The sun., 1893-12-30
POVERTY IN THREE CITIES.
ONE THIRTEENrH OF P<TBRsoE's
POPULATION RECEITING Ard.

/
the Tsria Bis-sd for the Desut-t'e-.
Destitution In the city OF Paterson is rapidly
nearing the high water mark Of 1873. when IL
was estimated that one in ten OF the total
popul lation was dependent on charity for the
necessities Of life. II the statistics that TIE
Sun reporter gathered there yesterday are
correct. the proportion OF destitute now Is one
| in thirteen. That Ia to say. that proportion
| have made known their wants and are already
| receiving aid from public charity. How many
| there are beyond this number who are being
| supported privately or who are getting money
only sufficient to keen soul aud body together
by doing odd jobs for 10. 10. or 25 cents. or
| whatever they can get is not known. IL is
| believed to be great. Every one In Paterson
attributes the depression to tariff agitation.
The business streets are filled with idle men
| lettering about the street corners. At the cor
| ner OF Market and Harrison streets yesterday
| afternoon no less than a hundred men stood
watching ten or fifteen who were at work on
the foundations OF q new building. The lot was
enclosed By high board fence. and the mon
| TODD looking through the cracks between the
boards.
what are you waiting forT' the Bun re-
porter asked Of one man whose oily clothes In
dicated that he was machinist
| Work" he answered
Are you mason p asked the reporter.
NO" was the response. I'm an engineer
| in a factory. The place has shut down and I'm
| looking for q job. 30 are all these other fell
lows. and guess my chances are pretty slim.
Are you one of the bosses here"
lam not" replied the reporter but I'd
like to know what work you could do here"
what can do 2" answered the man. why.
can do anything. carry bricks or mortar.
clean up roll barrels. anything. don't care
xyh NJ Ia hat n rfa N hall
dollar out Of It Man. I've got wife and seven
children home and nothing to eat in the
house"
why don't you 90 to the Relief Committee 2"
"R-e-l.ic-f Committee" he said scornfully.
"C-h-a-r-i-t-yl Not as long as I've got
two arms. get s25o day" he said. when
I'm at work. That wasn't any more than
enough. but We get along now on half dollar
q day"
Around on tho other side OF the fence an
other man was talked to. and what he had to
say was in the same strain. He was q ma
chinlst and had worked In the Rogers Loco
motive Works He had a family OF four. A
third man had been employed in the Passaio
roller mills and had q family OF seven depend
ing on him. These men and others with
whom tho reporter talked laid the blame for
their being out OF work on the agitation OF
the tariff question. and they didn't see any
hope Of getting back to work for long time
to come.
The Citizens Relief Committee of Paterson
has Just got into full working order. Thursday
afternoon 1t opened q general distributing
station In the Central Market building It was
equipped with 1000 pounds Of salt pork. 2.U40
pounds Of 6esns g. 1000 G9Sunds GS Of Goldfish; and
to the heads Of families-sixteen ounces for
ench child over five years and each adult per-
child under Ave. This was called q two days
supply and applicants were told they might
The scene at the opening Of the rooms was
lively: Their, were 100 persons nghting Tor
o Ro e @nq In ehs TSss TWO aa the
hands full up to the hour in the early evening
that the room % vas closed. AZ that time 793
1913 persons, had been provided for. There
had been many other applicants who had been
away. Yesterday the women OF the committee
spent the day visiting the homes Of new appli-
ing Besides be- H the the 800 the com init mittse helped on
Thursday the Poormaster aDd the Police Com
getting aid from the regular public charity.
The number they are helping is increasing
II is not alone In cities like Paterson that the
hard times are pinching. In cities ike Passaio
and Plainileld. with populations Of twelve. and
persons who are positively not able to buy
even bread to save them from starvation are
year ago Passaic has law which provides
that any person who has not been a resident
City Poormastsr. This keeps tho number OF
applicants down to about the normal number
SHs H%snT and tn. AFSqs
the little city shows the increase. The
Sa said he had only twenty families
house. There are a dozen charitable societies
In the city. One lazy who Is connected with
she had more than thirty families on her list
Thirty families mean not less than $50 per-
master has makes 800 persons. aud the other |
societies Of course. have their share. Passaic |
~ and cssr
that nearly all the factories In the town were |
manage to fesp open Few
days wssE and In tsst wy @ the ssmDiOSss;
yersiied, and that puts the city In a much bet |
ter position than Paterson. where there are
The reporter rode from Passaic to Paterson
on a trolley car. and on that car was woman
@ her ars Mss She said her % man had % been SS out
Of work for three months. and she was going
the Kellei Committee there. Neither she nor
her children had had a mouthtul to eat for
thirty ,hhIrtySH h9ITS she % said she was ,h,. behind
with eviction. A purse OF SO. 40 was made up
by the passengers Tor her. and q butcher who
The city Of Plain6sld is not a manufacturing
merchants. but IL has ave factories Pond
Tool Works, the Potter and Scott Press " orks.
an Oilcoth factory, and q carpet factory. The
Pond works and the carpet factory have been
closed some time, The other three places are
running on half time; with not more Than halt
forces. Mr.. Potter OF the Potter Press Works
says that he Is running the factory more as
charity than for business purposes.
We have made no money there" he says
" for long time but many OF our men cannot
Afford to be idle a minute and it is for their
benefit that tho works are kept open"
The Pond Tool Works expect to open In a
week with one-quarter or one-half the usual
force, II 10 not yet decided which and II 10 not
decided definitely, but It 10 believed that the
wages will be reduced There is talH also Of
starting tho carpet works again. hut so far ii
Is only talk Every church In Panilsld has
charity OF its own, and each Is caring for a
large number OF destitute families. The Poor
master also has a double number The whole |
number OF destitute families Is not known but
IL is known that nearly all the new families sp-
plying are those OF mechanics. who In ordinary |
times are prosperous,
PlainheId has what its organizers declare
the most practical charity OF any suburban. |
town. The money which is subscribed by the |
citizens for the poor Is spent in street im- |
provemept The city funds are low. and there
Is no public money TO spend. The repairing OF |
streets is not ABSOLUTELY necessary, but in order