Morning journal and courier., 1884-01-07
How the Poor Help the Poor.

Iaboref hIpgS hls s1Xpence Into tns naS e4- tended for .'poor cove" he has never seen in his life without second thought. pitt full tale reaches the heart of the poor Tn a moment-their tears are as easily Ten as their laughter. It is the fashion to sheer at scheap sentiment and to talk about the pathos of ordinary nelodrama as "food for the gods" but the sneerers forget that the mimic misery comes home to the poor as It never can to the rich. To the gallery people the starvation in the garrett the separation of husband and wife, the vail of the little chil- dren for bread, the agony of the mother over
 the cradle of her sick baby, the struggle with poverty, the heartlessness of the cruel land lord who wants the rent, and the roughness
 of the officials who called in to persecute virtue in distress, are all so many Items ln
 their own daily life. They have been familiar with such things from their birth, ana they understand the true meaning of that which
 the stalls-justly perhaps from their point or view-call ''boSh."
 The first thing which visitor to the slums asks is, what becomes of the children of the men and women who are sent to prison, or who are removed to the hospital? The an- swer is simple. Tke neighbors take them in and care for them Orphans are by no means rare in the slums but they are almost always l adopted"
 In the house of Mrs R. lived q family
 named Hinde. Mrs Hinde died of consump- | tion, leaving four children and husband ont l of work. He set out to look for it and Mrs. l R. took the four little ones into her room to 1 sleep with her own six. Out of her
 scanty earnings she fed them too, and when l she was asked why she taxed her limited
 resources to this extent, she answered, Poor 1 young 'uns! how could 1 see lem a-stsrvin, and their father out O work, and no mother!" l The man is still out of work, and Mrs. R. has thought it her duty to keep his children for over six months.
 Orphans not only kept, but are passed ! on sometimes from family to family. There
 Is little crippled lad know named Dennis
 Sullivan. Till lately he was kept by an old
 watercress seller, who had adopted him.
 month or two since the poor old soul fell into the fire and was severely burned that she
 died. And when the boy was to be sent to an institution brother of the old watercress
 woman, poor hawker, came forward and said: He shan't be sent away. I'll keep
 him for the sake O the old woman as was so
 fond of him."
 A poor woman had taken charge of three
 children whose father was away in the coun. try. She had children of her own ss well.
 Sickness came upon her, and 8 terrible dis
 ease almost disabled her; yet she refused to let the little ones go uncared for. Dying slowly of dropsy, she was found one day
 propped up in a chair with a wash-tub in front of her, and with her poor weak hands 1 making brave struggle to wash the little
 ones clothes, that they might look clean and
 tidy at the school.
 | A servant glrt JoSt her place, ana III tu5 1 slums gave birth to illegitimate child. She 1 could not keep 1t :; she must go to service.
 An old woman adopted the child, brought it
 up, giving it her oTn name. The mother l married and theu wanted the child. The 1 old woman had fallen on evil days and con-
 sented to part with it. But the real mother l iil-treated the child, and it vas unhappy Of ] marched the old lady and fetched 1t back 1 again. tI ain't got much to spare, God
 knows,' P she said "but I'll keep her some l how"
 1 A maker of wooden toys deserted his child
 and left it starving. poor woman, with eight children of her own and an income of 1 los 8 week, 'felt her 'art bleed for the poor | little thing.'' She took the child into her i own room, and her eight are now nine 1 The other day, at police court, woman 1 was fined 2s Cd, and in default sent to the 1 cells. Her ''pep' went out of court took the 1 shawl from her shoulders, collected few more of her garments, and, pawning the lot, | returned and liberated the prisoner. Pawn 1 ing is frequently resorted to by the women l who attend each other in their confinements. In these districts the female neighbors, be it 1 remembered, invariably take the place of the
 doctor, and their kindness aud gentleness to 1 their suffering sisters is marvellous. They 1 will Sit by the invalid day after day in foul | den, destitute of every comfort and perform l all the household duties as well. They will l see to the children, get the husbands tea, and ] if there is, as is too often the case, lack Of l all that the sufferer needs, they will go and i pledge all they have and buy 1t.
 l These people do not inquire into persons 1 creed or moral character before they hold out the helping hand. When thief comes | back to his district from prison, bis 'epals" 1 find him money and food for weeks, until he 1 either gets job or takes to his former line | of business again. A notoriously bad char ac:er has just died here. He was i'll for 1 months and his ''paIs" kept him the whole l o01r finn lo 1 died. I have known men, out of work and l i'll, kept for months and months by the sub 1 scriptions of their poor neighbors.
 A street hawker was found last Sunday 1 sharing his dinner with man, his wife, and l his children who lived in the same house with l him, and who were penniless. The hawker's l takings on the previous Saturday had been 1 3s I'd, and depending on him were a wife, l two children and 8 donkey. How improvi- 1 dent! but how kind
 1 Into the common lodging-h houses many ! man comes home at night who has not the 1 fourpence to pay for his bed. He tells his ! story if he is not known as a professional 1 cadger, and his woes appear real. round goes l the hat in minute, and the other lodgers pay for his nights rest. Jn these places l too, the lodgers divide their food frequently. 1 and @ man seeing 8 neighbor without any thing will hand him his teapot, and say: "Here you are, mate; here's bull for you D
 ''bulr' is a tea pot with the leaves left in 1 for second brew. When Mrs. Brown or i Mrs. Jones loses baby and cannot bury it, l or when Mir Smith is in trouble and more money is wanted than one friend or two can conyenientley spare, friendly lead is or- ganized and general subscriptio made at a social gathering. Here is 8 card announcing one of these meetings
 Friendly Meeting will take place at Mir Dash's, ''The Three Stars" on Saturday evening, Oct, 27th, 1883, for the joint benefit of Mike Johnson and Fred Miller, who through unforeseen circumstances, have been placed in rather peculiar difficulties, and solicit your kind assistance. They being good supporters of these meetings now hope their friends will rally round them on this
 occasion. Chairman, Charles Hackney vice, Jack DobsoD. Supported by the fol
 lowing friends: Bros. Holland, G. Rush, Bros. Wenham, D. Purcell, T. Remington, Beecham, Ted Dobson, Peter Mason, Jack Howard G. Wooder, Tom Eastopp, Ali Bar
 ron, Jemmy Welch, Jerry Casey and host
 of others. Commence at o'clock.
 do not know what the "unforeseen cir
 cumstances" were or the peculiar difficult
 ties" Generally the wording is less vague.
 The meeting is for "GIrs. Bousby, better
 known Loo, to bury her child ;'' or for
 Bill Hinkham, known as Dutchy, whose
 wife has died in her confinement, leaving him
 with eight chlldren," or something of the
 same kind. Apropos of the latter misfortune,
 it is no uncommon thing f1r the mothers of
 the neighborhood to suckle the babies of
 dead or ailing women. foster-mother is
 found in a moment, and previous acquaint-
 ance with the family is quite unnecessary.
 woman will even lose portion of her work
 during the day, for months, to go and suckle
 neighbor's child.
 Forty Kears Experience or an Old Hurxe.
 MRs WRsLow'g SOOTHING SzRUP is the pIe-
 Eoription of one of the best female Physicians
 and nurses in the United States, and has been
 used forty years with never failing success by
 millions of mothers for their children. It re-
 ueves the child from pain, cures dysentexy
 and diarrhoea, griping in the bowels, and wind
 aafSo Rx aivine health ka tha chfId f. recf1