number Of them But | have had to deal
with worse than even that So great have been tho
hardships endured by the poor people that families
husbands daughters from their parents This
misfortune been extensive than you
marriod women brought before mo charged
by the police with soliciting men in tho
streets. have had parents hero in court seeking
10 reclaim their daughters who had made tho first
plunge into shame. Wncn inquired into these
found that poverty was the cause. Thero was no
work and bread and then came recriminations and
family troubles and little by little tho desperation
that drove tho women into the streets! This fearful
condition Of these poor people surely calls Tor help
II seems to me That relief cannot como too to the
workingmcn and their families
sBut how Is this relief to be got is II to come from
the city or from private sources?"
~ think that tho Legislature should make provision
for case like this or that tho city should supply
work. But tho Legislature cannot meet Tho
emergency, and do not any probability that tho
city government will take action Perhaps an excep-
tional distress like tho present would be met by
| the charity or the wealthy II would take a large
fund 10 meet tho want that even low claims
! have no doubt there are many gentlemen in this
community who would give generously to savo the
workingmen and their families from The starvation
that is awaiting thcm We shall have n terrible win.
! ter in THIS city unless some movement speedily
inauguratcd by which the thousands OF unemploy od
shall receive such assistance as may be absolutely
needed 10 sustain life -
| THE CASE or HENRY woopAsox's FAMILY
| The terrible destitution Of tho family Of Henry
Woodason, of No. 81 Frankfort street. has been
dcrcd more intense by tho sudden prostration, from
want of Iood OF the husband and father. charitable
lady, whose attention was called 10 the by par
agraph in sunday HERALD yesterday paid visit to
the unfortunate family, despite tho nclemency Of the
weather. ana afforded them relief Her description OF
the mscrnblo condition in which the poor man was
found hoartrcnding II Is hoped that others VIII
do somcthing TO alleviate the terrible condition OF
CALL roR nELr IN nRooKLYS
meeting OF delegates from tho various charitable
institutions OF Brooklyn was held at the Polytechnic
Institute last evening" Thomas s. Narrls the chair
with the view OF uniting all tho societies on general
mainly occupied In receiving tho names oil persons
who volunteered TO assist In vsitations and dstribu
ton Of rcieI
A CHARITABLE ASSOCIATIONS VIEWS.
Tho regular monthly meeting Of tho New York Asso-
citation for Improving the Condition OF tho Poor was
held yesterday afternoon in tho Bible House. Howard
Potter the CHAIR Alter the transaction OF tho usual
routine business the Treasurer reported balance in
the treasury OF So 400 Mr. John Browne, the Sccre
tary and agent Of the society reported that the
tho society for the winter had fairly commenced,
but tina. to yesterday they had only received
233 applications for relief, and that more than ono
half OF these applicants regular professional bog
gars who made 1t point to exc out prccarous sub
siscnce by going from charitable institution to
another and seeking AID careful Investigation OF
tho entire question Of what was called destitute
working men, had been made and the agents OF the
society faied to lind that there any such Wide
spread distress as was commonly reported, but that,
the contrary the prospects Tor the winter werc on
the wboc vc.y cheering.
Tho great problem to solve WAS how to dispose OF
tho vast army OF vagrants and "rounders.n Tho re-
spectablc poor could be taken O! " tho charaby
disposed portion OF the community would only sustain
the directors OF the various benevolent boards