Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1893-12-01

There Was No lndiscnminase
GmnQ Yesterday
IMPosTERs NEED NOT APPLY
Greas Improssness Over the oisi was
OF Dsaliax with the Cirys foor,
on IhAnksgising.

l1EN - AANe31 ~ ~ -@1'~& 80 |. - - - 49,
charitable people Of the town yesterday
aud compared IL with the work OF formss
years could not fail 10 noties the great
beaeet resulting fron having eentrsl
soc.>sy and perfect organization az the
helm to direct the efforts Of the people.
In former years the collecting OF great
stores Of provisions. clothing aud foot
wear and the indiscrsminats distribn-
ton % them Vas the great feature OF
the day Old women with half dozen
ragged and dirty children would call At
the depot Of supplies aud nnblushingly
ask tor aims. giving the little ones their
first lesson In paupsrism. Not anfr.-
quently the sane person would apply
several times in the day. or two or more
members OF the same household would
at different times get supplies. The re-
suits Of course were bad. for while many
needy persons were well fed for one or
TIVE days IL opened wide the gates Tor
the imposter aud the sneak 90 get IN his
work. Usually those OF the latter class
were able TO carry away the largest part
Of the gOods No one Was to blame for
this a. II was impossible 10 sell who were
and who were not impostsrs
Benefits or Organization.
Yesterday there was no indiscriminate
giving. The doors Of the Organized
Charity society were locked and the few
callers. most OF them professional beg
gars. were turned away and told to
come another day. Many or them
sought the depot OF supplies on Foun-
tain street and applied for aims there.
One woman with two or three little
ones called and almost demanded shoes.
making the children hold up their ILL
clad feet to show how much IN need OK
shoes they were. She was told that
nothing would be given out from that
place this winter. Application must DO
made at the Charity society on Diyis-
ion street. aud all goods given out would
be given from that place. She was also
told that she must not bring her chill
dren any more IL she expected 10 get
anything for them. There Is good
supply Of clothing, potatoes, turnips
and -four deposited in the depot and
will be distributed to the really deserv-
ing families IL 10 not to be UNDERWOOD
that in case Of real hunger the society
would wait to investigate before relief
IL offered. But ia all cases except these
extreme cases full investigation will be
made before q Recommendation to give
away any Of the goods will be made.
Much Of the clothing will need repairs and
| In the work room q dozen or more men
and women are busy placing neat patches
upon the partly worn garments 80 they
| will be as good a. new when given away.
Wednesday afternoon the Charity So
ciety was 20 beseiged by a delegation OF
Holland people that Neil DeRuyter was
obliged to deliver them alecture in their
own language before they could be made
to understand that nothing was TO be
| given out without Investigation. The
| trouble was owing to q mistake made in
DE Standard. the Holland paper. in
which il was stated that general dis
tribution OF goods would take place.
In response to j. w. Rosenthal's
| generous offer to feed all pcrsons sent 10
I him who had not been provided with a
dinner from other sources. about 80 per.
sons called. Most OF them were given
| tickets for meal at q restaurant, but
several were imposters and were turned
away.
A Sample Appeal.
One OF the laughable incidents OF the
day was a postal card received by one
branch OF the Charity society which
read as follows: I'm q poor lone wo-
man. and hearing that you are going TO
do something for the poor. / hope may
be classed among them IL was not
signed but a street and number were
given. The Organized Charity Society
| will investigate the case and il the wo-
man il able to work. an attempt viii be
made to find employment for her that
she may earn her own living.
Two little girls called at Charity
headquarters about 10 clock yesterday
They were begging and when questioned
1t was learned that they resided outside
the city limits near Burton avenue.
They had walked from homo and had
begged all the way down town They
were at once seat home, and the case
viii DO investigated 10 see what Ii
needed for the family.
Two children met a man on Canal
street ana told him their mother was
sick and they had no dinner lie was
ready ID buy their dinner when the dis
trict nurse OF the Charity society
stepped up and told him that she knew
/ the family and knew that the mother
/ was rot sick and that the family had
sufficient food In the house 10 keep them
/