New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-03-15

49,, >,,ct,ors or THE BUREAU OF CHARITIES
WHO HAS MADE AN INVESTIGATION. CON
WINGED OF ITS PRACTIcABILITY AND
vAIUE-PLANs WHICH HE
HOPES TO CARRY OUT
MORE MONEY
NEEDED
r.o n,os,,or n, carving on the work OF cultiVat-
MO vacant lots by people who are out OF woih anu
IN need OF assistance has been uhoer seiio
Alteration In Brooklyn for the last mo'lh "
citizens who are specially interested III 'his w ~
of giving practical help the deserving poor wnne
:. .h 80 time inculcatng In them habits or IN
dustry and manual skill. The work last year We
beeun late in the and carried on u'uei
somewhat unfs vorable conditions. and some mem
hers of the committee in charge OF II were HUI a.
together satisfied with the results
IT. rnoveroent was started toward the END OF
Anril q wear ago by Mayor Scheren, who had oee'i
favorably impressed with what had peeh a0
nlished in Detroit under the direction OF Ma'' "
gree and by the fact that other cities hau eh'e,
on like enterprises. number OF wel- kiio".' ~
zens were invited to meet at the Mayors once o."
Nav l. and at that time an organization was eieo
ed of the Committee on the llhaBe Va ~
Lands for the Benefit Of the Worthy foor-'o man
use Of the full title 1t appears IN the report %
,ba chairman of the committee presented al ''e
o,,ng beld n month ago j. W. Erreger. one OF
the Commissioners of Elections, was eecteo cna'
man: Herbert +. Gunnson, treasurer anu 'ie NJ
George B. Stafford secretary The olher "'eI'oe'
of the committee Frederick A barue',, Ueoee
r Rrackett James Mcmahon, A. d. WheeiocK' eN-
CONGRESSMAN Darwin r. James. Wills L. ogden
Edward F. Linton. Charles Naeher Andrew ~
Rard A. j. Newton, w. Rapelye and feter H.
McNulty. go an
The last meeting OF the committee was heid on
February A. Mr. Stafford having died. the once Oh
secretary was left vacant. and the Rev. Wiliiam l.
N,cbols Mr. Saffords successor as general secre-
tary of the Bureau of Charities. was elected 10 sue
coed him. Mr. Nichols, who mad recently 'oNo
from Philadelphia. manifested a warm interest il"
the work and was appointed by the committee 10
make an investigation and report as 10 lie uee.
course To pursue for the coming season Since tha'
time he has devoted considerable afternoon 10 'he
subject and has his plans so well IN mana 'ha'
there Is no question that the work Will De uhoeI.
taken again and with more ehcouias'"e Pp
than existed year ago.
WHAT WAS DONE LAST YEAR.
w.. ,r .bo sum OF 81 257 was raised by sub
scr;nton TO carry on the work. and $6S9 was spent
leaving a balance of s61S. Only about twenty per
sons ayailed themselves of the orer 10 WORK 'ne
land provided for them. The committee cultivated
ahout ten acres on It's own account, with the ioea
that the product thereof should be ulstrlDuteu
among charitable institutions The rest OF the lana
was divided into plots, 25xlOO feet In SIZE ana al
lotted to the several applicants. Several offers vi
land were made to the committee: the one ac-
cepted that or the NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. 'A"PiO'N
rnent Company which owns large amount OF redi
estate in the Twenty-sixth Ward. The land used is
bounded by Sheffield Belmont and Van Sicleh-aVes'
and the New-Lots Road.
The value of the entire product, estimated by the
actual market prices. was according to the commit
tees report about $3.50. There were distributed be-
tween the Society for Improving the Condition OF
the Poor and the Bureau of Charities ITO barrels or
potatoes and 45O bushels Of turnps. which were
raised by the committee independent Of the work OF
individual cultivators of the land. The committee
secured the services Of experienced farmer TO
supervise the work. TO instruct those who did not
know how TO do the work expected of them and 10
exercise general oversight Of the undertaking.
Summing UP the results Of the experiment. the re-
port said:
THE result while showing a trifing gain over
ard above the actual amount of moneys expended
hardly the expectations of your committee
considering the efforts made to benefit the great
number Of unemployed, who, II was thought, would
take advantage Of this opportunity 10 provide par
tia means Of for their families involving
only a trifing amount Of labor and no expense
whatever to themselves.
WHY INTEREST WAS LACKING.
Several reasons may be assigned for the apparent
lack of interest exhibited among which is the fact
that the lands available for the purpose by reason
of their distance from the popuous sections or the
city, are 10 some extent difficult of access without
mourning the expense Of car fares Another reason
was the possibility Of portions of the crops being
stolen before maturity the lands not being fenced
tn II was also feared by that the lands. being
in the hands of the real-estate company ana IN me
market for SALE there was no S f before
sale and the result of their labor be lost TO them
That same objection applies TO practically all lands
Within the city limits or within reasonable dis;
lance of the centres of population, they being heid
ket for sale. or being used by farmers who have
permanently located thereon. and could not be Sc
fhs committee 0r wopd not be- usted in paying
ut is extremely questionable II a movement OF
this character could be successful in this city as
II is reported have been in some OF our Western
cities for the reason that in such cities they nave
and within easy access TO their populations ana
Sns class i q aIm e0f they ury
kindly to the work.
to make project OF this kind success IT would
be necessary to have the lands to be used Tor the
cpoud be supervised watched and Instructions given
BY one overseer. The separation OF the work IN
several overseers superintendents and would
make the work too expensive for good results to be
obtained therefrom.
WHAT MIR. NICHOLS SAYS.
Notwithstanding the somewhat dscouragng char
acter Of the report. Mr. Nichols was quickly able
10 convince himself OF the value and Importance OF
this work as an adjunct to the work done by the
Bureau Of Charities. He has had interviews with a
number OF the men interested In the Brooklyn ex-
pertinent and has made careful inquiries regarding
the methods pursued in New York where the under
taking highly successful. as a recent article
printed in The Tribune showed In talking about
the matter yesterday at his office Mr.. Nichols said:
"I am thoroughly convinced Of the Importance OF
this work. and believe that 1t contains one Of the
soIutions of the problem Of finding work for the
unemployed. with which we are constantly dealing
in this Bureau Of Charities. 1t is carrying out the
same idea which employ in our woodyards. our
vorkrooms and our laundries. That Is TO provide
work for those who out Of work and are willing
10 work Last year the cultivation OF vacant lots
n,.s carried on under rather unfavorab.e circum-