The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-11-17
THE POOR NEED AID
PLANS FOR CARING FOR THE MILL
CITY'S UNEMPLOYED DIS
CUSSED.
COMMITTEE WILL BE NAMED
AND PRACTICAL STEPS TAKEN TO
RELIEVE ALL CASES OF
DISTRESS.
PLUMBERS BILL NOT ALLOWED
commissioners Want Il Legal De-
cision on the QuestiOn--Min
City News.

Poverty and tales of want and meas
ures for relief and self-help were dis
cusSed for several hours in a meeting
held in the ordinary at the West hotel
last evening. 1t was called at the in
stance of S. Sherin, and was attended
by Mayor Pratt and a large number
of the men and women of Minneapolis
who have been foremost in charity and
benevolent work, including George A.
Bracket, Mr.. and Mrs. T. B. Walker
w. j. Dean, President Northrop, A. H
Young, P. D. Mcmillan, Father Cleary,
Prof West, of the university; George
d. Holt, Secretary Fay, of the associ-
ated charities; Rev. M. Falk Gjertsen,
William Wilkinson and many others.
The meeting was called to order by
the mayor, who presided, and the prin-
cipal address was made by Mr.. Sherin,
who has been active in the relief of
the unemployed and the homeless in
Chicago and who has been assisting
DR.. J. H. Kellogg, superintendent of
the medical mission of Chicago, in a
great work for the relief of the sub
merged tenth of the greatest city on
the continent.
His talk was almost entirely con-
fined to a description of the way the
poor men are treated in the Chicago
home. If they received help, they were
required to pay for it in work They
found that, as a rule, men were will
ing to work, and he described how if
a man came in at night they would
ask him whether he would help to
scrub out at midnight a certain part Of
the building. By an hours work he
was thus enabled to pay for his bed,
and before the bed he was required to
take a bath. He told a number Of
stories Of relief furnished which helped
men upon the way to self-respect, and
some of them are now happy and do
ing well. During October the home
furnished $4,000 lunches at cent each
and afforded laundry facilities for $500
men and lodged 5000 men, He said
the salvation army was doing a great
work, but there was something more
than what the SalvationiSts could at
tend to. He also explained what was
done for the women and children and
the operation of the visiting nurses,
who went from house to house where
needed and cared for the sick and the
helpless.
Mayor Pratt followed with a short
account Of his trip among the police
stations at night to see the tramp
rooms. He said what was wanted most
was a place for these people to wash
themselves and their clothing and he
very much favored the suggestion of
providing literally for bathing.
George A. Bracket told of the work
of the Friendly Inn as an example of
the work which was done in this city
number of years ago; it was an ad
junct Of the Associated Charities and
provided a bath and sleeping quarters
for men who would saw wood. He
told of the repeaters and the chronic
vags and of the effect of the Friendly
Inn to diminish their number.
Rev. William Wilkinson followed in
what he said was a speech which the
audience did not care to hear. 1t con-
sisted Of number of sensational in
situations against the rich Christians
and told Of the numbers of men at the
WOrkhouse.
Father Cleary followed with an even
tempered talk, in which he said that
there was very little difference of opin-
ion regarding the Importance of the
charity and the urgent need of action,
but the question was what was to be
done. He favored leaving the matter
with the men who have handled the
charity work of the city, that is with
the Associated Charities
President Northrop followed in a
similar talk, in which he concluded
with a motion to the effect that the
whole matter be left with the Asso-
ciated Charities. Mr. Bracket de-
INJURED somewhat to the suggestion
and, upon his recommendation, DR..
NOrthrop changed his motion so as to
! provide that the matter be left with a
committee Of three, of which the mayor
| is to be chairman, to take such steps
| as may be suggested: There was q
| good deal of discussion over the best
way to deal with the tramps and out
| of-WOrk men who have no homes, and
a practical talk was given by Rev. D.
| Morgan, who is running the Bethel
mission in ST. Paul. He said that under
| no circumstances should a meal or a
! bed be furnished to a we'll man unless
he worked for it. The work was saw
ing wood generally. He spoke Of the
reluctance of the tramp to take a
bath, and hence the Importance of com
| polling them to do SO before going to
bed. He deprecated the charity sug-
| gestion as relating to able-bodied men,
! saying that soup houses were the worst
| thing in the world for the poor. T. B.
Walker spoke, saying that he Endorsed
| the idea Of Mr.. Sherin and the motion
| of DR.. Northrop was adopted unani-
mously. The committee will be an
nounced today.