The St. Johns herald., 1891-05-21
PROSPERITY AND PIE.
An Illustration of How the One
 Feeds ca the Other.
Statistics Which Tell Unc-rinsly the Actual Condition of t.le EIasscs-EIow the Big Bakers Dispcnse Charity to
 Hungry Crowds.


 passes is not likely to spend his last nickel in the luxury of 9 triangular cut of juicy apple pie. Even that monarch of pies, the fascinating but unwhole- some mince pie, sends up it's alluring Odor in vain; the man with the aching void passes by on the other side and spends his nickel for doughnuts or a nam sandwich with mustard on it.
 The connection between poverty and pie, says the Chicago News, is not a subtle, iadefnablc abstraction which requires q metaphysical mind to unravel. It is as plain as twicc-told tale and good deal more interesting.
 When the sale of pies runs below zero, hard, pinching poverty is abroad in the land and want takes the best seat at the poor mans table. As times grow better more pies are sold and want sEeals out into the alley. lR some countries the infallible test of poor mans prosper ity comes with his ability to eat butter with his bread In the United States pie is the sovereign test. The man who can't afford to eat pie with his lunch is poor indeed.
 Each of the big pie factories of Chi cago possesses q barometer, which re- cords the upward and downward tend encies of grim poverty with Q nicety that leaves the professional gatherer of statistics away in the rear. Take the statement of the sales of these factories and you have the best and most perfect register of the prosperity of Chicago that is available. In the summer months, when the work ing-man has plenty of employment, the figures run high. As the dull season approaches these same figures grow less and less, marking a perfect grad ation until hardpan is reached, when they begin to mount once more. Com pare the figures of ono year with an- another and you get the complete statistics Of the subject. This sugges- tion is thrown out gratuitously to the students of economic questions.
 Just now things are in 8 bad way for the poor man. Business is dull and the labor market is overcrowded. The bake-shops and confectionery stores feel the pressure more perhaps than any other class of business. Not alone is it noticeable in decreased sales, but also in the increasing number of appli- cants for charity.
 Any evening between six and seven o'clock may be noticed crowd of twenty or thirty poorly dressed women and children with their baskets in their hands standing at the back door of downtown bakery. They are waiting for the evening distribution of broken victuals. Most of them are foreigners, with here and there a person who looks as if she had known better days. Not all of them are recipients of charity. Some bring money with them and insist on paying for what they get. These make up the self-respecting ele- ment who are making hard struggle to rise out of the slough of poverty. {! A little group of swarthy Italians stands short distance from the others. They are waiting to buy stale bread. They are particular in what they eat, it is said. Not every kind of stale bread will suit them. Rye bread they abhor and are partial to Vienna bread and the fancy kinds.
 Certain clearinghouse keepers come here to buy cake of an ancient make, which they make fresh again by pe- culiar process known only to the initi- ated. The tramp occasionally mingles with the crowd, but his society is ta- booed and the dispenser of charity cold ly warns him off the premises.
 At Washington street bakery char ity begins to distribute her favors about the time the business man has got through with his lunch. Three gener- ations can occasionally be found here. There is the wrinkled grandmother who first saw the light somewhere in Sicily. Her age is uncertain, but it is near seventy. Her daughter and her granddaughter complete the trio The proprietor estimates that nearly fifty persons are fed each day from the pro- visions received in this way. Stale bread is also sold here at from one cent to one and 3 half cent Q loaf The rule in this place is to help every one who looks decent and who doesn't smell of whisky.
 On the West side ct the big bakeries no aid is given to individuals. What there is to be given away is bestowed entirely on charitable institutions. One firm sends out iu this way about fifteen barrels of biscuits Q month, making about seven hundred and fifty pounds.
 A fayorite method of many persons with limited incomes is to purchase broken biscuits and ''cripples." Grip pies arc biscuits twisted out of shape by the heat while in the oven. Nearly twenty barrels of ''cripples" are sold every day.
 It is said to be not uncommon for people to Grivc up ia carriages and purchase broken biscuits. Now and then they are cuctly told that none can be had; but they Sre persistent, and return again and again, So eager