Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1889-11-09
POyERTY'S PANGS.
Ta'e of Privation and Suffering Told by n
Visitor to the Spring Valley Mines.

Ta'e of Privation and Suffering Told by N
Visitor to the Spring Valley Mines.
Mr.. Henry d. Lloyd, of this city, who
has just returned from a visit to Spring
Valley, Ills, where he distributed
among the destitute miners medicine
furnished by a charitable New York lady,
writes a long letter t The New York
Tribune. in which he describes the
wretched condition Of the people there.
He says: among other means of get
ing intelligent and unbiased information
as to the exact state of things | visited
the Catholic school and the public
school, in which together there are over
600 children, and talked with the teach
ers and many Of the children. The sis
ters who teach in the Catholic school said
that their children gave unmistakable
evidence Of not having sufficient food.
They were pale and they could not sgady
as well.
Children would frequently fall asleep
at their desks from weakness. But so
sturdy was their pride and self respect
that it was almost impossible for their
teachers TO obtain from them n
acknowledgment that they did not get
enough toeat at home. Children who were
Enthusiastically suffering for want of nour-
ishment would ever refuse food when
offered them by their teacher, and in
some cases, the sister superior said, when
food was taken by some such children,
it was Immediately rejected by the stom-
ach. showing how far the exhaustion of
hunger had gone. One of the teachers
in the public schools stated that on her
way to the school in the morning she
would sometimes meet as many as a
dozen of her class out with baskets going
to beg. AS they saw her the little things,
ashamed, would try to hide from sight
until she had passed. In both schools
numbers of the children were INSULT
GENTLY clothed, little boys and girls Of
the tenderest years having on only some
light sack or jacket, with no under
clothing. 1t was a cold, bleak day, but
many were barefoot. How the people
have lived at all is a mystery.
There have been during the last four
weeks, ending Sept. %, five distributions
by the relief committee-all in goods,
and no money has been given out-and
the extent of this charity is sufficient
ly indicated by the statement taken from
the account of the committee that each
family of seven, and others in proper
ton, had received for the entire period
of four weeks -four, meal, etc., to the
value Of S5.SS, OIL "a cents worth for each
person for the whole four weeks. The
mayor of the city, the editor of The
Spring Valley Gazette, the Congrega-
tional clergyman, MIR. Stringer; all the
physicians of the place, every one, in
fact, stated without qualification that
were it not for the relief from without
the people would be starving. To check
so scanty a stream of relief, 81 cents
worth of food for each person monthly,
by talk about 'exaggeration' seems TO me
nothing short Of inhuman."
Mr.. Lloyd declares that the death rate
is high there. and that il will be greatly
increased as the weather grows cold.
He declares. of his own knowledge, that
the sick and poor have been refused
medicines and medical advice by the
poor authorities there.
He urges that contributions be sent to
these people, Chicago Dispatch in st.
Louis Republic.