Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-01-23

roaring fire In the stove and in the cupboard
| there were all the constituent parts of sew
cral generous meals among them a large
supply OF hearty looking pork chops. As
sistance was not melted out.
| But these are the exceptions and not the
rule. 1t does not take impostors long to
find out that their game will not work and
they do not try II second time. Now al
most "s,nx an nd the are from tS the
enth district Of the Associated Charities
and the pastors room, which ID used as
the office. Is open to the public from 10 to
| hours there Is steady stream of people
who come to ask aid. Perhaps nine out Of
ten Of them are colored and most of them
are elderly. All dress their parts well and
look poor from head to foot
| Waiting for Assistance.
| When The Star man pushed open the
! door of the parsons study yesterday morn
| ing there were about score of people
waiting with stolidity and patience that
were almost british. They seemed to take
no interest in what was going on. They
never spoke to one another. They simply
sat there until their turn came and then
| they stepped up in a weary, uninterested
manner and gave their names and ad-
| dresses and told what they needed most
1t was invariably food and coal. A number
of the cases were those of people who had
l
be worthy. With these there was no delay
and they were given an order on a
neighboring coal wharf for three
bushels of coal and order on a grocery
| store for supply of provisions. The lat
I ter varied somewhat and the amount de-
pended upon the size of the family that
| was being assisted. This would be an av-
erage order for colored applicant: One
peck of meal two pounds of pork, two
quarts of beans. four quarts OF hominy, and
four quarts Of oatmeal For a white fam
| ka
Down on the order: Five pounds OF flour,
one pound of pork, four pounds OF soup
meat. one pound of rice and four pounds
Of oatmeal If the applicant was aged or
sick, coffee, or tea, and sugar would be
added to the list. With the order in their
hands the people would turn away without
as much as thank you" and go out In
weary, hopeless manner that so often
| characterizes the class that need assist
ance with regularity.
Last week an Irish woman with very
| sad story, that was true. too was given
| an order for a quarter Of ton of coal and
| an extra large supply of provisions. She
| came back in half an hour and complained
| that she had not been given any wood She
| was told that there was no wood that could
be given and she showed the determination
to make trouble there and then.
! Faith" said she land il is outrage
so 1t is. to give a pore WILDLY woman u load
of coal and no good wood to kindle 1t wild.
How do yez expect me to light me fire wild
| out wood?"
She was told that she would have to
sklrmish around for her own supply Of
wood, which could be picked up without any
trouble around the wharves. and she went
away with the manner of one who has
been very badly treated.
| The First Case Yesterday.
The first case taken up yesterday morning
| after the reporter reached there was that
| of a very old colored ''aunty" who, the
| records showed. had received some coal last
week. This time she wanted something to
eat and MIR. Woodruff decided that it would
| be better to have the case looked into
thoroughly before anything was done, so he
directed one of his visitors. Mr. Harry
Piieger. to go to the woman's house and
see If there was anything in the cupboard.
The office force of the mission is not large.
Beside Mr.. Pfieger there are four volun-
| teer visitors, and Miss Foster, who ofiiciates
| as Mr.. Woodruff's secretary. The expenses
of the office are less than $40 u week, con-
! siderably less. and on this outlay upward
| of 400 cases are handled every week
| MIR. Phieger wore in his lapel the button
Of the Y.M.C.A. With him The Star man
| went out to call at the residence of the wo-
! man, who gave her name as Anna Coleman
| She stayed at the mission while the visit
was being made. for experience shows that
| II Is best to look up such cases when the
people are not at home. If they have any
thing to eat in the house and know that
| the visitor Is coming they move their pro-
visions into the next door neighbor's and
In other ways get ready to make a good ap-
| pearance. The Coleman residence was i'm
| the back yard Of shanty on NJ street and
could only be reached through a hole in
the renee The Star man. whose duties have
| oiten LED him through the purlieus of the
| city where are sights that the average
| citizen wots not of, had no idea that there
was In all the city such dsreputa BILE place
] for any one to call home.
| A Sad Picture.
In filthy back yard. a disease breeding
hole. some one had at some time put I'D some
| boards In such manner as to give a poor
| imitation of very poor cow shed. In that
| three people lived after a fashion, The
moor sagged as one walked over it, The
dirt was so thick everywhere that nothing
short of shovel could ever have made any
impression. The room was perhaps eight
| by ten feet square, for there was only one
| room there. In 1t was a bed, covered with
| dirty tick and without a vestige of bed
CLONES. Ciose by the bed was little stove
that was all but falling apart. One tiny pane
or soiled glass let IN little of the sunlight
that was making the outside world glorious
| rms but made the squalor more noticeable
On the bed sat young colored woman
She was clad in the scantiest manner The
| waist of her dress was of torn calico and
open wide that she might nurse a little
| brown baby, showing that there were no
| other garments beneath. A more misera BILE
| picture one could not imagine. This little
| shanty fairly reeked of despair
| Inc woman was asked If there was any
| tfing to eat in the house. She said there
was not, and that If the visitors had any
doubts on this point they were at liberty
/ to search. She rather intimated that if
| they found anything she would be greatly
pleased. 1t did not take long to toss over
everything in the place. A digent rum
maging, while the reporter smoked hard
| and fast to get the better of the odors
| brought to light d half pint of dirty flour
| that would never have passed muster in a
pure food exposition. That was all there
was in the house, and no one could tell where
anything to come from. Without as
sistance from outside Anna Coleman and
this younger woman, whoever she was,
would have gone to bed hungry last night.
Are you surprised that favorable report
was made in this case, and do you ina CINE
oh, gentle readers who give more or less
generously and regularly to the Associated
Charities, that your money is not well ex-
pended? If you do, so out and look for
yourselves.
Do you know Van street, Van court and
Van alley? No? Then there is a pleasant
part of your city that you know nothing
Of place where it is very nice to live
that Is, unless you would prefer to die
There are some people who would rather
not live than live in such a way. But they
are representative. 1t is true that it is an
ill-smelling locality The ground is wet
and Shiny in places. The houses are very,
very small, small that one can hardly
understand how many people can sleep
in them unless they sleep standing up or
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