Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-01-28
HELP FOR THE NEEDY
PLAN ISAUGURATED TO RAISE
FUNDS BY SUBSCRIPTION.
MUCH WANT AND SUFFERING.
The Condition One That Appeals to
the Chnritnble-The city Mission
Unable 10 Meet the Demands Upon
It-Let All Help.

| unable TO Meet the Demands Upon
It-Let All Help.
There is no way OF calculating the in
tensity Of the suffering which exists to-
day among the poor Of the city. The
extreme bitterness OF the storm. which
/ prevails at this writing. has wrung a
/ cry Of agony from many father and
mother struggling bravely on to conceal
the straitenod circumstances to which
! prolonged siege Of hard times has brought
them, but many deserving cases remain
hid.
Last years awful record Of distress has
been eclipsed. and the noble army OF
workers Of the City Mission find them
selves confronted with a problem, the
like Of which they had never dreamed.
Many know something Of the sorrow and
sufierings Of the poor, but it is a privi-
lege given to only few to know well
their everyday home life 1T is hard"
said one OF the City Mission workers to
Dispatch reporter yesterday, "even for
US, who live among the poor TO realize
fully what It means TO be out Of work
this fruitless search for employment day
after day, the homecoming at night TO
see the hard-earned savings growing less
and less, the gradual going down. step
by step, seeing the children every day
getting thinner and thinner and be
powerless to help"
Parents whose children are all too
young TO be wege-earners are most TO be
pitied One little girl expressed the feel
ings of many a careful mother as she
said, I'm trembling tones 10 one Of the
City Mission workers, unconscious Of the
pathos of 1t all: my mother says she
cannot look at US when she has nothing
to give us to eat"
SHRINK FROM TAKING CHARITY.
Many Of those who are IN great dis
tress are unwilling TO accept help. One
woman, who was accidentally discovered
without a fire on a bitterly cold day. re-
fused to receive coal from a relief society,
even though she had begun 10 pawn her
bedding. The neighbors have often been
kept carefully IN ignorance Of the new
poverty. which is so hard to bear, and
even children have learned to be cautious
as TO what they say.
/ Even in ordinary times the rent IS a
large item in the living expenses; and,
when there Is no work the thought OF
the rent becomes a horrible nightmare
The landlords have been unusually
| lenient.
1T has seemed TO US sometimes, Of
| late" said an energetic mission-wOrker.
that the whole city is unemployed but
occasionally, our attention has been at
tracted to a man struggling to do dou-
BILE duty, because he was so fortunate
as to have steady work"
MERCHANTS EXTEND HELP.
The owners of the small stores have
done a great deal to prevent suffering
Many of them have sold on credit,
hoping for better times The bakers all
ways give freely. AS one bakers wife
said to a Dispatch reporter yesterday:
"If there IS no old bread, one must give
new" Giving is so natural that 1t is
promptly forgotten. The reporter asked
one grocer If he gave away food and he
answered, slowly, VERY seldom" When
he was asked what he did when people
came in and said that they had nothing
IN the house to eat, he answered, on
l give them a few beans, or a little
coffee or a little rice but not many
come in | don't think We have had
more than three a day all winter, though
we did count twenty-siX last Tuesday
counting beggars and ALL"
Many Of the trades unions are helping
their members most effectively, and con-
siderable sums Of money are employed
in this way.
WORK OF THE CITY MISSION.
Too much cannot be said in praise Of
the effect Of the fifty ladies OF tho
CITY Mission 10 cope with the distress
ing conditions They have a system
| d,viding the entire city into districts,
which are worked by details OF from
one TO three ladies. BY this means the
society. spreading solace and comfort
\ ha nqpaccf-
| ties of nearly thousand families since
| Christmas. The Needle Guild, which IS
an adjunct Of the society has made and
| distributed over 500 warm garments, ana
| the sewing school, which is held TO teach
| the moor to sew. has also been great
power in relieving distress, through the
| distribution of the garments made.
| The mission IS supported by voluntary
! contributions, and the great dram on the
! treasury has almost depleted H.
| Mrs. A. Y. Stokes president OF the
mission. said TO reporter yesterday,
! that I'm all the years she has been init
/ matelv connected with the city Mis-
! sion She has never been confronted with
| ca deplorable a situation. 1t seems TO
ne " she said, that there is no silver
| lining TO the cloud. The workers IN the
mission are most eihclent ana lhuela-
! tigable," said Mrs. Stokes
| WHAT THEY ARE DUNG.
ovhat are you doing to alleviate the
,reeent conditions?" asked the reporter
wv are distributing the 600 loads OF
col presented TO US by the city, re-
r,iad Mrs. Stokes. land we are giving
p,,+ rotions at the City Mission house, On
tTorrteenth street, to the aged ana the
l,oi, Then we are making house-to-
&c xisitations, and when we find
FoujiI I'm want of food we give 1t to
-, 10 aggravate the fact that there
- No work, the amount Of grip pneu-
- and other sickness is tremencou Gus.
moe" zoe course. we come across heaps of
,.Nns+ers'' said Mrs. Stokes, lin reply TO
III pl,,estion. 'but they are rare. indeed
aoT for nearly every one we help is in
~ direst extremity, and all cases are
.of,,ilv examined first before any
t%,rq Is done. A great problem we have
IN 80 consider has been the helping
l ia ,bo families of confirmed drunkards,
Vl,t we decided that the innocent should
~ snffer for the guilty, and we have re-
i,o,,od the poor wife's aching heart
MOVEMENT TO RAISE FUNDS
An effort which was set on foot Tues
dav night. when IL was discussed by two
nbilanthropic gentlemen Of the city, pro-
,,ises 10 be Of the greatest assistance 10
Tho CITY Mission in carrying their labors
| - and happV issue.