Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1897-01-14
VICTIMS OF HARD LUCK.
Washington Helpless Poor Are
Counted by Thousands.
Negroes Furnish the Largest Contingent
to the Army of Unemploy
Organized Charity Is Do
ing for Them.
Especial Washington letter.

Especial Washington letter.
The most beautiful roses of summer
are guarded by thorns; and that fact
has often been used to point a moral
and adorn the tale that all the sweets
Of life are mingled with the bitter.
The beautiful snow has come again,
bringing with it sorrow and suffering
TO thousands Of the poor people in our
cities. IL the capital city of the re-
public fully 1000 families were without
fuel during the two days and nights OF
the storm. 1t was much like the biz
yards of Iowa, Minnesota and Dakota,
as they were experienced by the writer,
some years ago.
The coming of the snow seems to
have emphasized the fact that want and
suffering exist among the poor of the
city. However, this fact has been
familiar one to those interested in the
administration of charity ever since the
cold weather began. 1t is the cold that
develops good deal of the need for re-
lief. 1t is the snow, as a rule, that
causes the general public to realize that
there are those who stand in need of help.
L
of contributions, either in money or
clothes, for the benefit of the poor
should be sensibly increased even since
the fall of the snow the other morning.
The stream of public and private
charity which flows deep and broad in
this city is divided into a great many
rivulets and rills of varying size and i'm
portance, but all reaching the homes
of want and poverty and giving aid
which is most needed. There is the
charitable individual, sometimes with
q heart as large as his purse, and then,
again, with the purse in inverse ratio to
the size Of the heart. He or she visits
the poor at their homes and gives help
as it seems the occasion demands. They
use their friends as their bankers, and
very cheerful bankers most of them
prove to be, with a good-natured lax
ness in regard to the cashing of checks.
The truth is, the majority of good,
charitable people prefer some one else
TO do the "slumming," as it is some
times called, while, on the other hand,
they are perfectly willing to foot the
bills. The drafts upon their time and
sympathy are not so cheerfully borne
as those upon their bank accounts.
ITO every man his work." Since men
and women of moderate means enjoy
the work of saving souls and bodies in
the alleys, it is we'll; and they are en-
couraged to go about doing good. Since
the prosperous are willing to furnish
the money, they are excused from the
work of "slumming." The churches are
doing a great deal to relieve human
misery in this city. In nearly every
church, Of all denominations, are found
societies which are devoted to work
among the poor. They have treasury
to draw upon, and the members go about
from house to house and thus dispense
their aims. Then there are organiza-
tons of various kinds, which either
incidentally, or, as one of the main
features, look after the unfortunate
class. The Central Union mission
offers a conspicuous example. 1t fur
nishes lodgings and meals to those in
need of temporary help and demands in
return, where practical, a certain
amount of work in its wood yard. Its
members minister to the body as we'll
as to the soul, and they are not COM
PEELED to turn away deserving men and
women simply because the hour has ar
rived when the religious meeting which
is held daily must close. The influence
of the mission continues after the meet
ings, and the endeavor is by practical
means of help to keep men from falling
any further into the slough in which
they generally are when the mission
takes hold of them.
We had a snow carnival on Pennsly-
vania avenue. Every sled, sleigh, cut