The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1879-03-08
THE POOR AND NEEDY,
Who Are the Objects OF
Our Charity,
And Few Facts and Figures In Rela-
tion to the Mode Of Relieving
Their Wants.

Their Wants,
There is class of people in our city who
live and die without receiving hardly the
slightest notice, either good, bad or indif-
feren. They awaken little sympathy in
the hearts Of any one; their existence is o
matter of interest only to themselves, and
when they die they are forgotten, for no
one knew them while they were alive.
Urged by some imperative necessity in the
first Instance, they resorted hither in search
Of employment and a means OF subsistence,
but soon became lost in the crowd and tur-
moil Of the city, and gradually settled down
into mere passive creatures of habit and
endurance. Their relatives they have lost
| sight of, their friends have either died or
emigrated and their companions could do
little for them if they would and would not
il they could. Thoughts and reeollections
of hoine, Of scenes once dear and familiar,
of hopes and expectations which came far
from being realized are no longer enter
| tained in their minds, but their only anx-
iety now is how to subsist from day to day.
A great portion of them are able bodied
mon but s;,ce charity does NOT concern
;4sa,f aho,,, r. ,.he ana sr.n, ,ll ,n.sar.
anees capable of helping themselves, they
are not classed among the city's poor and
do not receive assistance from her Conse-
qnently they go about during the day seek
ing what they may devonr; but at night,
during cold weather, they flock to the Sta
.;o,. Lo,,,os ,.horo ,,,a, nn. b,pdroa ,nd
as.. 1oI ".s-a 80 -. :. :
my ii.sA Des" gwen observation-disclosures ~ -
TIME. Dnring the warmer seasons they
sleep in some out of the way place.
raR our.noop pooR
An,on, +hoso ,v,,o, ORC torn,od tbs ont
-, I;a.;"s.;ss 80 a. ;,,.,.,to,
eoor pooi' III aistiiiceioh iio'n 'Do III 'in'n''es
OF the lnlrmary, we ma very aiherent
class of people. Here are persons Of all
aocs and of both sexes. The old and young
,,.odo,,,;,,.to hr+ tI,o,o !. a f,r,,;d.hle ar
P'ouOin,''o, ""' ~ ,.s' Wie ~
ray on 'hose III iiiio''ie liie. MANY Vi she'ii
are widows to whom dying husband be-
queathed naught but helpless brood of
children. Others are people crippled and
infrm, who have brought large families of
children into the werld and have not only
left them upon the charities OF the city
but are themselves in need of help.
70 provide for the maintenance Of such
people the city has an
ORGANIZED System or CHARITY.
Th;s sv.tem and tho mopner in which Il,
80 narr;od fnrwarJ ave- matters nf ,n,,nI, in.
,orost Tro,, nanv nf tba iarrost c;t;os nf
the t1,itad States Fast and West North
and Satth comc reouests to tbe Inj;rp,arv
Ot,ice on plum street for Information in
the shane of reports, statistics and itemized
.cco,lnts which shall tbrnw l;obt ,,non fhe
srSton, vSHI Lore en- spnnassfmi,v sn,niovaJ The
question of how to nrov;da for the moor
without onenine a channel for rascalitY or
agerayatinp the very evils which are sought
to he rrmedied has always been a yexinp
one and has been discussed by benevolent.
minded neoplc ever since tbc rise of Chris
| tianitv. If the oucstion has NOT vet been
settled an annroxination towards it has
been made by the officials who organized
tbe system in this city A comparison
with other cities of this and other coun-
tries will show that the number of paupers
in Cincinnati and the cost of maintaining
them is exceedingly small. Here the aver.
age cost of maintaining pauper is about
| rs cents per day: in Cleveland il is II cents
and in many of the other cities it is 81 ill
larger. A tax Of 90 cents per head upon
our entire population would support our
city's poor, both indoor and outdoor.
The system is a simple one, and when
once it is in working order and competent
parties have the management of affairs,
money will be saved and the number of the
needy lessened. An outline Of ii is as fol-
lows: The CITY is divided into twelve dis.
tricts in each of which sanitary officer has
an office, where he receives applications for
assistance. When one of these applications
comes in, the officer proceeds to investi-
gate the case. and, if he is satisfied that
! The applicant is worthy OF aid, he fills out q
blank giving the name, age, nat onalitv,
condition, etc, of the parties and also the
number in the family the place of resi-
dence and the amount OF articles of which
they stand most in need. This order the
person applying then takes to the City In
firmary, where large amount of provisions
and coal, which are bought by the W hole
sale, are kept on hand. An order for cloth
ing is never given, and no order for gro
ceries oftener than once in two weeks, or fol
coal oftener than once month. No orders
are given except during the months ol
December, January and February, unless
cold weather comes ON early or continues
10 late date. IN cases Of sickness applica
ton is made TO the Ward Physician, either