Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1894-01-18
PuvERTYs PlTlEuL PICTURE.
Drawn by the Rev. DR.. Wilson After
a Midnlnht Tour.

midDlpnt ! our
| Thousands of Homeless Men Compelled |
to Walk New York's Streets All Night |
to Keep From Freezing--o Opening of |
Churches az Places of Shelter Advocated. |
The Rev. John A. B. Wilson, ID. D.,
| formerly of this city, but now OF New
York, is using his pulpit and some OF
the Gotham's newspapers in an effort to
create sympathy and secure aid for the
| poor of the metropolis.
In sermon which he preached re-
Gently he advocated the opening of the
churches as a shelter for homeless peo-
pie. He said he did not know why the
great armories of the city, with every
facility for heat and comfort, are not
opened for this purpose, but he did
know that with abundance all around
them, and great halls that could BIO
heated at slight expense, thousands are
walking the streets all night to keep
from freezing.
Having heard that the number OF
homeless men had been exaggerated he
determined to satisfy himself by per-
sonal investigation. Accordingly he
did the town. at midnight In a letter
published in Sunday weeks issue OF the
World he gave the following account OF
his tour:
"Last Tuesday night, accompanied by
guide and two young men who were
interested in the subject, started on
my mission. After midnight l visited
the Sixth Precinct Police Station. Being
warm night, only nine men were
: sleeping on the board benches. The
room was about 15X1o, and the odor
was terrible, Sometimes over 40 men
sleep in that small room.
eff men apply q second time at
stations for lodgings they are sent to the
: island. l found the cheap lodging
houses on the Bowery crowded. Ac-
: commodations were poor, the ventilation
!, imperfect-they are splendid places to
: breed disease. The streets were full of
men, walking to keep warm. Halls,
l wagons-or any place that could afford
shelter from the wind-were filled with
: shivering men. Some lodging-houses
t charged for bed as low as cents; the
Q majority charged 10 and 10 cents.
J; .'Personal inquiry revealed the fact
!, that there are only two or three places
in the city where a hungry man can get
! bread without cross-questioning and
e delay, and in many places insolent, in
t. sulting treatment is inevitable. Some
9 of the organized charities do some good.
e 81 learned that two men died on the
u streets on Monday from hunger and
d exposure and one man on Tuesday
g. These are the only cases that happened
r, to come under tile observation of thu
~ investigating party.
10 "From other sources it was learned
= that the number suffering from cold anC
81 hunger and loss OF sleep is SO large tina
0; all such cases are kept quiet by tn
authorities. The city evidently doe
It, not care to have the public know tina
le men are perishing from exhaustion il
I'd the streets while walking to keep warm
DO when great halls could be cheated an,
IT. thrown open for shelter if the city di
r. its duty.
he at would be vastly cheaper for til
city to do its duty and provide shelte
DO for the unfortunate men than to driv
1g them to crime and pauperism and int
the hospitals 1t will be wonder i
driven to desperation as they are by tn
criminal Indifference of those who's
10 duty it is to help them, this vast arm
of unemployed men does not rise in II
beilion to such inhumanity and resol
he to violence 10 secure food and shelter.
mt "a careful investigation shows tht
to at least 5000 men walk the streets a
,n- night, and the number is increasing
rer When severe weather ,sets in man
he must perish unless shelter is provided.
he "At Q a, m., we visited Fleischmann
zee cafe and restaurant at No. 1855 Broat
its wav, where $50 people got free brea,
,as and later Stephen Merritt's mission c
cal Eighth avenue, where 1900 hung
to men were fed on coffee and bread.
Der "Our party made the disagreeable di
be covery that large number of pure, il
led telligent girls are compelled to SET
ess homes in houses of prostitution evel
in night or perish from exposure al
oss hunger The condition OF the uner
inc ployed was found to be even wor
than reported, for, besides those wi
ter apply for charity at free-bread station
nd &C., there are a great many who are Il
ISL proud to ask for charity, and suffer
Ter. silence, and thus it is that often t
to most deserving suffer the most"
ads He concluded his letter with referen
md to work which he has instituted, sayin
| ii ~ have rented heated apartments
ork Eighteenth street, and am fitting the
I at up for lodgings for homeless girls.
red have been trying to rent rooms
vas shelter for homeless men, but find
the almost impossible to find any place tt
ing can be rented for such purpose. Al
bly, strange to say, the ones who ha
ater thrown the most obstacles in the W
Dad have been active Christians.
, be ~ have had several places partia
Ids engaged, but when it was learned tt
! o. perishing men were to be sheltered FRI
winter nights the use of the apartme
was refused. But place must
IS. found and portion of the homel
4,u sheltered. During the day and gr
Gre. portion of the night my door-bell
almost constantly ringing, and, VII
If some of the applicants are no dol
ow vs. impostors, 1 relieve many deserv
o"S neonla "