Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-01-23
Distributing Aims in District in
South Washington.
SCENES At A CHARITY OUTPOST.
The Hoves in Which the Destitute
Are HuddIed.
SEARCHING OUT FRAUDS

| Poverty that means cold and hunger and
that dares not hope for anything better!
Do you know what that means? No? Well
then. come and find out.
You with your comfortable freside and
! your well spread table. do you know what
II means to go to a wretched bed hungry
| and only certain that when you rise up
In the morning it will be no better and
| that there will be no breakfast for you
| then? No? Well, there is just that sort of
poverty right here in the city. in the very
shadow of the nations Capitol; there is
hunger that gnaws at ones vital and dries
up the well springs of human life. There
are dirty beds in filthy novels that do not
mean rest for the occupant, for one cannot
sleep well when one is hungry.
You know your Connecticut avenue and
your Dupont Circle. your hospitable homes,
where you are always welcome and find a
| plate set for you at table. That's all told
! about I'M the society columns of The Star.
| This is another sort of story. 1t il the
story of some Of the things that Star man
saw Yesterday in the slums of the city.
| go down to Faith Mission on NJ street
betN'eeao41- and 9TH streets southwest,
and how they distribute aid to the
poor s1'hen write about what you see"
| Among the Very Poor.
This was the assignment the city editor
gave in the morning. From that time on
| through the day The Star man was with
Rev. Mr.. Woodruff and his assistants. To
write all that one can see IN that section
of the city that is unusual would require
| more space than one would suppose Jacob
Riis. a newspaper man Of New York. wrote
book which he called How the Other
Half Lives" and the book gave many
people their first insight into the actual
life and wretched experiences of the very
poor of that city. Washington people read
the book with interest and focked to hear
Mr.. Riis lecture on the same subject when
he was here at the convention of Christian
workers a couple of years ago. They were
very much worked up over the picture of
suffering that was drawn by this man,
whose life as a police reporter on a great
New York daily brings him into such close
touch with the tenement life of New York.
There is the same sort of distress in
Washington. though, of course. not to such
an extent. What are the good people Of the
city doing to reiieye this want and suffer-
ing? A great dear 1t is true. But there
is room torso much more good work. There
arc slums In this city dirty and disrepu-
table as any that bring blot on Gotham
There are miserable little dens in which
human beings are penned, beside which a
pig pen on a well-managed farm would De
a place of positive comfort. Into some or
these The Star man went with one OF the
workers from the mission, who went TO
investigate into the condition OF those VINO
had applied for immediate aid. This Is no
feryid appeal to the reader, but a simple,
unvarnished and hastily written story or
the means and agencies that are used IN
the distribution of the funds which the
generous people of the city nave turn tsa
over to their charity workers. III the
people only knew the good their money
does they would give more.
Some one has coined the phrase. the sub
merged tenth" 1t Is not pleasant express
sion. 1t refers to a class who are SO poor
that they realize there is no chance for them
and cease to look for 1t. They nave LOST
much of the sensibilities that mark the
'upper ten" They are in a sense dumb
and unreasoning. They have become ac-
customed to restitution, and they receive
aid whether 1t be food or money, in man
ner that is marked particularly by the alb
sence of all evidences of feeling. When
charity Is distributed they do not snow
gratitude. ,.-
The Faith Mission.
Faith Mission Is one Of the chapels estab-
| lished by the New York Avenue Church in
a neighborhood where churches are not plen-
ty The congregations are large. but the
contributions are small The members of
the church have no money to spare to put in
the plate O. Sundays. But IL is an active
and the congregation is for the most part
made UP Of railroad and street car men,
hucksters, oyster shuckers and men from
the oyster and coal boats, men from the
river boats and the wharves; conglomer-
ate, but not a wealthy congregation. But
they take a lively interest in the work of
the church and the meetings for men and
for women and all the special services are
attended by numbers that would do credit
to some of the rich uptown churches. The
orfT of obi 10 EeaN- ..f,1-
ruff. He has worked so long in that section
of the city that his people know him and he
knows them. For this reason the selections
of the church as the distributing point OF
the Associated Charities and of the pastor
as its agent were wise ones
The mission has been the distributing
point for all the southwest section of The
city since the I'd of January. During that
time relief has been extended to upward of
sixty people a day on average. This is
no small undertaking. for every case must
be examined separately and its merits pass
ed upon at once, Tor In many cases the re-
lief must come at once If 1t Is to be of any
avail. But not lump of coal or a peck of
meal Is given away until it Is certain that
the applicant is in actual destitute circum-
stances. This section of the city contains
a larger proportion of the city's poor than
any other. and the ground to be covered is
very extensive. Many of the people here
would be poor every winter, whether times
were hard or not. The heads of the fami-
lies, are many of them employed in the brick
yards In summer time or at some other job
that gives out when cold weather comes in.
They are an improvident set, and when they
have money they live high and go on ex-
cursions down the river and demean them
selves generally in the manner of those
whose incomes are assured for all time.
When cold weather comes hunger comes
with it, for this sort of people never
think to put aside penny or two
for the evil day that they ought to
know must come This. of course, does not
apply to all in this part of the city, any
more than it would in any other part There
are many In dire need today who have never
known before what 1T was to want for the
necessities of life. 1t makes no difference,
however, whether one was rich last sum-
rler.ilso long as he Is poor right now.
The memory of good dinner does not fill
an empty stomach.
me The Unworthy Applicants.
In the general distribution of aid at
time like the present one OF the first things
to do Is to guard against fraud and impo-
sition. 1t is surprising how many peo-
pie try to obtain assistance who are per-
fectly able to take care of themselves AS
soon they hear that charity is being
dispensed they hold their aprons out for
some of the droppings. ignorant or careless
that everything they get means just that
much kept from those who are actually in
need of food One of the applicants at the
mission last week told a most pitiful story
or restitution and begged for assistance
TO matter how little. What was needed
Was something to eat and that at once