New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-01-10
HUNGRY FAMILIES FED.
. DOLLAR GOES A GREAT WAY.
,,ANs GET GROCERIES FROM THE
rpYp1rNE COAL AND FOOD FUND.

<zooD WORK IN HAltLtM-ihrs 'i
r,r,oS OF THOUSANDS IN THE FOREIGN SET
CLEMENTS OF THIS c1rY-THEY CAN GET
NO WORK AND HAVE NO MONEY
THEIR HOMES VISITED
n, the thousands Of destitute fafi'.es ;" ', -"
.,,v none are in a more pi'iap'e 0o ,,,,.
-, desperate straits than the recent in'' 49,,
"o'' orcorn,ered these hard times before they
""v ,oo,,a fairly established In their new hoH,es'
-, before they could learn the iaheuaee - Wv
no,e among whom they had cast 'ne'. Wv
..aa NJ prosperity and happy nome ..s
$50 ,he same want and misery which 'hes
founu - oco.r N escape They are not. per-
- ~ many instances much worse OH thai ."ey
na. IN the lands OF their fathers. but 'he o,s"'
-, ~ fortune are shattered, anu only "oPe
against hope remains ,on families who
Meet OF the Italian or Russian ia"''' vs."
"a a, Ellis Island few months 10 year .,
iah"e" - "a torra their way to those swamps OF
t"o as ..,,c, .re many and wide In this city,
w 100, almost without exception In sioughs vi
s.snond slowly sinking out OF iiie' their uespe'a
s,ruggles only serving TO exhaust .'ieii " -
Tho East Side of the city contains mus "a
,.,ed neople The downtown district oe'"ee'
mh,ra-ays and the East River, Is vast "aeis'io"'
.,oh Tho poores, naturally fall and go down.
-, ,,o missionaries and sum-workers VINO ss s.
,ema,caly and regularly visit these people Al III
ho,es and eyres know OF the extent VI Vi. '
81 tho Intensity OF the sunering winch eAis' .''o
r. a,,snnt to succor few families there Is u
bring upon contributors an aValahcne u ~,
g. .,a from others. Only charity given ana con-
s,.s an a colossal scale can AFFORD general re-
lief The heart of the people however mas See.
touched by the tales OF want which "a'o -. ~.
hrousht 70 their attention. and IN all paris Va '
H.. o-Sanjzations have been formed, committees
e'S -, .rn,,,,ed and machinery has been put
=, o,,on 70 help the starving and shivering poor
n,ar,s humanity or inhumanity to man Is pe"s
,es,ed The fortunate have now an eNcehe". W
,or,unity 10 prove that the mix Oh hui'a" M
moss has not dried up In the human breast ~
~ are interested IN immigration and the prop
""o -. :, presents can find many object les
w. -. for,h IN thousands OF wretched homes anu
hopeless faces.
HOW THE WORK is DONE
o =, tho nroblems which present themselves
~ the benevolent minded is how TO oes'ow eha1.s
unon the suffering poor in the wises. way
method adopted by The Tribune Coai anu roou
Fund has been to work in conjunction with 'he
1s.,on workers among the afflicted people who
- personally the needy families who are worthy
=, charity. These workers prepare lists OF cases
which they have personally investigated ana ior
which they can vouch. The agent OF the 1uho PASSES
upon these cases and. II necessary makes 's,''
% tho homes of the applicants for charity The
s,s,rhu,ion is then made-groceres to the vaiue Oh
a dollar or a quarter-ton OF COAL or ooth Goa, anu
croceries 10 each family. All expenses for ADMIN
isration transportation. etc.. are Dorne py private
persons Every dollar sent to The Tribune Is spent
to buy coal or food.
No particular district has been selected as the
special field for the distribution. All parts OF the
city will be visited as opportunity offers. or as the
need appears greatest The distribution on MONDAY
was among the poor in the neightornood OF the
Mariners Temple, Henry and Oliver SITS 1t VIII be
continued to-day in the same district few blocks
uptown. 1t took place yesterday In an uptown
district in the midst Of an Italian settlement III
which there IS great distress
THE HARLEM ITALIAN COLONY.
The depot for distribution Of groceries was the
Italian Mission No. 2.224 First-ave.. which is III
charge OF Miss Anna c. Rudy. Miss Ruddy has
worked almost exclusively as a missionary among
the Italians In this city for the last s years She
Is Canadian by birth. and learned the Italian
language in order to reach the people TO whom her
work Is devoted She has been for several years the
missionary in charge of the uptown mission which
was established under the Objection Of the Woman $
Home Missionary Society Of the Methodist Epsco-
pal Church. Her field is the Italian colony between
One-hundred- and-second and Observation-Disclosures
enteenth sts.. and between Third-ave and the
East River. Within this territory about 5000
Italians live. The families about six men,
bers They not as a rule. OF the lowest type,
such as live in Mulberry and Mott sts Most OF
them have been in this country for SIX or seven
years They are tailors, stone masons. shoemakers.
workers in cigar factories and laborers Their con-
dton Is superior to that of their countrymen down.
town in that their longer residence in this country
has taught them some lessons and they under
stand the conditions Of life here better than do
the more recent arrivals Their poverty however.
is Just as absolute as that Of the others at the
present time. Some idea of the enormous increase
Of restitution In this colony in the last few months
may be gained by the statement that the percentage
OF unemployed among them has risen from about
10 per cent so per cent At least 1000 fami-
@lol1..
charity for subsistence. About 10 per cent OF these
people require aid in ordinary times. This pro-
portion is much less than that which is usual in the
downtown colonies. But now heads OF families ss
good work. are idle. They have stood for months
In the market-place and no man hath hired them
prisns 1000 persons who do not belong to the
paupef class, but who are now in absolute want
Everywhere 1t is the same cry: Work, WORK
work" But there is no work to be had
SCENES AT THE MISSION
The Italian mission rooms are on the second floor
Of the wooden building in First-ave, near One-hun.
sredand-fourteenth-st., the first floor. which is
used a clubroom by the Italian Republican Club
of the district, secured the room for dis
tributon. The groceries piled In front OF the
platform. and at D. m, the hour set for giving
out the food. motley array OF Italian men and
women. many Of them with their babies. were &C.
cupying the seats the floor. Miss Rudy had
selected the articles which would be most useful
TO the Italians. and which would go the furthest
with their manner Of cooking These were procured
by the agents Of The Tribune Coal and Food Fund
The cost of the groceries which were given to each
person was one dollar. Each ticket-holder received
the following One bag flour. twenty-five pounds
two cans tomatoes; one package beans, -four
quarts and one package macaroni, three pounds.
Cards had been sent to twenty-slx OF the most
needy families Some OF those present came from
homes In which there had been no food for several
days. The clothing OF all, men, women and chill
dren, was Of the poorest kind all badly worn
Many OF the women had not a small shawl Ia
throw over their heads. Not man had an over
WHOLE FAMILIES AT THE PLACE.
Miss Rudy and the agent OF the fund were as
sisted in the work OF distribution BY Miss Rod
rlguez, Miss Huntington. Miss Annie Pattison. who
has special charge OF the charitable work Of the
mission; Miss Sarah Kirk and Mrs. George Lohn
AS the names were called, the people came for
ward and received the groceries In some instances
whole families came together The father would
shoulder the bag OF -four and the mother would
fha