The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-11-24

so woe-begone, so hNggard, so utterly hopeless looking Most of them had become imbeciles through a long series of failures in combating lust and appe- tite, hunger and exposure Failure to secure work and failure to hold 1t when they did get it; moral stamina at low ebb physical ability at minimum, ex- communicated form family, ostracized from society, outcasts from God and hopelessly entangled in the labyrinth Of social wreckage. Some had been to prison and were branded by society. Henceforth the sweat of their brows meant not wages, but patronage.
 All of them are conscious of their de- gradation, and most of them are help less to eXtricate themselves. If they were only horses much could be done fer them. The Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals would at once render relief. If they were sheep or hogs they would be worth their weight in mutton or pork. If they were dogs in pound they might be claimed or sold. If they were dead men it would be the business of somebody to dispose of them; but they were just merely liV- ing men.
 I am very sure learned more from them than they learned from me. l used to thing they were all lazy crowd who would not work if they had l it to do. One night while addressing them made challenge. I offered to dress myself in rags and show any man In the crowd how to find work. A man stepped to the front and accepted the challenge.
 l Next morning dressed as a laboring man met at Chatham Square the man selected to accompany me. He smiled pleasantly, and on several corners I saw a number of my lodger friends taking in the situation with evident rel ish. My success among them depended upon my success as a work finder, and the die was cast; I must go on. I took the man up the Bowery. II want you to keep close to me and keep silence" I told him and he obeyed. I went into a drug store and secured the attention of the druggist while I poured in tale of woe to induce him to give me five i cents worth of oxalic acid on credit. 1 Your story seems square," said the ' apothecary, 'and you don't look like real bum; I guess I'll trust you" So he gave me the acid. The next trip was to tailors shop, where I induced | the proprietor to give me some rags. would not accept them without valua- tion, so he told me that two cents would cover the cost. Then I went to clothing store on Chatham Square which had two very large brass signs. The floor walker stood at the. door with
 his hands in his pockets. I called his attention to the dirty signs and told him I had the materials and would clean them for seven cents (cost of the l outfit) He at first demurred. but persisted and he gave in. After clean l ing the signs I persuaded him to allow me to sweep off the sidewalk, and final I ly bargained with him to clean two large plate-glass windows for twenty | five cents. My labor here lasted two
 hours. I went up the Bowery and paid | the druggist and the tailor and had l thirty cents left. I made a purchase
 of brass polish and some more rags, and 1 by one o'clock had finished several
 large contracts. took my colleague of
 the morning to luncheon, and after
 paying for it and deducting all other expenses I handed him the balance . slxty-two cents. He was surprised 1 somewhat. My friend,' I said, you
 must convince some people of their
 needs. I believe I could take an oppc.
 site tack tomorrow morning and do the
 same" I waited for his reply. It
 came calmly and deliberately "You
 have forgotten one thing" he said.
 You forgot that some men are thicker
 than others. It is a difference of
 brains ard not of will power. I could
 not think of acids and signs in thou sand years. Somebody must think for
 me"
 There is mental as we'll as a physi- cal degeneracy in these unfortunates.