Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1879-08-08
LLnnnh for q Penny.

There is an institution at Washing
ton that is worth initiating in other cit
| les, for I take it that in these hard
1 times there are very many poor people
in every city, who cannot get work and
are without food. I refer to what is
known as the "penny lunch" Washing.
| ton is q city which naturally has more
than its share of poor people, + they
90 from all parts of the country IN vain
search of government positions, and it
is, in addition, the center of the indi-
gent negro population of many adjacent
states. About year ago, at time when
there was unusual suffering here among
rOorer classes, and all manner of sug-
gestions 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 by
everybody as the "penny lunch" She
was at that time, or had been, a clerk in
the interior department, and was regu-
lar contributor to one of the Sunday pa
pers. She conceived the idea of sup
plying the hungry people with a lunch
for penny, and from very small be-
ginning she has made the lunch a sue
cess and increased its advantages until
now it is a permanent institution, and
one of the most sensible and practical
charities in the country. Mrs. Roberts
was aided in the undertaking by some
friends, who appreciated her energy, and
knew the kindness other heart. She
began by soliciting, personally, small
contributions from the business men, q
bag of -four here, a bushel of beans
there, barrel of meal of one person,
load of coal of another, a hundred loaYes
of bread of another, eorned beef of an
other, fresh meat of another, pork of an
other, load of wood of another, and so
on through the city. She refused moth
ins out patiently Kept at work. In due
time she had money enough to rent for
a month two small rooms on a back
street. She borrowed stove, begged
few plates, bowls, cups and saucsrs,
spoons, knives and forks, and other nee
essary implements. She had printed
number of small tickets, reading: Zone
Cent. Good for One Lunch. No. 1215 E
street." Those tickets she populaTized
by selling them in packages of fifty and
one hundred to ladies and 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 penny, and
before she knew it she could not supply
the wants of. those who called. Many
laborfng men with large families and no
work came regularly and sent their
wives and children with their pennies
to get Square meal" 1t became a
popular thing. w. w. Corcoran and
many other rich and aristocratic people
visited Mrs. Roberts and ate her soup.
It was pronounced excellent, and many
money contributions was the result. OF
course the expenses of such an establish
ment as Mrs Roberts could not be paid
by only penny for lunch, but the
contributions of the people we're so very
small and spread over so wide surface,
that the expense was not felt by any
body. One man promised to give fifty
loaves of bread a~eek, during the win
ter, another promised to give two dozen
soup-bones per week, another promised
one dollar a week, and large number
Of subscribers were obtained at fifty
cents and twenty-five cents a week. The
number of people fed by Mrs. Roberts
in one winter, says a correspondent,
cannot pretend to give, but the total is
enormous. She now feeds about four
hundred people two times day. Her
quarters are necessarily cramped, and
only about twenty can be Accommodated
at once. From a lunch in the middle of
the day she has enlarged her plan, and
now furnishes breakfast and dinner,
For breakfast her bill of fare is mush
and ,molasses, coffee and c9rn-bread.
For dinner, coTn-bread and coffee. 0cca-
sionally, if contributions are unusually
liberal, she will give boiled beans and a
little pork, orisome potatoes. The most
gid economy is praeticed, and every
scrap Of food is made available. She
pays her cook eight dollars month, and
with the assistance of two or three col
oFed boys, who work for their board, she
gets on pretty well. OF course the board
ers are not so particular as some might
be under other circumstances. Each
day, at o'clock In the morning and
in the afternoon, the crowd gathers in
front of the building. Details of police
men keep the hungry ones in order, and
a line stretches far along the street.
men, women and children. / saw the
crowd one day. There were as good
faces in it as you would see anywhere.
Ehere were both men and women very
decently attired, and who were evident
ly ladies and gentlemen. Hunger is q
great leYeler. 81 aa Z..- -e