Evening star., 1893-12-06
How the Poor and Unfortunate Are
Cared For in This City.
The SHARP PINCHINGO OF POVERTY.
The Organized Mediums of Bring
ing Desired Relief.
THE DEMAND THIS YEAR.


emphasized the fact that want and suffer-
ing exists among the poor of the city
However, this fact has been a familiar one
| to those interested in the administration of
charity ever since the cold weather began.
1t Is the cold that develops a good deal of
| the need for relief. 1t is the snow, as a
rule, that causes the general public to real
ize that there are those who stand in need
| of help. 1t is natural, therefore, that the
volume Of contributions, either in money or
clothes, for the benefit of the poor should
be sensibly increased even since the fall Of
the snow yesterday morning.
The stream of public and private charity
which flows deep and broad In this city
Is divided into a great many rivulets and
rills of varying size and Importance, but all
reaching the homes Of want and poverty
and giving aid which is most needed. There
is the charitable individual. sometimes with
a heart as large as the purse and then.
again, with the purse in inverse ratio to
the size of the heart. He or she visits the
poor at their homes and gives help as 1t
seems the occasion demands. They use
| their friends as their bankers, and very
cheerful bankers most of them prove to be.
with a good-natured laxness in regard to
the cashing of checks. The truth is, the
majority Of good, charitable people prefer
some one else to do the Summing" as 1t
is sometimes called. while. on the other
hand, they are perfectly willing to foot the
bills. The drafts upon their time and SYM
pathy are not so cheerfully borne as those
upon their bank accounts.
From the Churches.
The churches do vast deal to relieve the
human misery which exists in all cities. In
nearly every church of all denominations
are found societies which are devoted to
work among the poor. They have a treas
ury to draw upon. and the members go
about from house to house and thus dis
pense their aims. Then there are organiza-
tions Of various kinds. which either Incl
dentally or as one of the main features look
after the unfortunate class. The Central
Union Mission offers conspicuous ex-
ample. 1t furnishes lodging and meals to
those in need of temporary help, and de-
mand in return, where practical GER
tain amount of work in their wood yard.
They minister to the body as we'll as to the
soul, and they are not compelled to turn
away deserving men and women simply be-
cause the hour has arrived when the re-
ligious meeting which is held daily must
close. The influence of the mission contin-
ues after the meetings, and the endeavor Is
by practical means of help to keep men
from falling any further into the slough In
which they generally are when the mission
takes hold of them
The Associated Charities Is an organiza-
tion which aims to cover the entire city
with a net work of societies which are &C
lively interested in the work of relief. The
general office of the society Is located at
s11 G street. and there may be found the
secretary. Mr.. l.. s. Emery, who has filled
that place for the past eleven years. Mr..
Emery was listening to an appeal for help
when a Star man entered the office this
morning. A young colored man was the
applicant. and he said that he was out of
had irving
some place a cook, which was his busi-
ness. He had failed. He had a wife and a
little child five years of age. His wife was
able to work, but could not get place be-
cause her clothes were not "itten," as the
man expressed II. They had fuel in the
house, but no food, having eaten their last
meal last evening. The man said he was
willing to work. and his wife was willing to
work II they could get 1t to do.
The Work Test.
A crucial test as II appeared, was made
by Mr.. Emery, who had brought out all
this information by series of questions.
when he asked the man in conclusion IL
he would saw wood. The man said he
would, and then Mr.. Emery gave him an
order for some meal, flour, meat, beans. and
told him to go home and get something to
eat and feed his family, and then return to
the office. where he wanted him to go 10
work. The man promised that he would re-
turn, and taking his order, went off to the
grocery store to have it filled.
1t seemed, from Mr.. Emerys experience,
that the little wood shed in the back yard
is the rock upon which the schemes of
many who have designs upon the funds of
the society split and go all to pieces. The
impoStorS don't want to work, and when
the wood shed looms up before them they
manage to leave and seek more congenial
scenery. Sometimes they break the saw or
dull the ak with the view of lessening
their hours of toll.
Mr. E'r,ar taf demands
made upon the society this year began
earlier than usual. Generally speaking the
appeals are more numerous after the hol-
idays, and then the statement commonly
made is that work stopped after the hol-
idays. But this year work ceased much
earlier, and Mr.. Emery says that the task
of relief began almost as soon as the cold
weather set in.
The City I'm Districts.
In addition to the central office the
ciety has subdivisions, which are in the
care of organizations formed of people liv-
ing in the locality covered by the subdvi-
sion, and through their board of visitors
aid Is brought to the homes of the poor.
The city is divided into districts, and it is
supposed that in each district an organiZa-
ton connected with the general society
would be formed, but this has been done in
a partial manner. In East Washington
there are three subdivisions in existence,
There is one in Georgetown and in the
northwestern section between Georgetown
and the city. The other sections are looked
after by visitors appointed by the main So
ciety. AS far as possible the cases receiv-
ing relief are visited by a representative
of the society and help given which seems
to be needed.
The aid through this agency includes not
only food, but fuel and clothing While the
demand has been greater than usual it is
expected that the resources of the society
which are entirely what is given by the pub
lie, will be sufficient to permit 1t to con-
tinue the work during the winter as II has
in past years. While The Star man was at
the office this morning a wealthy resident of
the city came in to present the organiZa-
tion his check for $50. Such a sum can be
made to go a good ways, Mr.. Emery ex-
planned for under their system they were
able TO buy much more cheaply than the
people could, even If they had the money
The prediction is made that the suffering
Will be greater this year than ever before
and as this is generally admitted by the
charitable workers, whether their efforts
are made through organizations or individ-
ually, the result will be that the calls for
help VIII become more urgent and frequent
Dependent on the Dumps.
There are hundreds of families depend
ent upon the city dumps for fuel, and the
heavy snow yesterday put a temporary
stop to this way of receiving assistance
and the result was that many houses were
minus the usual warm fires last night and