The Sunday tatler and Jersey City express. (Jersey City, N.J.) 1883-1886, 1884-12-28
AWAITING THEIR RATIONS.
A SATURDAY SCENE At PO0RAKASTER
NTCE0LS,S HEADQUARTERS.


NTCEOLS,S HEADQUARTERS.
A SeasonabIe Article About the Poor and
How They Are Fed--Almshouse
Rounders--Ab0ut Abandoned Babies.
A reporter for the SUNDAY TArrLER stood
at City Poormaster Nicholas side yesterday
morning and saw the distribution of their
ratiops to the poor who have to depend, in
part or altogether, upon public charity.
The line of mendicants stretched down the
staircase and into Bright street for nearly u
block away from the door. They were
mostly women There were few men and
fewer children. One or two of them were
blind. Many of them wert, bent with age.
Some looked too rugged to neg. An officer
stood by to keep them in treir place, and
to see that the stronger and more robust of
them did not force themselves in ahead CT
the weaker. Poormaster Nichols had en-
velopes made out for each of them. The
envelopes bore their addresses and contain
ed orders for the groceries, or clothing, or
fuel that they needed.
"a good many of these people" said the
Poormaster, sscome here week after week.
Some of them have been coming to the
city for their weekly allowance for eight OF
ten years. Friday and Saturday are the
days when we give out the envelopes. This
week, when we finish, we will have given
out 400 altogether. The number will in
crease steadily now till the end of january.
Last january the number of the assisted
ran up as high as 614. This january the
roll will be larger. There are more Of the
class that support themselves applying this
year than heretofore. But even these do
not begin to represent the number in need
of help. They are too proud to come to
the city for aelp and get the relief they
need through their churches or the clergy
men whose parish they live within. On
the other hand, many who come here ask
ing for help are perfectly able to take care
of themselves. Some have comfortable
homes and situations even where they
earn enough for their support, SO that we
have to keep constantly on our guard
against imposters.
ssBut / suppose there are some cases Of
peculiar hardship among them?" the re-
porter ventured.
'sOh, yes" was the answer. ssThere's
the case of that blind man in Greenville-
Davenport, you know. He was perfectly
able to provide for himself and did, until
gang Of roughs beat him SO that he is now
totally blind. Yesterday afternoon / went
down to see the widow of the cigarmaker
Schiebl \, who was stabbed to death in
Greenville few weeks ago by Brehm. She
got little money from societies her hus-
band was connected with, but it is all gone
now, and she is at the point of restitution
with five little children to provide for. Her
husbands murder reduces her to the con-
dition of public pauper."
'sYou send these perpetual paupers to
the poor house, don's your
ssNot always. You see there are plenty
who get help here that are not supported
by what we give them but only assisted.
1t we can give some of them enough to
keep the shelter over their their heads they
will grub for their food. But then you
will probably be surprised to know that all
the FOUNDERS are not Jail or station house
FOUNDERS. We have them here too-men
and women, and sometimes whole families
that come here periodically 20 go tc the
Poor House. They live on what they can
make as long as they can. but when the
pinch comes they CINE here and ask to be
committed as paupers. They find another
opportunity to work and earn their living
and come out. By and by they are back
again asking to be given tickets of adInis-
sion to Snake HILL There are people--in
one instance whole family-that
have been sent up as paupers four and five
times within the last two or three years.
The kind of people who ask to be sent up?
1t happens frequently that poor woman
divides her children with us. If she has
five to provide for and the times are hard,
she brings two or three to us, has them sent
to Snake Hill and provides for the rest her
self"
s'You don't send babies up?'
s'No, not unless their mothers 90 with
them, at any rate. They need care that
only mot Ter can give them"
ssWhat do you do with the WATTS that
are found in the street z" asked the report
er.
ssWell," Mr.. Nichols responded, eve
haven't had very many. The number
within the last year wouldn't exceed pro-
badly dozen. We send them to Mrs.
Britton, who lives down from here, to be
taken care Of Her husband is in State
Prison, and she was on the point Of be-
coming a charge on the city, and we gave
her the care of these babies to help her
along as much as we can.
care the children never claimed by their
mothers p
ssOnly one since have been in office,
anu tuo i AlILEH Udu LIE StOry OL tudl
some months ago. She denied that she
had abandoned the infant, and accused her
husband of it. But we know better than
that 1t was dropped in the area way of one
of the Catholic churches as the crowd was
making their way into the evening Vespers.
No man could have dropped child there
with safety. There is no end to the in
genuity of women who want to abandon
their little ones. Generally their motherly
anxiety is opiace it where it will be picked
up and cared for at once. The night of the
big Re2u lican procession waif was left
on Summit avenue, few minutes before
the line reached it. 1t had been left right
in the way of the crowd, SO that it could
not be long neglected. The mother that
left the last child to find was less So
hcitous about its welfare and comfort. She
left it exposed on one Of the bitter nights
of last week in the open hallway of l4th
street tenement. A woman upstairs who
heard its feeble cries mistook it for kid.
but it disturbed her rest SO badly that she
finally sent her son down to see what it
was, and he came back with five days'
old babe In his arms. It died from the ex-
posure, and we buried it on the day before
Christmas
The safest and the best soay TO secure The
.Ssnday Taller is 10 order yoar seaos dealer
to delipsr u at goqr house.
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