Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1888-10-04
THE POOR OF LONDON.
THE KINDNESS SHOWN TO ONE
ANOTHER IN MISFORTUNE,

Practical Help in Sickness and Bereave
ment-Adopting ChiIdrep-A Sister i,
Misfortune-A Dead Comrades Pet
Kindness to Animals.
1t is not only in their perhaps thriftles.
almsgiving that the poor show their sym
pathy with their own order. They show
it In their practical help'in times of sick
ness and bereavement; they show it in
their readiness to share their scanty food
and shelter with the hungry and the home
less; they show it in the way in which
they take other peoples troubles upon
their already overburdened backs, and in
the way they frequently sacrifice their
time and their money in endeavoring to
put their poor brothers and sisters who
have been pushed down in the battle of
life once more upon their legs.
The poor live so closely together that
they know a good deal of each others cir
cumstances. and naturally the ladies are
the first to find out each others business.
| So it comes that the poor woman living
with her husband and family in one room
knows that the people in the next room
are without food She and her husband
| go short and send in half their loaf to
| their starving neighbors. and she sends in
the teapot with the leaves left in it, and
she fills it up with hot water This. at
least, gives the recipient q warm drink,
| whatever the particular uayor Of it
may be
One remarkable way in which the poor
show their kindness of heart is in adopt
ing children. 1t frequently happens in
neighborhoods where the laboring and
criminal classes herd together that fam
lily of children may be suddenly left with
out father or mother. Father gets put
away and mother, in her grief and de-
spair, goes to drown her sorrow at the
public house. and sometimes ends by fall
ing herself into the clutches of the law
Such cases as this occur over and over
again, and in five cases out of ten the
children are taken care of, washed and
dressed and fed by some poor mother liv-
ing in the same house, who herself has
large family All this is done ungrudg-
ingly and as duty" If you ask such
woman what prompted her to burden her
self with the maintenance of another
womans family she will tell you there
was nothing wonderful in the act. She
supposes as some neighbor 'ud do the
same by her young 'uns if ever she was in
trouble
A poor. unfortunate girl. living in ten
ement house with others of her unhappy
class. fell seriously i'll. The landlord
wanted her sent to the workhouse. The
other girls said No. not if they knew
it These poor creatures pawned all the
clothes they could spare in order to pay
for a clever doctor-for her case was a
complicated one-and they dubbed to-
gether and got her all the doctor ordered
her They relieved each other at the sick
bed and took it in turns to nurse her day
and night, and they made her stop at
home when she was better for over six
weeks. as the doctor said there would still
be risk in her going out, during all of
which time they paid her rent and every
expense incurred by her illness, though to
do it they had to deny themselves not
only any comfort but almost any neces-
sary of life Brave girls those and good
girls How different would their lives
have been. perhaps, had they known in
their homes such love and devotion as
they showered upon their sisters in mis-
fortune
plenty of sympathy and practical help
soul comes in at once and sees to the
enough to look after the others. The
baby not infrequently finds new mother
to take it to her breast, and even the
mans comfort is not overlooked Mrs.
Jones will run in for half an hour while
he is away at work, and tidy up his place |
for him; and Mrs. Brown will pop across
the road and get his tea ready for him |
against he comes home. There are some |
charming little idylls Of the courts and |
alleys which are waiting to be told-ten- |
der prose poems. fragrant with the self |
sacrifice and the heroisms of the poor and |
the lowly; but they must be told from
The beginning to the end. To cut them
lown into bald narrative of incidents
would be to rob them of all their grace
md charm.
The sympathy of the poor shows itself
sometimes in q tender regard for some
hing which has been the pet Of dead
,omrade or neighbor. Some little time
Jack, hawker in the East End lay dying.
lie was widower and childless, but he
lad one companion-a faithful, loving
title dog. who had lived with him for
many years. AS the poor fellow lay on
lis death bed. the little dog stretched it.
elf out beside him, and every now and
hen licked the weak, thin hand that
ested lovingly upon it's little head The
Id hawker's mind was tortured as to
vhat would be his faithful companions
ate after he had gone to his grave;
o one day he sent for o mate, and he
aid to him: Jim. when I'm gone,
AXE my little Fan. and let her have
home with you till she dies, will
ou, mate? | shall die happy if | know
s she'll have friend to take care
f her after I'm dead" Jim. street
awker of dolls, gripped his friends hand
nd said: Yes, mate; I'll take her. and
romise YOU as she shall be as comfort
BILE as can make her"
This kindness to animals is by no means
rare trait among the poor have seen
lean and hungry lad many time shar-
lg his scanty meal of bread and butter
ith stray cur in the slums, and know
ne common lodging house cat, who died
the kitchen amid the tears and sobs of
le rough men and women, who clustered
.ound to see their pet breathe its last
Gorge r. Sims in Philadelphia Times.
FORESTS and the Rainfall.