Evening star., 1897-01-26
Great Distress Among the Poor Of
the City.
POLICE ARE WITHOUT FUNDS
Associated Charities Overrln With
Applications for Relief.
I o r use FL Nd S

The continued cold weather causes in
creased suffering among the poorer classes
and according to the statements made in
Official circles. hundreds OF families were
without even the ne c.sssary amount of fuel
10 keep them warm. In police circles more
was seen OF the suffering than among
others. although the health inspectors and
pns siciahs 10 the poor see a great many
Victims OF poverty and cold weather. Early
thls morning at the police stations there
were many sad scenes when women ana
children called and asked for enough foo,;
ana 1uel to keep life in them But the
police were powerless to assist them so far
as public money and contributions were
concerned. Some of the appeals were so
touching, however, that some of the police
men put their hands In their own pockets
anu gave small sums to the applicants
f1ao the police been able to have given
e'ii'e foon and fuel this morning a great
iiahy suHerlng ones would have been re-
neVed IN all sections of the ctty. but nc I,
was an the police could do was to refer the
appiicants to the Associated Charities
mis- necessitated long walks fro,n ~
ponce precincts to the headquarters of the
associated Charities. on street and
humber NUMBER OF the women said their condition
was such that they could not go 50 far
through the cold. While scores of annii.
cahts are calling upon the police the Num-
Der IS small as compared with what #
"ouid De II there was fund at the dis
posai or the police. While most of the poor
people are calling at the police stationx
quite number of them are calling at head
quarters. as well upon Col Tracey
superintendent Of charities Sanitary Offi-
Ger FRANK also receives many callers of the
poorer class, because he is In charge of tho
ambulance service. and has charge of the
hospitals. so far as the sending of poor peo-
PIE 10 them are concerned. The free wards
fhn ,o1-
omclals at some of these institutions are
oolng the best they can with the overflow
SICK ana are caring for them. AT some of
the hospitals yesterday, however patients
were refused. after they had been out in
the cold in an ambulance and this necessi-
tated their being taken through the colo
TO another hospital returned home One
Gay last week poor woman who needed
an operation was taken TO three hospitals
where she was refused, and then she was
taken back home. Yesterday there werr,
seventeen runs made by the ambulance
and most of the people hauled in the ve-
hlcie were sick people who needed hospital
treatment: Other poor people are calling
upon the sanitary officer and asking for
transportation to their former homes.
Many OF them plead for free tickets to
their old homes for the reason that they
are unable to earn their living here and
can manage to get along if sent away. In
cases where the parties are worthy and
where the trips are not too expensive, the
call and ask for transportation are gener-
ally refused
The Situation.
Capt. Austin. speaking of the charity sit
uation this morning. said to a Star reporter
that there were probably more destitute
and suffering people here than there have
been at any time for several years But,
as the fund is exhausted, the police are un-
able to relieve the sufferers.
Relieving the poor is a great RESPONSE
bil1ty, said the captain ''and in order to
DO 1t properly requires great deal of
work During such extreme cold when
II Is almost Impossible for women and chill
oren to leave their homes. he thinks the
police should have some fund on which to
draw for assistance. The police he said,
do not want the responsibility but because
OF the many sad appeals. he thinks there
should be some way by which the officers
could give immediate relief in the most dis
tressing cases. Almost every hour he said
cases or extreme poverty come to the notice
OF the pollce and small amount of food
and fuel would do more good than one can
easily imagine. The work of the Potomac
Electric Light Company in putting down
its wires, he said. has been in the nature of
a Godsend to poor people, and has kept
down the number of applicants to some
extent. Late yesterday afternoon a char
liable woman who refused to give her
name, called at headquarters and left 81
for destitute family in South Washing
ton. She had read of the family's condition
in The Star. and, unless some provision
had been made for the family, she wanted
the money to go there. This morning Mr.
w. II. Barnes, who lives in lie Droit Park
handed Lieut.. Gessford a 81 note to be. ex-
pended for the poor.
Great Suffering
This morning at the daily meeting of the
ieutenants at headquarters the charity
question was discussed, but nothing could
be done. because there is no fund The
police will receive donations of any kind
food. fuel clothing or money-and distrib-
ute it where it will do most good.
Acting Lieutenant Shilling of the first
precinct, speaking to Star reporter said
that the applications for assistance had
not been SO numerous during the past few
days. for the reason that the poor know
there is nothing to be given them In this
precinct the number of poor people has
always been smaller than in the others
But now there are people in rooms in ten
ement houses and office buildings who are
actually suffering for food and fuel On
the top floors of many of the office build
ings, said the acting lieutenant. there are
respectable families of people who have
Deen comparatively well off one time.
Now they suffer because they will not beg
until starvation is actually staring them
in the face.
In the second police precinct Lieut..
ep1 Say" ooie VI the poor people are
actually starving.
THE situation" he said 'is almost az
bad as 1t possibly could be- Women and
children come to the station with their
baskets, and when told that there is moth
ing to give them, many of them go away
crying. He said that many people who
are asking for aid now have never asked
before, and. as a rule, these are the peonle
who are actually suffering Tor want of
something.
Lieut.. Boyle says that the number of
suffering poor in the third precinct is as
large as ever, but they know the police
nave nothing for them, and not many are
calling. Early in the winter there was a
Dig rush OF poor people, he said, ana he
KNOWS there are more needy ones now
than there were then
AT least twenty-five applicants called be-
fore o'clock this morning. said Lieut..
Vernon of the fourth precinct. In this pre-
cinct there Is large alley population, and
In addition to these there are hundreds of
people about that section who live in small
shanties and who are not able to even pay
their rent. Il cannot begin to describe the
condition.. the lieutenant said, for there
Is SO much actual suffering, and l could
cite scores Of cases In which immediate aid
is necessary" Some of the cases reported
last night were bad that the officers
went down in their own pockets and rem