The Portland daily press., 1890-03-20
FACE TO FACE WITH STARVATION.
pestItution Among the Miners Of the
Wyoming Valley.
a Dinner of Potato ParIngs and
Crushed Oats.
The People Taking Steps to Relieve
the Widespread Distress.

| WILKEsBARRE, Penn, March 19.-Tht
| people OF the Wyoming valley are just awak
ening to the fearful amount of distress and
| destitution existing among the mining popu
lation. Never since the time of the great
strike in the early 7o's has such widespread
and hopeless poverty existed.
The men have been making barely enough
to keep going, and instead of getting better
things have been growing worse. The hard
times Of the winter and early spring of 1888
'S9 exhausted every resource they had, and
though the work Of the summer months
came in time to prevent starvation, they had
absolutely nothing left to fall back upon
when the dull season of last fall set in.
The mines in the Wyoming valley have
not, as whole. worked more than one.
quarter time since September. Almost half
OF them have been closed entirely, and many
of them have worked only four or five days
a month The average wages OF the miners
during this time have been under $50 per
month, and there are hundreds and hund-
reds of men-with large families, t00-WhO
have not received $50 in the whole six
months.
AS result, they are now face to face
with starvation, and urgent necessity has
arisen for prompt and liberal aid.
Already the work of relief has been ac-
lively begun. In this city an organization
has been formed under the name of the
Benevolent Association. Committees have
been appointed to canvass different sections
and ascertain who are in urgent need, and
an executive committee has been appointed
to take charge of the distribution of sup
plies.
A large storeroom, lent free for the pur-
pose by Timothy Parkes, was opened yester-
day for the reception OF supplies, and pub
lie call for assistance has been issued by the
board of trade. Committees are also being
organized to solicit money and supplies
throughout the city.
On Coal street and its vicinity the instances
of absolute destitution encountered were ap-
palling. In one household where there are
five children and sick wife, an old lady was
found boiling potato parings mixed with
crushed oats for the family's midday meal.
Several Of the children were in the house
shoeless and clothed in rags. In the inner
room woman of less than 30 years. with
haggard featul es, was lying in bed with
poor little baby of year old in her arms.
They were scantily covered with ragged
quilt. The mark of crushing poverty was on
everything.
who was the husbands mother, "Jim hasn't
done stroke of work, and before then 1t
was bad enough. We haven't had scrap
of fresh meat in the house in all that time,
and little enough Of anything else. God
Knows W0dL III DeCOIu6 VI uos
In the next house, where there were seven
children, things were little better, for
some of the girls were earning scanty wages
in factory. Their earnings were not So
week, and on this the family has subsisted
for months. They were eating their dinner
whea the committee arrived, and all that
was on the table was a loaf Of rye bread and
a jug Of mOlasses. The gaunt look OF the
father, a man OF 45 years, and the plnched
faces Of the children showed that they knew
what hunger was.
Close by was a small store, kept by Reese
Grifiths. He told the committee that every
day from one to two dozen women came to
his place begging for anything in the line OF
clothing or provisions, and had asked
permission to gather what was left upon his
family table after meals. These women
told most pitiable tales Of .priyation and suf-
fering, and 1t was the hardest task in the
world to refuse them when lie knew that
every word they said was true.
Close by the store lived woman with
three children, whose husband had been in
utterly unable to WORK Vol k"anitff}s tits iays SaVal
not received one penny except Through char
ity in all that time, and now that their neigh
bOrs were almost as badly off as they, star
vation stared them in the face. They had
sold all the furniture that could possibly be
spared, and the poor woman told the CON-
mittee that beyond a few crusts of dry
bread the family had eaten nothing for two
days.
Other houses were visited in which almost
as bad condition was found. Hundreds OF
families in the city are reduced to the last
extremities.
The situation in most of the surrounding
towns is as bad, if not worse, and in almost
every one of them public efforts are being
made to provide for the alleviation OF this
widespread destitution. The appeal Of the
board of trade, made public last night, sets
forth the pressing need which exists, and
calls upon the people of the city to con-
tribute literally aud promptly in money and
pnods