St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-04-16
SAW AND CORDWOOD
For Young Vagrants-Runawa
Boys-Worthy Poor-Secretary
Hutchins' Report.

The quarterly meeting of the st. Paul
Society for the Relief of the Poor was
held yesterday. The several reports
were submitted, but were of no general
public interest except that of Secretary
Hutchins. He spoke of the relief work
of the past quarter and divided his re-
port into various branches. An inter-
esting feature was that of runaway
boys. in relation to which he said:
will give you one or two instances of
handle. A poorly clad, pale-faced boy
of seventeen applied at the Office for a
suit of clothing, stating he had just ar
rived from Brainerd, where he was
homeless and without friends. He gave
a false name, as all such boys do; when
closely questioned, he gave the name of
the firm he had worked for. AS he had
spoiled his story by stating he had slept
in box cars for three years. felt anX-
ious to get the true story, and informed
him / should hold him in custody until
/ heard from Brainerd and verify his
story. Starting out with him for this
purpose, he soon gave his right name
and address, which was to the effect
that he was st. Paul boy,
who had given his relations
great deal of trouble and expense, and
who were only too glad to ascertain his
hiding place. An application was made
out for admission to the reform school,
and at the express wish of his relatives
he was sent there as the only place to
ture of this boy, son of one of our
respectable citizens. led to the arrest
and care of several other boys who had
left their homes and were staying
nights in low lodging house. l will
mention one more case: Early one
morning this winter, young gentle
man from the West side brought to the
Office two small boys, aged seven and
eleven respectively. Their story as
related to him was that they had just
arrived alone from Dakota. the elder of
them seeking a good home for the
younger. who he claimed was his cous-
in. When closely examined they were
found to be brothers, and we held them
while we endeavOred to find out where
they came from. 1t was not long until
we found the mother and babe comfort
ably seated at the depot. awaiting the
departure of train for California,
where she would have undoubtedly
if some good, charitably disposed per-
for her two children.
Young Men Paupers.
For this class we make special pro-
vision: Viz. good sharp saw and a
carload of wood; so, whenever young
man who is in need of lodging or meals
applies to us for aid, and is able to
work, we can easily accommodate him
with work and food. The work, of
course, had to be done first, or we would
not see the applicant again. The num-
Der of these young men paupers, through
our kind help to work and meals, and a
cooperation of the buinesS men, who
are shrewd enough to refuse money and
send them to US, has grown small, and
will, hope, get less and less daily, for
[ do think we are making q sad mistake
in all our societies in aiding the tramp
young men, whose very pauperism is
disease contagious, and ought to be
treated as such.
Let me call your attention to one: A
Well-dresSed young man of twenty-five
years applied to one of our business
firms. asking help, claiming to be rail-
road man, but so destitute that he had
to sleep in freight cars. The firm sent
him to me with letter, offering to pay
for his care If he was worthy. He
claiming to just hail from Philadelphia.
secured the address of his parents in
that city; he then stated they were
dead; finally offered him wood to saw
for the aid we would have to give him.
but he Indignantly refused. then put
him in charge of an officer as vagrant,
which had the result that he a. once
gave his proper name and told us his
father was contractor living in St.
Paul. I offered to help him-for one
half hours work. He refused, but in
stead he had to work ninety days in our
wOrkhOuse.
Our Worthy Poor:
shall now call your attention to our
worthy pOor-a class of applicants who
often suffer untold privations before
they come to us for aid-and many Of
them never come, but we 60 to them. 1
refer now to our citizens, and especially
our married poor, who have large fam
lilies depending upon them for food.
clothing and schooling. Here is class
whose needs often give us the most
anxiety, class we want to help, so
they feel an inspiration coming to them
and thrill that will enable them to
take heart. / wish l had time to tell
YOU of the number of deserving families
have recently found in their homes
needing Immediate relief. l find
them usually a long distance
from the office. To leave them
with only promise to send some
thing seems inhuman, but to return to
the Office to report and then send out an