Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1884-11-28
: POOR TOMS A-COLp."
THE POOR ALWAYS YE HAVE
WITH YOU"

countenance OF woe wept the hours of the
day in solemn sullen gatherings away. Like
the faint sound of distant midnight bell
struggling against an adverse wind for
hearing, the driving mists and rounded
drops were splashed in gloomy confusion
against the window Of our little back room
where We sat watching the grim cold Ian
scape of naked dripping branches and drear
brown earth. In fancy we could see the
the whirling snow as it comes in gusts to en-
brace the dumb land, hear the piteous call
Of the lonely robin and the twitter of the
belated little sparrow, as on trembling wings
he fits over dank weeds in search of a home
Then we thought of Him who once spake of
these sparrows and their lives and then of
His poor, and how they would fare in the
long dreary months to come
Few save the poor feel for the poor and
We women of Wichita, we say to you, this
sorry Saturday night, that VTime hold his
sway and God knows what it holds in store
for some as near your homes AS are these
swallows for whom He cares The summer
has fed and the brown scar leaves that rus
tie at your feet, as they are borne hither and
thither on invisible wings, scattered like
unuttered signs, like dreams that have per-
ished or hopes that have fed, how these call
out that the days of distress are here. To
You these dead forms of the worlds green
glory mayhap whisper only of withered
flowers and of bloom that is to come
afresh, and again and again, but what of
the tale they tell to the poor. These
leaves may add but another link to that
bright chain which reaches out with its gold
en- links to the spring time Of another sphere
which shall be eternal; but, what of this
chain and where does it reach for the home
less: All, these wrecked plumes which in
their vernal beauty sheltered your home
from the heat of the days agcne, as they
rustic along lamentingly cry of the cold and
hunger that must come 10 those whose hearts
are as susceptible to pain and as tender as
your own. Want is SO bitter; the cheek of
famine so hollow. The always comfortable
know not how hard it is to be of needful
rest, food and warmth denied:
They know not of the scanty meal
With small, pale faces round;
No fire upon the cold, damp hearth
When snow is on the ground. -
So these lines are penned for those kind
hearted women whose happiness is in making
sacrifices for others, for you who spare no
effort to save from their cups strong
men whose brutal natures render them inca
pable of understanding your impulses, for
you who go TO such lengths to render more
comfortable for brief space the abandoned
who are SO lost to every emotion that in
spires you that when they have returned to
their dens of shame remember you only to
dreide and laugh over matter which had
stirred your hearts to the profoundest
depths We tell you, and you, that there
are lips that would kiss your hands if ex-
tended in the same spirit to them, hearts
that would pronounce such a benediction
on your head as would reach the ear of the
infinite. Can't you remember that Christ
in all the fullness of his deep tender divinity
simply said to the woman, .'Go and
sin no more" and that in all this
mediatory relations he never so much
as alluded to the inebriate. But how His
heart went out to the poor of this world and
how His words ever seemed of or to them
How He begged the rich young worshipper
to go and sell all he had and give it to the
poor. Palestine was not land of bleak
storms enshrouded in SHOWS, but land
where rich rivers flowed and beautiful wom-
en- tempted. Can you wonder that some of
us stand amazed at the cross-purposes and
ill-advised charities bestowed by women of
to-day. We say to you this Sabbath morn |
ing that were all your efforts for relief with
held from those perversely wicked ones and |
extended to those about you who are worthy
to be ministered to by angels, that you
would win the more surely that for
which you seek and the benediction of
Him who was SO poor and yet so |
rich. There are homes of the friend |
less nearer your own than Leavenworth |
and suffering outside the saloons and bars of
Wichita, and opportunities outside for the
W. c. T. T., to heap vastly higher treasures
in Heaven than ministering to the unworthy
and working for the unappreciative, if you
but knew it. These places and these oppor-
tunities are here at home. There are places
in this city where, when this valley lies
prone and dumb meath its winter shroud,
eager little faces will gather about scant
crumbs of bread, where thinly clad forms
will hover and SILVER over low lifeless fires,
where innocens-eyed babes will tug for a
meager sustenance from breasts above which
will gaze the anxious face of her who has
not had enough of nourishing food to meet
the cravings Of her wondering little one
who looks up to her SO appealingly. Think
you, women, that charity begins in far off
India, in some close den of infamy
in Wichita where waste and extravaganza
hold high carnival? You often wonder why
men Of the world, of business and expert
.nce, show SO little sympathy and offer SO
little to aid you in your far-fetched deeds of /,
charity. We don't. Let the women Of
Wichita, in an organized capacity, or as in
lividuals, go to these same men and plead
he cause of the babe and the mother that
We have pictured, Of the thinly-clad little ,
ines with thinner faces, and their crust of ]
bread and expiring fires, and see what they
Will do. The very men and the very women {
whom you seek to befriend, themselves I
would respond with open hearts, Rather
hat one such little babe went softly to sleep i
stisfed; that one little pinched and thiniy- {
lad child went warmly to bed; one poor I
mother rested comfortably for one single c
,old night say We, and so will they say, c
han TO have sent sober to their boarding e
faces or even to their homes, hundred t
trong men who should choose to make ]
'rutes of themselves. t
The day, with its cold, pitiless rain has r
losed. As the dull light faded away and e
he mantle of night was thrown over the v
rorld, the stately queen of winter spread her Il
obe of white over field and home, over b
oyel and street. As we look out on the
torm that goes driving down the street in
lackness, shrieking like an enraged demon,
nd anon dying away in pitiful means as of o
pine strange spirit in distress, we hope n
ur words will not be lost. There are SO
,any full hands, SO many tender hearts in !
ne homes whose CHEEKY lights catch our eye, y
here comfort and happiness reigns, upon !,
ne one hand; to these We speak. There q
re so many empty hands and heavy hearts a
homes, if they can be called homes, whose
ghts we cannot see, where suffering and :,
unger threaten for the long, dark season to :
ONE; for these and these only do we plead.
he full hands and the empty ones, shall b
lev meet? The happy hearts and the hearts G
,at ache, will they fud each others :,
"Think not the good,
he gentle deeds of mercy thou hast done 5,
nail die forgotten all: the poor, the pri ner !,
he fatheriess, the friendless, and the widow y
no daily own the bounty of thy hand, u
nall cry to heaven, and pull blessing on a
thee - "
DIED.
s.c.dts Anoar touched him and he silent % M