Milford chronicle., 1891-04-17

. A4k Al0 1AAAOAAAA eAa4 kA1WAA44 e@t~ 49,
playing. They are not only useless, bat
they are dangerous. How hard It is for
/ them to while away the hOursl Alas, for
theml If they do not know how 70 while
away an hour, what will they do when
they have all eternity on their hAndsi
These men for while smoke the best ei-
gars and wear the BEST clothes and move
in the highest spheres, but I have noticed
\ that very soon they come down 70 the
prison, the almshouse. or stop 1t the gal
lows.
The police stations Of this cluster Of
cities furnish annually b0tween two and
three hundred thousand lodgings For the
most part these two and three hundred
thousand lodgings are furnished to able
bodied men and wOmen-People IS able to
work as you and are. When they are ne
ceived no longer at one police station be-
cause they are "repeaters" they 90 to
some other station, aud 50 they keep NOV
| ing around. They get their food at house
[ doors, stealing what they can lay their
/ hands on in the front basement while the
/ servant Is spreading the bread In the back
basement They win not work. Time and
/ again, in the country districts, they have
wanted hundreds and thousands OF labor
eFs. These men will not 90. They do not
want to work. have tried them. have
set them to saving wood in my cellar 70
see whesher they wanted TO work. Of
1 fered 70 pay them well for IL. / have
heard the saw going for about three min
ubes, and then went down, aud lOl the
! wood. but no saWl They are the pest Of
society, and they stand In the way OF the
Lords poor who ought 70 be helped, and
must be helped, and will be helped
While there arc thousands OF industrious
men who cannot get any work, these men
who do not want any work come in and
make that plea. am In favor OF the re-
tOFatiOn Of the old fashioned whipping post
for just this one class OF men who viii not
wOrk-sleeping ct night IS public expense
in the station house; during the day get
ting their food at youE doorstep. ImpFls-
Onment does not scare them. They wOHld
like it. Biaekwell's Island or Sing Sing
would be 4 comfortable home for them.
They Woald have no objection 20 tie ainas-
house, for they like thin soup. IL they can
not get mock taFtla
propose this for them, On one aide Of
them put some healthy work; on tbs other
side put raWhide, and let them take thalr
chOioa Ihke for that class Of paople The
scant bill Of fare that PanI wrote ont for
the ThessalOoian loafefs, ''if any work not,
neither should he eat" BY what law Of
God or man Is it right that you and
should toll day in and day out, until our
hands are blistered and our arms ache and
our brain gets numb, and then be called
upon to support what in the United States
are about two million lOafers. They are q
very dangerous class. Let the public au-
thOrities keep their eyes on them.
THR ILL TREATED BECOME DEsPKRATR.
Again, among the upFooting Glasses
Il 81 4
certain extent Is Christening, bat AFTER that.
when it drives 3 man to the wall, and be
hears his children cry In vain for bread. it
sometimes makes him desperate think
that there are thousands Of honest men
laeerated into vagahondism. There are
men crushed under burdens for which they
are not half paid. While there is no ex-
euse for eriminahty, even in oppeeaaion, |
state It Is a simple fact that much OF the
scoundFelism Of the community Is eonss-
Qusnt upon ill treatment. There are many
men and women battered and bruised and !
stung until the hour Of despair has come. |
and they stand with the faroeity Of 4 Wild |
beast which, pursued until It can run no
longer, turns round, foaming and bleeding, |
to fight the hounds.
There Is a vast underground New York |
and Brooklyn life that Is appalling and |
shameful. Il WalloWs and steams with |
putrefaction. You 60 down the staiEa. |
which ara wet and decayod with flth, and |
at the bottom you find the poor victims on |
the floor, cold, Eick, thEee-touFths dead, |
sIinking into q still darker corner under |
the CLEAN Of the lantern Of the poliee. /
There has not been = breath OF fresh air In /
that room for Eve years, literally. The /
broken sewer emptias its contents upon |
them, and they lie at night Ia the swim /
ming filth. There they are man, women, |
children; blacks, whites; Mary Haeaalen |
without her repentance, and LasArus I
without his God. These arc 'tho diVasH I
into which the piekpoekets and the thieves /
90, as well as q great many who would like 1
a different life but eannot get It.
These places are the sores Of the city.
which bleed perpetual corruption They
are the underlying VoleAnO that threatena
us with q Caracas earthquake. Il rolls
and roars and surpA and heavas and rocks
and blasphemes and dies, and thare are
only two outlets for 1.-THE police court
and the Potter's field In other words,
they must either 60 to prison or 70 hell.
Oh you never saw Il. you say. You never
viii see It until on the day whan those
staggering wretehas shall come up In the
light OF the Judgment throne, and whileall
4AAAAHE AAAAAHef ~
you what you did to help them.
There IS another layer Of poverty and
destitution not 80 sqaahd, bat almost as
helpless. You hear the incessanb Waiiing
for bread and clothes and hre. Their eyes
are sunken. Their cheek bones stanA Out
Their hands are damp with slow cOnsumD-
tiOn. Their hesh Is pulled up with dpop-
sies. Their breath IS nke that Of the char
nal house. They hear The roar Of the
wheels Of fashion Overhead and the gay
laughter Of maa and maidsus, and wonder
why God gave 20 others 90 much and 70
hhem 90 litsIe. some OF them thrust inao
an inidelity like that Of the. pOor German
girl who, when told 10 the midst Of her
Wretehedness that God was good, said:
mo; no good God. just look at me, No
good God"
OUR $4,000 MIsERABLY PooR.
In this cluster Of cities whose cry Of
vans interpret there are said to be, as far
as ! can figure it up from the reports,
about three hundred thousand honest
poor who are dependent upon individ-
ual, city and state charities. II all their
voices could come up at once IL would
be q groan that would shake the founda-
tons Of the city and bring all earth
and heaven to the rescue. But for the
most part It suffers unexpressed- II
sits in silence gnashing It's teeth and suck
ing the blood Of It's own arteries waiting
for the judgment day. Oh, should not
wonder IL on that day 1t would be found
out that some Of US had some things that
belonged TO them, some extra garment
which might have made them comfortable
IN cold days; some bread thrust into the
ash barrel that might lave hppeassd their
hunger for little while; some wasted can
die or gas jet that might have kindled up
their darkness; some frescO on the ceiling
that would have given them roof; some
jewel which, brought TO that orphan girl
in time, might have kept her from being
crowded oG the precipices Of an unelean
Life, some New Testament that would
have told them OF him who 'came TO seek
and ss=s that which was lost"
o., this wave Of vagrancy and hunger
and nAkedness that dashes against our
front door stepl II the roofs Of ali the
houses Of distribution could be lifted 90 we