Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-11-30
The Suffering Poor.

To the Editor of The EVENING STAR:
AS the time is approaching for the annual Or
ganizition OF charity, desire to say word In be-
half OF distressed class who appear or seem to
have no friends. refer to weak women mothers
OF families, who are unable to hire or beg domestic
help, whose children need all their time and at
tention, but who have the heavy work OF the
household, including cooking and chamber work
imposed on them. 1t may be that those who live
In the center OF the city, close to the theaters,
churches, places OF meeting OF the ''sons and
daughters OF Jerusalenl," the .sFshermen of Cali
lee, and other attractions can get servants; they
who live in quarters more remote from crowded
localities, must do without them. Now for facts:
l. Mrs. s., an invalid, obliged to keep her
bed. Has two children, the Oldest four years of
age. No servant. Her husband rises before day,
makes the fires, cooks the breakfast and dinner,
washes and dresses the children, cleans house and
hurrieS Off to his office Gets home in time to cook
put the children to bed clean up Dishes ETC.
During the day, children are taken care OF by
neighbors. who run in by turns and look after the
invalid. Sickness brought on by overwOrk while
collaborating. No servant Tor two months, the
husband has offered as high as sixteen dollars
month for cook.
seven years old: Husband In department. helps
all he can, makes fires, makes up the beds, etc.
Mother sews cooks, irons, takes care OF children,
etc, etc. She is worn out, SO exhausted that she
goes to bed at eight in the evening No servant
for six weeks. Husband has gone to all the agen-
ceS for supplying servants. Children are running
wild, and mother Will die OF overwork If this con-
d1tioh OF things continues.
3. Elderly lady; mother Of grown up children, &C
cOmplShed, wealthy, OF literary tastes, but ply
scally weak. Present family, husband, son and
invalid daughter: Servants so uncertain that the
the rough work about the house, when servants
leave and none others can be had.
These are three eases out of twenty In the 1mme-
d1ate ne1ghbOrhOOd. The majority OF families are
WITHOUT Kitchen help. Advertisements in the
papers have been answered, but, in no case, has
tSementS have been inserted, but, with no better
success. Ii servant is kept for little while,
hn elf
the government bureaux.
| getting help.
fuence"-and my office is almost daily besieged by
some desperate beggar for place In the depart
! mentS have tried to get these applicants to go
TO work for some OF my unfortunate neighbOrS;
| but in vain. Take three cases:
1. A half-educated woman, widow with several
daughters calls; wants place in the Treasury for
one OF the girls; is at her last dollar no work for
any OF the girls and is about to lose her own; is
afraid She will starve. am not in control of the
work Tor every one of her girls She looks Crate.
full. begin by telling her OF the invalid lady.
Se f heI r m Dc Gy that She win
that most OF the ladies in my neighborhood do It.
But she retfreS in huff.
by an order to which belong. Have him notitiei
that supplies are stopped He gets work within
few Gays; don't like it, stops. Sends his wife to me
the house work, but it is declined.
g. interesting SeamStreSS getting thirty-f1ve
cents day without board or lodging, applies to
my wife for help. Wife finds place for her as
nurse, at s. a month with board and lodging. Re
jected with scorn.
Why multiply examples! Every body knows
that while the Congressional Soup-hOuSe was In
operation, the lines OF able bodied men and women
stretched across the street, and that farmers who
offered high wages for help In the fields couldn't
tempt man out OF the line. Every body knows that
in the suburbs and in the country mothers OF fam
lilies must do their own work, as no wages can
tempt working people to absent themselves so far
from the rich pleasures OF LIE In the heart OF a
Are we all Mr.. Editor, to quit housekeeping and
90 to boarding on Pennsylvania avenue? This
Spell of cold weather admOnfshes me that the an
nllaI howl of the professional phflanthropistS
about the sSuffering poor" is to begin soon. Be-
fore the end of December we shall have that old
story of the poor woman without shoes and with
frozen feet I have Wept over it several I'm
succession; but this winter want the privilege OF
OfferInp that poor woman wages to work We
have had this charity business w0fully overdone.
It has been device 70 get the money OF those who
work and give 1t to those who don't work and won't
work. Unless the charity organization limits its
work to helpless children, women with helpless
families and the fnfrm, 1t will do more harm than
good Let us have an organization to help the poor
mothers OF families to servants, and when the pre-
fesstonal phtlanthrOpstS call for subscriptions for
tndiscriminating giving, hope every man viii
have the sense to button up his breeches pocket
For my part, SO long as llnd that so month,
board lodging, &c, cannot secure me the most un-
skilled house servant, shall spend nothing on
able. bodied tamps or model lodging and break
tiOns, bath and blessing. Y0urA
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