The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-11-16
RELIEF WORK.

The report of the Relief Committee for the year ending November 1, 1897:
 The work of the relief committee varies so little from year to year this report may seem common place, but to the worker 1t is not without interest.
 On the first Monday. of December the rooms were opened by the employment bu. reau for giving out work, and the rellef committee for receiving applicants for sew ing.
 for sewing, not charity. The name of each new applicant was taken and personally visited by some member of the committee, their need and circumstances, as far as possible, ascertained.
 To such as were found needy and worthy we gave permits for sewing; others to whom we must refuse help (and we found sucM were kindly dismissed with out sym
 To these families this sewing means much. It often provides them with tea, su- gar or coal, which is often bought by the of these women unused to the needle are un- able to sew acceptably and the garments are often made unsaleable.
 If some ladies would volunteer to aid in teaching these people how to sew properly, it would be a great service to them and of benefit to the society.
 The work is not M limited by nat0nalty American women, worthy colored people, two of whom were born in slavery; Ger mans, Irish, Scotch, Italians, Swedes, Danes and Armenian representing nearly as many different religious faiths
 In cases of severe sickness we refer them to their respective churches, and usually meet with a ready response.
 The city is our territory. Our tours Of 1n- vestigation do not always lead in pleasant paths. ] We pass through unfamiliar streets where the "trolley" does not traverse, into rear alleys; from the basement to the attic; sometimes through dark stairways, not knowing to whither or what. we may find in the object of our search These neglected homes are furnished with only the base ne- cessities of living, occasionally one, the pat tern of neatness and order, and giving evi- dence of better circumstances.
 The visitor not only goes herself to this work but often carries food and delicacies from her own store. and contributes money of which she will give no report.
 Do you wonder at the Encouragement of courage. and patient self-sacrifce with which they must meet the conditions of their every day life.
 We are often perplexed in responding to calls for assistance to know how we can best given help, and encouragement to self support.
 Included In our care are all ages. from the infant of days to more than four score year port their family. of little children; aged couples left childless, mothers dependent upon children Themselves poor), number of cripleS two women whose husbands are insane, with families to care for.
 Two families were visited with diphtherla; :; one died with chronic disease, another lost all her support, grand-daughter In the late explosion mn, number eaoo of depe1adent, very not of smiles but traced by want and suf- fering in the struggle for bare existance. We could multiply cases, and give many details which cannot appear in a written report.
 We have had donated and distributed a large amount of clothing, both new and old; in doing this special care has been given that it would be placed where it would be most useful and the grocery orders in fam flies where are found the sick and aged. All who have in any way contributed to this work have helped in giving material aid in these families and we hope in OUT visits among them to have carried encouragement and helpfulness into these less favored lives and homes.
 Perhaps nothing has given more satisfac. tion and accomplished more permanent good that the permits given for the use of the Thanksgiving free bed.'
 This bed was established in 1884, and since that time has given untold comfort and relief to more than seventy patients: During the last year it has been occupied