Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1888-05-30
SEEING HUMAN NATURE.
ITS DEVELOPMENT AS SEEN BY A
SUPERINTENDENT OF THE POOR. q

! SUPERINTENDENT OF THE POOR. q
Tho Female shylock-A Mothers Love
for Her AFFLICTED Boy-A Recent Ar
rival-shipping Paupers from Europe.
A discharged Sailor.
Mr.. William Blake, superintendent Of
outdoor poor, works from a. m. until 5
p. m. every week day, and while he talks
he Is listening to complaints, appeals,
/ arguments and inquiries, and his hands
are busy signing papers, making menu
| oranda, handing ont bottles of cough mix
| ttire, putting his name TO vouchers, OPEN
| ing letters and various other occupations.
| BY dint of doing three or four things at
| once when he Is most rushed, he manages
| to get the average down to about nine
| things per minute that he gets through
| with all day long.
While the reporter sat watching him
| and waiting to hear about his observa-
| tons upon human nature, the dull brown
| latter festooned chain of misery that
| moved its human links along the front Of
his desk was suddenly broken by u very
| charming variation upon its monotony.
| An exceedingly pretty young woman,
| with pouting red lips, sparkling eyes and
rose leaf compilations; a young woman
| prettily gloved, wearing rich furs and
costly jewelry, and marvelously hand
some hat-altogether quite a patrician-
esque young woman-stopped before Mr..
Blake and said: .E1
| I'VE have a tenant; widow with O
child, who cannot pay her rent. We have
dispossessed her, or at least served her
with a notice of dispossession, but we
| can't put her out because her child is
| very sick. So want you to send an am
bulance and take the child away to some
hospital" -l ~ ar-. a
"You want us to take the sick and per-
haps dying child away from its mother,
SO that you can throw the mother into
the street and let your room to q better
| paying tenant ..
Eyes, SIR" replied the young woman,
stifly. but with a little flush on her
cheeks, as If she was just beginning to real
lie that her attitude might not be admired
by people weak enough to be humane.
Mr.. Blake's eyes projected themselves,
and he seemed making an effort to swal-
low some words that would not have
sounded prettily. After brief but i'm
pressive silence he answered sternly:
NO, shall do nothing of the sort. If
the poor mother brings her sick child and
asks us to care for it, We will do the best
we can, but we have no right to do what
You ask. We never interfere between
landlord and tenant"
The handsome young woman Redeemed
angrily, and exclaimed argumentatively:
"But she can't pay her rentr'
| 81 have told you that can do nothing
for you," replied Mr.. Bake, in a tone Of
| disgust; 'we do not interfere between
landlord and tenant" =.
| The pretty female Shylock gave her
head an indignant toss, flashed look Of
scorn upon the poor wretches surround
ing her-who were listening and viewing
| her with expressions OF loathing and sur
prise-and quickly went out.
| A pale, thin, weary looking young wo-
man, still bearing traces of beauty, came
up to the desk, and said, with evident
effort:
"My little boy is deaf and dumb, and
paralyzed. I can no longer keep him. I
have come to see il you will put him in
some institution where he will be warm
and taken care off,
| "Are you a widow?"
| ''No, sir. have husband, but he can
get little work to do. We are very poor,
and have another child, which is all we
can take care Off,
Twill send your child to Randall's is
land, where he win be very well cared for,
If you desire 1t. When win you be ready
to have the ambulance take him aways'
| She seemed to hesitate, but nerving her
self, replied: 49,
\ Amy time, SIR"
| every well, the ambulance win call for
him Tomorrow morning."
| She f0rnQd yarv r,olo hovs lima Sxs1sxwapa1
and her eyes filed with tears as she ex-
claimed impulsively: +#s
"Oh! sir, make it Friday. Let me have
him one more day."
Mr.. Blake kindly told her how well her
little afflicted boy would be cared for,
which was the best consolation she could
have had, and when she went away re-
marked to the reporter: There's more
human nature for you. I wonder If that
| young Shylock who was in here a while
ago will ever have in her breast a mothers
heart as tender as that of the woman who
just went out" 49,.
The clanking of the humsn chain that
drags itself before Superint endent Blake's
desk is almost wholly in a minor key.
Now and then, however there is o little
relief to its monotony.
A young German Isf God confidently up,
and in response to t'le question, asked In
German, "How Ion have you been in this
country" replied placidly: II arrived
| yesterday" '...~ -.."-.-"-.f
"My God!' calculated Blake. '.And
you've found u lis place alreadyl Well, I've
known OF tn cir being pretty soon before,
but he Is the freshest thing I've seen yet. +"
| The rece Mt arrival was sent back to
Castle Ga den. The state board of chart.
ties and our municipal commissioners oi
Charities and correction have plenty OF
busine IS in shipping off paupers, the
/ burds>n of whose support properly belongs
upozI other communities and even in other
countries.
1.-The Swiss cantons," said DR.. Hoyt.
"oIenly and boldly ship us their paupers,
even claiming right to dose, and com.
ptacently invite us to reciprocate by send.
ing our paupers to them, if we can. But
we cannot. Catch our paupers going To
Switzerland Not much. They know
| when they are well off. We also get
great numbers of the most undesirable
class of immigrants from the Austro-
1 Polish, Italian and German lowest classes:
the greater numbers and the worst the
Austro- Polish. They come here to live
/ by begging and crime, and If we do not
succeed in catching them and turning
them back they are burden practically
from the day Dley land"
! A tall, THU man, erect, bronzed by ex.
posture TO the elements, and wearing q
sailors bat, wanted to be sent to Boston.
III nave been discharged from the
Trent on,' he said, 'sand it seems pretty
harT !, for I've been in the service since
l0,1; but it was my own fault. want
Flow to go back to where I have friends
and take a fresh start"
Whatever his fault had been, the poor
fellow looked as If he had repented Of II,
and his manly way of accepting the stu.
alton disarmed criticism and moraliZing.
He got his Transportation.
4 There said Mr Blake. q think