The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1882-07-30
OUT or-rHE-wAr SCENES IN LONDON
LONDON. July 49," Where did you sleep last

| "In tho street"
where did you sleep the night before -
| at the Poplar workhousc"
| where did you sleep on Saturday iast"
| "Attho bow street police station"
| why were you taken there I"
| "For what, suppose they call being drunk"
| How did you manage to get drunkt You say you
| have not blessed farthing."
ut were my last four pence. had had nothing TO cat
Try the fnhlics stun, what they give us OIL All empty
stomach and u you not aftor having tho bloody
| police after you, my name is not MARI Jane"
| "Wlctc IL your husband -
| "Cursr hint Who knowst"
| "Whtrc are your children :"
| AZ the Reihul Reformatory"
| "liow old are yout"
| "Thirty four"
The person who gave that age looked over fifty Her
| face was wrnGloI. her mouth tootness
The above conversation took place in the
| room OF n workhousc. situated in u dcnscly
| populated parish of London. where paupers
begging admission are first interviewed by the
| relieving officer on duty. Besides tho rolicv-
| ing officer, II fine and Intelligent young man.
the poor woman and myself. there was in this
| gloomy apartment an old pauper an inmate OF
| the workhousc, who was busy looking over
| some registers to ascertain how many times
| the applicant had been placed in tho charge of
| the parochIal and other authorities. This
search proved that this wretched creature had
| pretty fairly divided hcr tims betwoon the
| workhouso and the prison. Her clothes were
| Understandable. Her Indifference was heart
rcnling: u half idotic haf-impudcnt laugh
constantly distorted the wcariod features of
| her bestial face.
| As 1t was evident from tho rost OF the inter
| roSation she was submitted to that she could
| not find work for tho present. she received
| ticket Of admission. The English workhouse
| is only open to paupcrs above 49, incapable Of
| earning their living by reason Of age. OF Incur
able inllrmities or of impossibiity to find work.
| The workhouso also shelters for one night the
paupcrs who. when passing through IL parish.
| have not even the means Of paying for u bed in
II common lodging house.
Before the great reform OF 1884 the English
| workhouso was II sort of he'll on earth Pau
pcrs OF all ages and OF both sexes from small
children upward. the healthy and the sick the
decent and the criminal were all mixed in
| manner most rerilous for tho body ~ well ms
| Tor the soul The workhup.c of that period
| was 4 hoth,d OF discas, and of vice, Thin..
| are quite different to-day. and murtl-nccded
| classification has d.NId. Il the indoor main
| tcnlncc system into four perfectly distinct
! ana separate Institutions: tho workhousc. the
| purpose of which has Just been defined tho in
| Urinary for the sick; The school FOR poor or
phans, and children whose parents are at the
workhouse; and the asylum ior the luEntic.
| Al these different places whore charity tries
Of poverty ar. managed, under the sul"rN siou
ana control OF the GDrfrnmont. hy each Eng
fish parish. or. according to tAer nopuiat!un
by two or more OF tiirHi.
The English are n very generous nation. and
| thcr" IL only one serious fault H. ind with
their system Of charity. They cary il too lar.
| Tn" Irincipic uppn which it rests is hedutfu
in theory hut disastrous in practice. This
to pubic assistance, i! is crrdtcs improyi-
dence, dseourUgcs industry. increases tho
! evils 1t would cure. I he work lnsnun. knowing
| that when IN has "Nhal7t"d his resources ne
| has only to apIy to the workhousc. spends
more tan one nc dis9"ry ruan Of ether f1 ~ sSx
WHO wien rcpr3achcd for is4ipnting wages III
d ri GaS ,o hd ma; Why sh"gla We saver
Tho man who works steadily and saves part
of his earnings. seeing that he is taxed for the
poor rates. ceases to be industrious. or leaves
| tho country which d"privcS him OF the bost pi,rt
OF his savings to hand them in Yne form or
oth"rof assistance to the man who has pre-
lcrred 10 b. id" or rrofigatc, Why says a
first rate English aboicr IN Lincolnshire to his
employer. should roman in a country which
force, mon who like TO work to kenl nu the
men who dontt' AMI ho buys his passage to
| America.
n is principle which ribs men Of the cares OF
the future, tends ais. to harden the heart. and
Often e3inpieteiy titles Il i the most nairrpl
children Town-uE children forSake their
pgrren,ii. You see that poor old man y9nd,r
trembling hands. brtaktms stones along tho
t%paa VAN ten IltnmGnn,"ns not much orsk%r
The poor mans days ars getting short: before
the end OF tn" month he may be taken TO that
| pretty cemetery nara ny, HIS son Is Il horse
dea!cr. in I, very good way 81 business;
| entered one day warehouse not hun
drd miles from Charin: Cross. An Old woman
on the eve Of GO cbrUtins her Goth birthday was
lying on her bed hatl.uarAlyzel. but the brain
was sane and clear. Her intelligent face bore
m ssion OF incXprcsslb bic sadness. surely
this Old dame WAS born in u more cheerful
room than this dismal dormitory and must
have had friends OF another STAMP than the
ignorant and VI gar women who Keep her COM
vivinl relative Of this mystrr!ous inmate IL II
| IL,
north OF En.:andl Those only who have cruelty
suffered can conceive the regrets and the tor
lures of this foilUrn creature to whom an i'm
p'a.ahe memory contra-tch, till her dying
hour the horror of her present life with the
Toys o. her early years ana the hopes OF her ma
Far from me the idea of saying still less Of
ins!nuaing. anything against the treatment
which this poor creature received N tho hands
OF the nlAtrun and al the nurses of the work
name rs could be expected; but even the best
ordered workhouso is ono OF the sloomiost
places under the sun. If it often inspires an
irresistible rhpugnuncc in tho people of the
lower class, defy any one tocxprrss the break
INK heart Of awomnn OF better, condition as
there for the rest OF her life. The poor woman
is dead new, and a. there is justice in heaven. I
you'd rather be in her stead than III the pace
The other day l entered with a, relieving
row and miserable street. lew hundred Yards
only from tho two largest London theatres
Coycnt Garden and Drury Lane. 1t had been
air opprnsSivr Having passed the murn- bat
tered street door, AWAY, OPEN we penetrated
| into u small place on tho ground floor. II
looked TO me tn measure about II feet by ..
The ceiling was low; no words could define the
color Of the floor and of the walls. In some
parts Of these, life was apparent and sruesOme
insects moved unconccrnei: PauperS are the
greatest cnemies Of ventilation, The small
window was hardly open nj the top. and six
people. one an invalid, We're in the room. The
nuuscouS explorations issuing from few wet
clothes or Ia her rags, Just pulled OF and laid by
tn" fire, combined with the var Gus emanat ,ons
| which poverty, dirt, aud sickness can produce,
rendered the atmosphere intOlerable In II
corner Of the room. in a sort OF dark and sitting
recess, a man Of about ilfly-siX was laid up. and
had been laid up for the last eleven years.
struck, by partial PARALYSIS, which deprived
him of the use of most Of his limbs, Since
he las been thus, confined To his bed
that man has had two more children
born to him. Not a word could be said against
his wife. who is . robust. hard working. and
altogether bamele@s woman. But all her eff
forts fall much short of her task and mean
while what is to become of those two puny lit
tie girls with their pretty curly hair, their un-
washed and 5ickly faces, who looked at Us with
vague astoniehnenI. OF course the political
economist will strongly. condemn those pa