, 1888-05-24
CHARITY HOSPITAL.
SAD SCENES sAMoNe AN .uNFoR-
TUNATE CLASS OF PEOPLE.

Nine hundred Sufferers Under Ono
Roof-A Dying GIrl-NobIs Deeds of
Charity-outsido Work.
The ladies Of the mission gathered up
their packages and papers and divided In
two parties-one to visit the penitentiary
and do there the beautiful work which
Elizabeth Fry initiated, the other to the
Charity hospital; and with the latter /
went A small room is set apartthere
for the use of tho mission. The tables in
1t were already covered with baskets of
fruit. glasses of jelly, bottles of beef tea,
can of oysters, and various other doll
cacies. By each basket lay a number of
papers and religious tracts. After brief
religious services the ladies separated.
each taking her own basket and reading
matter to the ward she was assigned to.
Here. under this one roof, are 600 human
beings, In every conceivable stage of
suffering. Tho pangs of poverty are In
creased a hundred fold when disease
selzes in It's cruel clutches the unhappy
victim Few people are fortunate enough
to escape the knowledge of bodily pain.
Most, indeed, can recollect at least one
season of physical w~retchedness. To be
ohAO ACA "ho n pOAb . hAN LlAh1Cd
windows, skilled care and loving atten-
lions, doctors who said pleasant things and
disguised their doses. delicious tribes that
appeared by magic, and a thousand in
genious surprises to create an appetite or
win a smile. With all that, something
like a shudder comes over one at tho
thought of a repetition of the experience.
To go through a ward In the Charity hos
pital convinces you that the primer of
misery has yet to be mastered by the rest
of us. Imagine yourself on @ narrow and
lumpy bed. the light from a row of big
windows beating In your eyeballs, the feet
of the convalescents shutting and souf-
fling over the bare floor, the whitewashed
walls. devoid of even a wall paper pattern
to be deciphered, the callous young doctor
TO whom you are but a bit of experience.
and the food such that II well your
stomach and senses would revolt at it.
As to flowers. books. music and bright
%colors, they come only in dreams
After all no amoun of moralizing brings
the truth homo like a single individual
case, and there was one patient in par
ticular that made a profound impression
upon me-a girl In the last stages of con-
sumption Illness had robbed her face of
tho c-oarseness 1t may have had In health.
Through the veil that death Is drawing
over 1t shine splendid black eyes and q
skin painfully brilliant In coloring. A
heavy mass of short black hair falls over
her forehead, nearly meeting the large
dark brows that seem to have been
painted rather than grown on the marble
n. There Is something curious and
shocking In this dread makeup" of dis
ease that reminds one of the stage, but
there is no counterfeit presentment of
health In the long. emaciated hands that
lie 80 nervelessly on the bedquilt. By
the side Of the bed is a little stand; upon
1t a Bible and a mug of water-that is all.
Mary WINS breathing in low gasps. Her
lips were parched. her eyes despairtng.
Suddenly they fell upon the visitor. In q
moment she was transformed When that
visitor laid on the little table n slice Of
ordinary white bread and butter and q
big orange the girl half raised herself on
her elbow to look her gratitude. The
luxury expressed In that slice of bread
and butter no n can imagine until. they
look ut the dark, sticky stuff CREASED over
that Is called by that name In the hos
pitaL. Then tho gentle missionary read
and talked to the girl, who listened
eagerly. mo one else comes to see me
but you" she said, simply. "and the days
and nights are 80 long"
us there, anything you would hkeT'
asked the. lady.
Eyes. ma'am, II you please. 1 should
80 like ailittle mixed candy" said the dy-
ing girl you see, the medicine tastes
80 bad. and we don't have nothing to take
after it." The candy was promised. and
with her heart in her voice the lady ut
tered a little prayer and left the sufferer
composed and tcomforted. It is a dark
day In a patients life when the doctor
she may have anything she likes
that is, that visitors choose to give her
and many and singular are the petitions
showing the sufferers idea of luxury.
One sinking from the effects of an opera
ton begs for a taste of mixed pickles,
another wants 'just onesbologny. ma'am;"
a third asks for q glasssof ginger ale, and
an old woman begs for "a cup Of real
tea"
Going from ono ward to another it Is
the Same story told overland over again
of suffering. for themost part dumb, of
moral blindnessyandimental misery. II is
curious, though. tolnotethe difference of
reception given torthe mission visitors by
the now and old ones.
In tho surgical wards were many des-
perately Ill women. One of them near
the door was nearly'over the thresholdof
life. Her glazed eyes were fixed upon o
cmld-her only one, brought to her-for q
farewell kiss. The little fellow crowed
and capered about merrfly in the lap of
the woman who held him. unconscious of
the meaning of,the scene. As his mothers
eyeids fell he was laughing outright
with delight. 1t would be painful and
'dreary to go even In penlfrom ono ward
to another In this stronghold of suffering.
1t seems as II the very walls OF it would
weep. and the sights weigh down the
heart of the outsider.
Afew of the branch charities are the
loan relief. which lends rubber cushions,
invalid chairs, hot water bags and bed
rests to the poor oonvalescent; the
mothers meeting, where good advice and
Bible reading go hand In hand with sew
ing; the Thanksgiving fund, which sup
plies ifty-ive poor families with a good
dinner on that day; the bucket trade,
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