Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-03-15
T HE sc up HOT s &
Over Hundred Thousand Meals for Seven
Dollars
Excellent Character of the Charity
Dfspensed and the Generosity
Shown by Citizens.

SioSeS SATURDAY night Will nave UeeH
open just fifty-five days, in which time
10000 meals have been furnished to the
hungry poor of Washington. 1t is safe to
say that no simil lar amount of business can
be shown by any other restaurant in the
city. During the blizzard week, in Febru-
airy, the soup house dispensed over 1900
quarts of soup to it's patrons. and the re-
markable thing about the institution is it
has cost in a direct outlay Of cash only the
small sum of 81.
Everything has been contributed-lator,
meat, vegetables. fuel, superintendent,
bread, Dishes utensils, stoves, boilers and
service. Even the rent of the place was a
contribution, thanks for which are due to
Mr.. Thomas King, the owner.
During the two months in which the soup
he has been thus feeding the poor of
Washington, Mr.. W. T. Crump, formerly
steward at the White House, has given
unremitttng and almost sleepleSs attention
to the management of the place. assisted
very substantially by Capt. j. T. Smith
Mr.. Adolphus Fredholm has had charge of
the important work of soliciting supplies
giving his entire time, without compensaa
tion, during large part of the two months
keeping accurate account of everything re-
celved.
Generous Giyers.
During this time also Messrs. Woodw ard
& Lothrop have generously contributed the
use every day. and several times a day, of
one of their delivery wagons to gather up
bread. meat and vegetables from the va
vfous restaurants, bakeries and market
men.
Schneider, Havenner, Behrens, and in
deed nearly all of the bakers of the city
have regularly and systematically taken
upon themselves the responsibility of keep
ing the soup house supplied with bread, so
that never during the fifty-fve days have
han rlal 40 IN ,;,.x,, ,txIx
each cup or bowl of soup about one-third
OF loaf of bread, or the equivalent in
biscuit or the fragments of loaf
The butchers all over Washington have
been equally generous. They have con-
tributed during the ffty-five days $4,000
pounds of good, fresh, wholesome meat and
bones. The produce men have also given
large amount of vegetables and general
supplies required. The system of cole .tion
mas been the same as that practiced by the
sisters of Charity. a representative Of the
soup house making a basket collection
daily from stall to stall of the market.
Good Results.
1t is important to note some beneficial
results of this method of feeding the poor.
For one thing business men, who are
charitably inclined. have had a means of
giving something to applicants for as
sistance without giving money, the use
of which in undeservirg cases to buy
from giving al all. The soup house has
made use freely of its tickets so that bust
ness men generally when appealed to for
help from poor people have been able to
give these tickets instead of money, and
thus meet all moral requirements upon
them without risk of doing harm.
1t Is noticeable, so the authorities state,
that this method of charity has greatly
reduced apparent evidences of extreme
poverty and almost entirely done away,
with street begging.
1t may not seem entirely uncalled for to
say that the character of the food fur
nished by the soup house has been excel
lent. People interested in charitable work
who have visited the place have always
been very politely offered specimen bowls
of soup taken before their eyes from the
immense boilers, and served precisely in
the same way that 1t is served out to the
masses of poor people who come there,
and their verdict has invariably been that
1t was first-class in every respect. The
management of the place has been clearly
and. orderly from beginning to end, and
it is said that the people who have
frequented the place have deported them
selves in a manner entirely becoming, with
out loud or unseemly conversation, and
with an entire absence of quarrelsomeness
or any other behavior that might be dis
gushing and disagrceable in such a place.
Soup at IL Cent IA Bowl.
While many have made this soup house
regular source of support, still the
nuisance of repeating has been limited to
few cases. Many instances of extreme
hunger have come under the observation Of
those in charge of the soup house. Men
have been seen to stoop down and pick
up crusts and crumbs from the floor and
eat them. Feeble lettering, weak old men
and women have come with pals and pitch
ers to get food to take home for others
who were too sick TO make their way to
the place.
From row until Saturday night the ef
fort will be to supply women and children
who come with pals with soup to be taken
home. Upward of 1000 people were fed
yesterday, and will be today before the
soup house closes tonight, but after today
no more soup will be furnished to be eaten
on the premises.
Altogether the soup house has been a
most useful institution, and comparing its
work with it's cost, it can be said that TO
similar charity has ever been seen in
Washington. Mr.. Crump says that he be-
lieves that 1t would be possible to fur
pish soup to the poor, at one cent a bowl
and make soup house entirely self-sup-
porting the year round if it were neces-
sty. These facts are interesting in view
of what may be necessary to do another
winter to relieve conditions of poverty al
most certain to occur.
Uu~u.1sJo Poet Enfertoine6.