Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-09-29
CONFEDERATE HOME.
Visit to the Institution Situated on the
Outskirts OF the Capital City.
More Room and More Money Needed-State
Relief Can be Afford d Without Con-
stitutiOnal Amendment.
Special Correspondence of the Gazette.

OF tue state, as well as tue pOlIllCHi ledu
ers thereof, behold the struggles of {
few earnest men to establish a home fol
the old and worn out veterans who bore
for years the rigors of war, and faced
death bravely on numberless battle
fields. Why there should be such seeming
Indifference and carelessness about thi:
matter is most strange. A few men who
four years ago devoted themselves to the
charitable work of establishing home
for the old vets who could no longer sup
port themselves, and of smoothing as
well as they were able, the pathway TO
the graves of the old and decayed heroes
have been permitted to bear-I may say
almost alone-the entire burden OF the
undertaking. AS TO the management
and conduct of il, they have had no sort
of help, doing the work themselves, and
of course without pay. BY dint of beg
gIng and numerous appeals to the char
liable, considerable sums of money con-
trbuted in a desultory way have bsen
obtained, until now the institution,
though woefully inadequate both as to
size and pleteuess, is reality, and q
merciful boon to the battered aud storm
torn waits sheltered comfortably aud fed
WITHIN IT'S HosPITABLE WALLS.
A visit to the Home, situated on the
outskirts of the capital city, will amply
repay the curious. There one will find
fifty-four manned and diseased wrecks
OF humanity, some with o leg gone,
some an arm, one stiffened by chronic
rheumatism, another the victim of con-
sumption and so on, all disabled and in
capable of doing for themselves, entirely
dependent on the mercy of their fellow
man. Their quarters are neatly kept,
their food plentiful aud rich, and about
them one finds an air of contentment
that bespeaks the thankfulness of CRATE
full hearts. Besides the fifty-f four IN
mates who now tax the Home
10 It's utmost TO accommo-
date them, the superintendent,
Mr. Barnet, told me that there are thirty
other applicants clamoring 10 be taken
in. OF course there is no room, aud
they must wait their turn until some
DIE OR WANDER AWAY,
as an odd one does now and then, who
having reeuperaied a store of strength in
the home, goes out to do battle with the
world once more and earn few dollars,
merely for the sake OF being independ-
eut. The Superintendent is frequently
annoyed by qualified applicants who have
been refused admittanCe on account of
no accommodations, presenting them
selves at the home, sent there presuma-
bly, by those on whom they
are burden, and insisting on
being taken in when the thing
isl possible, and they must be sent back
whence they came at some cost to the
home and much disappointment to them
selves.
The little graveyard only a few steps
from the home, containing the bones of
some twenty odd of the inmates who
have died in the past three years, was
pointed out. 1t Is neat little plat of
ground on the brow of the hill on which
the home stands. The graves are ranged
regularly in two rows, and at the head
of each is placed a headboard with the
dead man 8 name and that of the COM
pany in which he served inscribed
thereon. The decayed flowers placed
there by friendly hands were
seen still lying on four freshly
made graves; that many of the
inmates having died in July. 1t will be
thus seen how rapidly the war-scarred
old heroes
ARE PASSING AWAY,
and what a blessing the home is to those
fortunate enough to fiud shelter there.
1t should be stated that none but those
unable to make living, and
at present bona fide citizens of Texas,
are admitted.
Without going into detail, it may be
well to state what Mr.. II. E. Shelly,
president of the home, told me of its
assets at present. The home itself en-
tirely paid for, is worth about
SIS 900, its original cost being $4,000. 1t
has about S14 900 loaned out at 10 per
cent. interest, and city property valued
1T $4,000 besides $500 in bank. The ex-
penditures include pay of superinten-
dent, cook, nurse and physician, and
$40 a month per head for the keeping of
At present the expenditures
exceed the income by about S2500 Il year,
1 sum that has to lie made up by contri-
buttons, or in whatsoever way possible.
What is imperatively needed Is in
creased Accommodations and more
money. If accommodations were am
Die, President Shelly says that
here would be 100 old veterans
n the home within few days.
How shall the money be raised? That is
he rub, and the vexatious problem that
puzzles the committee. The
asst legislature refused to make an ap-
because the constitution
prohibited the appropriation of any
money to ''private institutions or to in
lividuals. - 1t has been suggested that
he state take charge OF the home and
make
PUBLIC INSTITUTION
II it on which it might spend as much |
money as it pleased. But this proposition |
5 met with the objection that in such an
vent the home would be open o the re- |
eption of negroes and ex-Union soldiers. |
Is the committee who have charge |
4 the home are not especially |
uxious to turn it over TO the |
tate for the reason that they want it |
ept out of politics, state ownership is
ot pressed.
The committee claims that if so
minded the legislature can do for them I'LL
hey ask indirectly aud without violating
he constitution. 1t can turn over to
hem lot of public land at nominal
emit, the usufruct of which they can
Sc protitably on the home; or it can
md them a sum of money at q nominal
ate of interest. which they
lay reloan at current rates. AS
recedent for such course they point TO
he leasing to them by the legislature of
he temporary capitol building for
3 yenr, which they rerent for
bout $500. II the legislature can