Evening star., 1895-01-07
THE NEED IS G r E A Z

THE NEED IS GRE A T
Monday morning brought with it large
| number of applicants at the offices of the
| Central Union Mission and the Associated
| Charities. who were seeking assistance
Without it they would necessarily be COM
| PEELED to go hungry. The coming of warmer
weather had good effect, in so far as it
| has decreased the sufferings caused by
cold and exposure, but the cry for dread
still gees up, louder than ever, If possible,
| and the resources of the various charity or
ganizations are taxed to the utmost.
The Central Union Mission, which has
| been SO very active in relieving distress
since the severe weather Set In, has been
compelled to draw the lines rather closer
than at first, and owing to the limited
funds at It's disposal is making more ex-
haustive investigation of each case that
| comes up before assistance can be rem
| dered. What it needs is money, food, cloth
ing and fuel and there is no danger of
any contributions in either of these lines
ever going astray. The work OF the mis-
sion in this emergency is dependent solely
upon contributions made in response to
| its appeals, and its power for good is linn
| tied strictly by it's daily income from out
| side sources.
Every day, however, the workers are
cheered by some unusual expression of
| sympathy and desire to share in we'll
doing. Thus, for instance, in the morning
| mail which came today to the desk Of the
editor of The Star were letters which
We're direct responses to the story Of suf-
fering that was told in The Star on Satur-
day. One letter was from woman who
| said that she had read OF the poor woman
| In the northwest section Of the city who
was likely to become a mother at any time
and who, in addition to being without food
or fuel, had not sign of a garment for
the little one when il should be ushered
into the world. The writer of the letter
asked for the address Of her unfortunate
| sister, as she wanted to give her supply
Of clothing for herself and the expected
child and also to supply their immediate
wants.
Responses to Appeals.
The other letter was also from a char
itably disposed woman whose sympathes
were touched by the cry of suffering and
destitution. She asked for the address of
| some unfortunate family, either one of
| those mentioned in The Stars story or
| some other. She promised not only to rem
der them assistance which would tide them
over for the present, but also to look out
| for them In the future SO that they would
| be removed from actual want until the
Both OF these letters were at once taken
| to the officers Of the Central Union Mission,
| who could supply the desired informa ton
and as much more of the same sort as the
readers Of The Star may care for. If the
brief outlines of particular cases which can
be given in the crowded columns of a daily
paper bring forth such responses as these
what might not the harvest be if full
and graphic account were given Of all the
| suffering that exists in the nations capital
| today?
Among the cases which. were reported to-
| day was one which was particularly sad.
| 1t was that of young and decent-appear-
| ing white woman, who told desperate
| tale of absolute want. Her husband was
| a cigarmaker by trade, but he died three
weeks ago Of consumption, and for over a
| year before his death he had been unable
| to provide for their support at all. She
herself has been blind of one eye since
childhood, and now seems to be losing the
sight of the other result of loss of
sleep from watching over her dying hus-
band. She has two little children depend
ent upon her, but was without a cent or a
mouthful Of food. 1t was the first time,
though, that she had ever asked for public
charity, but when she left the building she
had in her arms two big sacks of provi-
sfonS, enough to last her little family the
better part Of a week. There was a supply
of potatoes big bag of flour and one of
hominy, package of tea and can of
yeast powder. If any one thinks she and
others are not grateful he should stand
around the ''commissary rooms for a
time and watch the people whose wants
are attended to.
The Wees of others.
There were a couple of touching incidents
that happened while The Star man was at
| the Central Union Mission this morning
An att active motherly looking woman
came into the room and went at once to
the desk of Mr.. McMichael. the missionary
VIC rker.
Il have read the accounts Of the suffer-
ing among the poor" said she, laying down
a So bill, land 1 want to do what can to
help Mine is but mite. I'd like to give
more If could, but may be this will do
some good"
Will it? Just think of the flour and po-
tatoes that s. will buy. The srocers give
the mission people greatly reduced prices.
and the result is that they can make
money so farther than any one else.
A few moments later two handsomely
dressed women came in. They had two lit
tie children with them, the older a boy of
about six years, in REFER jacket and
sailor suit, a manly looking little chap
Under his arm he carried a big bundle of
children's clothing that he and his sister
little fellow in all Of Washington when he
laid down his bundle, his face lighted up
with the smile that so often gees with a
kindly act. That boy will probably know
now TO give WUeIl ne gets OlOeT ana mas
money of his own.
At the Central Union Mission there are
seventy-tive cots for the accommodation
of that many men at night. But every
night as many more men are taken care of,
though they must do the best they can for
themselves on the floor. This morning by
IL o'clock seventy-five men had applied for
chance to saw and chop wood to pay for
a nights lodging, and all who came after
that time had to go without bed. There
is plenty of room for more cots If the
mission only had them, and an earnest ap-
peal is made to the charitably inclined to
help them by contributions in the way of
beds or bedding.
The Relief Work.
The police stations were overrun with
persons applying for assistance, and the sit
ting rooms of some of them presented the
appearance of meat market, with small
stock on hand.
While the callers were many the contri-
buttons were few, Major and Mrs. Turn
bull being the only contributors. They
gave $40.
Mrs. Gen. Mussey. representing the women
of the Loyal Legion, offered work for
number of women. This consists chiefly of