Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1885-09-09
THE POOR IN PARIS.
FeopIe Who Patronize the Night Refugees
The Work of Philanthropic Societies.

ance OF a plan which the French have
long talked of for putting these estab-
llshments under municipal control. At
present the temporary relief of the
poor In Paris, answering to our system
OF casual wards, is amatter of private
initiative. Certain religious and phil
anthropic bodies open night refuge,
stock it as best they can with mat
tresses and provisions, and trust to
the public generosity to keep it up.
This movement became fashionable q
few years ago, and every duchess of
the faubourg had her pet asylum in
the slums. But private charity has
been found insufficient for the work,
and there has been as usual loud de-
mand for state or rather municipal
aid. Before the asile de mutt was
started Paris had nothing answering
to the casual ward. Wanderers and
Migrants were taken to the police
station, and there herded with thieves
and other bad characters. Thereason
for new classification was apparent
on the face of it. Most of the poor
wretches picked up in the street de-
served better companionshipt than that
OF the jail-birds, and the success of the
first attempt to give it to them was so
great that asylums sprang up in every
direction.
In Paris, as in London, and in fact
IN every great city, the people who
patronlze the night refugees are of every
occupation and almost of every class.
One refuge received in the year $50
wOrkmen, $50 chambermaids, and at
ter that In their order, cooks, general
servants, governesses these sent only
a contingent of 2O), lady companions
~, and persons formerly having
money in the funds" (2)-this out Of
total of nearly $500 picked up and
cared for in the one asylum alone.
This establishment belongs to an as
ISOLATION of d mixed religious and
philanthropic character. Then comes
the Societe Philanthropique, which is
purely religious, and which opens ref
uges for women under the manage
ment OF the Sisters of Charity. This is
called the Work Of the Hospitality of
Labor, and it's most considerable es-
Establishment, or perhaps the only one
at present, is a house opened at Au-
teuil at the beginning of this year. Al
though the police find none of the
money, they cannot exactly keep their
fingers out of the management, and
they insist on having register kept,
just as though the place were an or
binary lodging-house. However, this
is not allowed to become an excuse for
a too searching inquisition. The ap~
plicants for admission give Just what
answers they like, and what answers
they sometimes do give Maxine Du
Camp will tell US: Many ofthem have
nothing but sobriquets, or do not
choose to have any other. "What is
your name?" ''They call me La Chit
fonnette." "That is not a name"
"Well, l have no other" "What is
your family name?" ~ don't know"
"Where is your father? Whereisyour
mother?" 'Tdon't know" ''Did you
ever know them ?" Never" "Who
takes care ofyou?" Nobody" "Where
doyou live ?""Nowhere." In oneca
young girl was asked: "Did you ever
hear speak of God?" "God?" she
said; go, yes, an old man with long
beard" The arrangements here at
Auteuil are Of the simplest. There is
a big reception-room, with benches
and tables, and with few religious
pictures for its sole adornment; a
bathroom beyond, and a disinfecting
chamber for clothing, with a ward
robe of cast-off clothes given by the
charitable to supply some of the mis-
cradle creatures with a new outfit.
The rags, once off, are often quite un-
fit to put on again, and in fact can
not be put on. Some of the inmates
look on the bath as quite a penal
infection, or refuse to take it because
they are mot ILL.," But, as in the
English casual wards, all are tubbed
remorselessly whether they like it or
not. A good deal of delicacy is shown
in dealing with some of the applicants.
Whatever their age or status, they
are all termed "Madame," a title in
tended to cover every irregularity of
their past life. To call some made
moiselle might lead to awkward rev.
Citations when, as it often happens,
they bring their babies with them.
The Sisters 60 even further, and when
a mother is unprovided with the mar
riage ring, they give her one of brass,
SO as to put her, as far as appear
duCSS 90, Ou IOOUl1lS Will
the best in this Heterogeneous
society. The house at Auteuil
is more than a temporary refuge.
Those who most need it are allowed
to stay there for some time, and
many have won their way back into
decent positions by the help given
them in this way. This is intended
to meet supposed defect of some OF
the asylums, where the wretched in
mates are remorselessly turned out in
the morning, no matter what their
needs, and many of them to certain
and obvious starvation. OF the thir-
ty-fve hundred women received at Au-
teu;l in one year, over seventeen hun
dred found their way back to modest
comfort under this arrangement.
A third kind of casual help given in
Paris is what is called ''The Work of a
Mouthful of Bread" This is simply q
means of distributing bread and water,
ito be consumed on the premises, to
all applicants. 1t was stated by M.
Bourreiff that in the first eleven days