The herald., 1893-05-29
THE ARMY or UNEMPLOYED.
The Situation In St. Louis an Index of tho
Condition m Every City Tf,fa Nfnhnr.

Condition m Every city T1sts winter.
The annual problem that confronts St.
Louis, along with other great cities. is
that of the great nurnber Of unen1uloyed
men and women. This problem loses its
force and severity during the spring ard
summer months, for usually during
those periods work Of many kinds Is
plenty, and almost every one finds tenn
porery If not permanent employment.
During the fall and winter many Of tho
trades grow dull, and any number Of
men are thrown out to await the opening
Of the spring trade. It is estimated By
those who have studied the situation
here that over B,e00 men are out Of work
at present who are really anxious and
willing to do anything for living.
Daily thestreets are lined with beggars
andscllsrity seekers, who either ask out
right for a giftof money or who offer
for sale some trife at an exorbitart
price, pleading poverty and inability to
find work as al, excuse.
Nightly the desk sergeants Of the va
rious police stStions are applied to for
beds by more clean, ablsbodied mon
than they can possibly supply. These
applicants are not REGULARS" as the or
dinary applicants are termed, but rather
the irregrlars or trarlsients, who come
once or twice, and then, growing
ashamedof their unhappy predica1nent,
seek other quarters and possibly less
hospitable shelter. It is by such appli-
cants as these that the police gauge the
stress Of the times, and this year the
number of these Is above the ordinary
The merchants and manufacturers Of
the city are daily the recipients of from
to 90 calls from senkers of work,
who are willing to work for little or
nothing, but who cannot possibly bc
supplied. The charitable institutions
are kept busy looking up the condition
OF the many men who apply for assist
ance. The authorities of these institu-
tions assert that there are moro appli-
cants for charity this year than there
have been during the three years past
Mon with families have lost their posi-
tions on account of sickness or dullness
IN trade, and having saved nothing
have nothing to live on.
The books Of the st. Louis Providcnt
association show that 100 families ap-
piled for temporary assistance and re-
ceived it; that 500 more applied and were
refused-not because they were not poor
enough and needy, but because their
mode of life showed that they were
trifiers ard would not make proper ef-
forts to sustain themselves. The Catho-
lie society of St. Vincent de Paul has
supplied 400 families with fuel and food
and refused half that number for gen
cral negligence and idleness This brings
the total number Of investigated cases up
to 2,2G0 In this number, of course, are
not included the many tranps and beg
gars who make their living on the street
corners, nor yet that class who endeavor
to sell small articles on the streets, and
who are nightly compelled to seek tho
police stations for a bed. Neither does
this estimate include the many sick in
the charitable hospitals and houses, nor
those temporarily sustained by private
contributions. 1t is safe to say that
from 5000 to 10000 people are out Of
work and cannot possibly obtain it ex-
cept that some other worker is thrown
ont
The epidemic of typhoid and other
fevers few weeks since has been pro
ductive Of the greatest Suffering. The
sole supports of many hundred families
were compelled to remain idle for weeks.
In majority of these cases the places of
the sick were not filed by temporary
employees. The work of the department
vacated was either allowed to drift on
without being filled OF ii was filed per-
manentiy, and the sick made to seek an-
other place. The epidemic, therefore, v:.a
productive of the most widespread pov-
erty and suffering
w. j. Clark, superintendent of the s..
Louis Proviaent association, when visited
by a reporter yesterday, said of the sitcs
ton: "There are apparently moro men
out of work this year than In the past
and there are good reasons for the dis
tress. The growth of St. Louis has no
doubt little to do with the number of
persons applying TO charitable organiza-
tions for aid. The sickness that has been
90 prevalent here for the last few months
has had more. We receive daily dozen
or more appeals from poverty stricken
parents who cannot find work. The num-
Der Of families that apply through the IA
ther or mother average about 10 day.
A family averages about six members, so
that the applicants represent go people.
We have received some 1900 appeals Of
this kind, 500 of which we have refused
The trampsand nethodical beggars who
come and go we do not count, for where
applicants cannot show satisfactory ref
erences we do not give any assistance
There is no question, however, that there
are more men out of work this winter
than there were last, for our books show
1t. We give away bread and coal to ap-
p1icants, also clothing, but this is con
tributed by residents of the city Just
at present we are in great need OF cloth
ing for children. We have any number
of appeals for old clothing that we can
not possibly fill" "-St. Louis Glols-Dela.
ecrat.