The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1878-12-07
LUNCH FOR A PENNY,
Feeding Four Hundred People Twice Il Day
for Two Cents Apiece.
Washington Correspondence PhIladelphia Times.

Feeding Four Hundred People Twice Da,
l for Two Cents Apiece.
Washington Correspondence Philadelphia Times
There is an institution in Washington tina
is worth initiating in other cities, for | take il
that IN these hard times there are very many
poor people in every city who cannot get work
and are without food. | refer to what is known
as the penny lunch" Washington is II city
which naturally has more than its share Of
poor people, for they come here from all parts
of the country IN Il vain search for government
positions, and 1t is, IN addition, the centre OF
the INDECENT negro population Of many ada
cent states. About year ago, at Il time when
there was unusual suffering here among the
poorer classes, and all manner of Suggestions
were being made as to what should be done
to relieve the prevailing poverty and want, a
| lady named Mrs Roberts started what Is now
known here by everybody rs the penny lunch. y
She was at that time, or had been, Il clerk in
the interior department, and was a regular
Icontrbutorto one of the Sunday papers. She
conceived the idea of supplying hungry peo-
| pie with IA lunch for Il penny, and from very
small beginning she has made the lunch sue
cess and increased its advantages until now 1t
is permanent institution, and one Of the most
sensible and practical charities in the country,
Mrs Roberts was aided in the undertaking by
Solllt lllCHtiS wiz hIl tH'iy uiiu
knew the kindness of her heart. She began by
soliciting, personally, small contributions from
the business men, bag of flour here, a bushel
of beans there, barrel of meal of one person,
a load of coal of another, Il hundred loaves of
bread of another, Corncd beef of another fresh
meat Of another, pork of anothel, Il load OF
wood of another, and SO on through the city.
She refused nothing, but patiently kept at work.
In due time she had money enough to rent for
a month two small rooms in back street. She
borrowed stove, begged Il few plates, bowls,
cups and saucers, spoons, knives, and forks
and other necessary implements She had
printed a number of small tickets reading
"One Cent. Good for One Lunch. No. 1915
+ street" Those tickets she popularized by sell
ing them in packages of fifty and one hundred
to ladies ana gentlemen, who in turn gave
them to beggars and destitute persons in the
streets.
Mrs. Roberts started very modestly, giving
her entire time to the enterprise, and working
with surprising zeal and patience. At first she
gave a plate of soup and piece of bread for II
penny, and before she knew it she could not
supply the wants Of those who called. Many
laboring men with large families and no work
came regularly and sent their wives and chill
drcn with their pennies 10 get Il square meal
1t became the popular thing. W. W. Corcoran
and many of the other rich and arstocratic
people visited Mrs Roberts and ate her soup.
1t was pronounced excellent, and there were
many money contributions as result. Or
course the expenses of such an establishment
as Mrs. Roberts could not be paid by charg-
ing only penny for IA lunch, but the contr-
buttons of the people were so small and spread
over so wide II surface that the expense was
not felt by anybody. One man promised to
tft,r InnynS nf broad a week Inrintr the
winter another promised to give two dozen
soup-bones per week, another promised one
dollar Il week, and large number of subscrib-
crs we've obtained AT fifty cents and.twenty-tlYc
cents Il week. The number of people ted by
Mrs Roberts last winter | cannot pretend To
give, but the total is enormous. She now
feeds about four hundred people twice day.
Her quarters are necessarily crampcd and only
about twenty can lee accommodated at once.
From lunch in the middle of the day she has
enlarged her plan, and now furnishes break
fast and dinner. For breakfast her bill of fare
| is mush and molasscs, COhc" and cOrn-bread.
For dinner, corn bread and coffee Occasion
ally, if contributions are unusually liberal, she
will give boiled beans and a little pork Or
some potatoes. The most rigid economy is
! practiced, and every scrap of food Is made
available She pays her cook eight dollars II
month and with the assistance OF two or three
colored boys, who work for their board, she
gets on pretty well. OF course the boarders
are not rs particular as some might bc under
other circumstances. Each day, at $ o'clock
in the morning and 3 in the afternoon, tie
crowd gathers in front of the building. he
tails of policemen keep the hungry ones in T.
der, and line stretches far along the street
men, women aud children. | saw the crowd
to-day There were rs good faces in 1t rs YOU
would see ON Chestnut street or anywhere elSe.
There were both men and women who were III
Gently attircd, and who were evidently gente-
men and ladies. Hunger is a great leycller.