The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1892-01-21
Died AMIDST POVERTY.
A Child That Was Almost
Literally Starved.
NEITHER FIRE, FOOD NOR MEDICINE
Sufferings of Silk Weaver Wag-
ner's Family in West
H0bOken.

The direst poverty, with all the In
creased misery that this harsh season
gives to it, was revealed yesterday in the
discovery of the destitution of the family
of Herman Wagner, an unemployed silk
weaver of West Hoboken. When neigh
bors visited his small apartments yester-
day on Traphagen street, SIX year old
child was lying dead in one room while
in another there was sick baby, yet there
was neither fire nor food in the place.
Wagner is silk weaver and until a
month ago was employed in one of the
West Hoboken silk mills. Sickness
forced him to leave work, and when he
recovered after two weeks and reported
for work, he was told that his place had
been filled and there was no work for
him. He could not obtain employmen
anywhere, and as his wages were small
at best, there were no savings to draw
from.
What little there was to pawn went
piece by piece until at last there was
nothing left that could be disposed of
for food.
THEN MORE MISERY CAME.
Then the little -year-old became i'll.
In all their misfortune this did not see m
much. The little one did not complain,
but as the days passed and they were un-
able to give her medicine or even food
she faded gradually away until she de-
clined into shadow, and finally died
from weakness-almost actually from
starvation. Then the older child, boy
of eight years, was taken ill. There was
no food or medicine for him either. and
no fire.
The snow as it wound about the house
and hid the ugly road. drifted into their
rooms through the broken windows. and
the heavy blasts OF wind chilled them as
it swept into their rooms whirling the
the snow about and freezing the destitute
family in its embrace. Still there was no
assistance.
Each day the father patrolleG the
streets in vain effort to find work, and
the mother staid at home with her sick
child watching it suffer while she moaned
over her helDlesSneSs to secure 1t 1000 or
aid. AT night they all slept crowded to-
gether for warmth
They lived this way for almost week.
their last few possessions which were un-
pawned were sold for few pennies, and
with these bread was bought, and in this
dry bread they existed.
ABSOLUTELY WITHOUT BREAD.
For the past two days they have not
even had that, and have lived absolutely
without food. They were either too ig-
norant of the way to obtain aid from the
town or else they shrank from the shame
of it. They would probably have all been
dead this morning if their neighbors had
not talked of their condition, and finally
some of them went into the house.
They found the family without fire, all
huddled together in a sort of stupified
state. The father said they had not eaten
anything for Two Gays, and the mother
was swayiug to and fro sobbing with
grief over the dead child, which lay in
another room and which they could not
bury.
The neighbors soon had fire going in
the broken down stove and prepared food
for the starving family.
The town authorities have been noti-
fed of the condition of the family and
will give them relief. 1t is believed that
the neighbors will contribute to pay the
funeral expenses of the dead child's
burial