The times., 1898-10-12
noble WORK OF RELIEF
Mrs. Dickins Tells What the
D. A. R. Has Accomplished.
MORE is YET To BE DONE
Wives and Children of the District
Volunteers Were In Many Cases
Rescued From Starvation the
Poor House-Tbe Funds Are Now
Nearly Exhausted.

At the regular meeting of the Mary
Washington Chapter of the Daughters of
the American Revolution held last even
ing, Mrs. Marguerite Dickins, wife of
Commander Francis W. Dickins, of the
navy, submitted her report on the work
done during the war by the committee
for the relief of the families of volunteers
from the District of Columbia. The re-
port reads, in part, as follows:
I'VE only report progress tonight, for
our work is not yet done as many men
from the District will be required to serve
their two years. We must remember that
peace has not yet been declared, and, ev-
en- after that, Cuba must be assured
a stable government.
your committee found that the District
had sent three bodies of men besides
few who enlisted in regiments passing
through, or wherever they happened to be
when a call for troops was made. Those
who went in bodies were the First Infan-
try of District of Columbia Volunteers,
five companies of the Fourth Infantry.
called the 1mmunes, and a number in the
Third Regiment of Engineers.
'Of course the first necessity TO your
committee was the procuring of money
with which to give relief 1t seems
almost a dream, those hot days,
when we went about with our hands out
stretched, determined to have the money,
that we might succor the needy.
Next to the question of money came
that of clothes, and we have begged
clothes for and given them out to over
one hundred women and children. A
room in my house has been the cid
clothes shop, and there have gathered the
motley garments which have been SO
thankfully received No shoes have been
given out to children, as we thought
they could go without In the warm wea-
ther, but now, they and stockings. as
well as warm clothes for small children,
are badly needed.
Our system of relief has been, as soon
as a name or case was given to us, to
send the same to the police and they
would make the first report, giving US Of
fetal answers TO our queries. You can
fancy what a relief it was to have this
strong arm to lean upon., and we tender
our grateful thanks to the memory of
Major Moore, to the present chief, Major
Sylvester, and also to each member of
the force, for they displayed q tenderness
of heart toward the poor, combined with
justice towards our work. which is great
" appreciated. This firstvisit made, then
one of us would go and see the home, the
surroundings, judge generally of the
character of the relief needed, see the
size of the children, age often meaning
so little, and procure many details. all Of
which was reported to the committee at
it's weekly meeting and acted upon No
one but ourselves will ever know what
work this has been, only those here can
realize the hot, burning days when we
started early and worked late, and if
our chapter had not come to the
rescue there would have been the shame
full fact of some of the families of the
men who had gone to fight for us,
taking refuge in the poor house from
the streets, where, homeless, they
would have been forced. The name of
the Mary Washington Chapter is beloved
in many home within out city and
many prayers from grateful lips nave
carried your name to the Throne of God
I'VE were the first to take up THIS
work. To date seventy-three cases nave
been reported, with one exception lnvoiV-
ing families, and sixty-one relieved more
or less. Individually they number l64
souls. Our work has lain among the
whites entirely, and as a class they are
people whom it is privilege and pleas
ure to help. The families of the District
of Columbia volunteers are a proof OF
what our army is-not the off-scourfngs
of Europe but the bone and sinew of
of whom we may we'll be proud.
Cash we never give except under es-
pecial circumstancese. ana rent is always