The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-12-23
THE GOSPEL JOINT.
As1oAy or HOW the HUNGRY MAN
MAY FEED IN GOTHAM.

Meals For = Ceut Or Two and .
Course Dinner For . NfckeI--An
Experience with Starving Hobo
In the Big City snA Its ssqusl.
A man who intended to 20 to an eie.
vated station and catch q Harlem train
was interrupted the other evening By q
sorry looking specimen Of the genus hobo.
who said, "Say. boss, give me nickel"
The other was passing without giving
him an answer when he said:
Boss, II you emit give me nickel do
give me cent or two, for I'm starving.
am, boss, honest"
What can you get to eat for cent or
twoY'
Il en- get good deal more than I've
had today, boss. I en- get coffee and
beans and bread."
I'LL give 1t to you II youll take me
along and Let me try the same kind Of
meal"
The specimen agreed, and they started
down the Bowery. Guess wen 60 to
the gospel joint" was oil the intimation
he gave Of their direction.
This was, found to be the colloquial
name for the Peniel Mission restaurant,
The restaurant Is In the basement under
the room In which gospel meetings are
held. 1t is part Of the mission and GER
tainly does good by giving hungry men a
chance to get something to eat for cent
or two.
"Are you in earnest about going n"
asked the specimen when they came to
the stairway that led to the basement.
Certainly l am"
"All right, then, boss; come in. I
didn't hardly think It was your kind Of .
Joint"
They went down stairs Into long
basement. On the left as they entered
was semicircular counter, back Of
which stood three or four large stoves.
On each was good sized boiler used for
cooking food. There were three men
back Of the counter. They were walters
and cooks In one. They wore no white
aprons or coats, but had on everyday
garments and looked like workingmen
from the streets.
Two long tables ran the length Of the
basement. They we're innocent of COW
ering, and there were no chairs at which
the patrons could sit. There were dog
en- men at the tables eating. Others
were coming in. They were poorly dress
ed, Of course, and seemed to be much
down on their luck, but 1t was hard to
make out whether as rule they were
professional tramps Or hard up working
men.
Soup" said one, coming up to the
counter and laying down a cent. The
"A ~ hn hni1n Il
ladled out pint tin cup Of soup, reached
into big basket, got four slices of stale
bread and gave 1t all to the man. The
man took his soup to one Of the tables
and ate.
what are we going to have?" the
specimen was asked.
"How much will you stand for?"
IAN you want. Order for both"
'I'm mighty hungry, and III make 1t
regular course dinner il you don't kick"
answered the specimen.
Then he ordered soup and beans. bread
pudding and coffee. The bill for each
was 6 cents. They got plate of beans
well cooked and good. There was all
one wanted. The price was 2 cents. The
pudding cost the same, and the coffee,
which was In pint cup, like the soup,
cost a cent. They went back to the
tables, and the specimen ate. The inves-
tigator passed his meal to an old woman
near by who was looking lOngingly at her
empty soup cup.
All the men spoke in low voices. There
was little talking at the tables, for each
seemed to prefer to eat in silence and go
away. At the counter their voices were
In,~, nt,I kkn, To-,
tone of the man who has made failure
of everything and feels that he is an in
truder wherever he goes. There were
Scriptural passages on the walls and in
vitations to the meetings up stairs.
do you ever 20 to those meetings"
the specimen was asked.
Sometimes" he said. "Kind of like
to 60 there. The fellows that run 'em
seem to be kind Of good to a fellow, but
somehow l can't get interested in this
gospel business.
Say" he went on, changing the sub
ject, do you know it's mighty nice to
get this bread pudding? Now, there's
lots Of folks that would think it was all
tomfoolery to have pudding in hobo
joint like this, but 1t amt. Some time
you live week on bread and butter and
free lunches and see how a little some-
thing nice and sweet goes. Did you ever
hear of hoboes throwing stuff away
bread and butter and sandwiches and
the like? People get awful hot over 1t.
Now, just let me tell you how 1t IS. A
fellow will live on bread and butter and
stuff for about three days, and then he'll
be so hungry he Is weak, and the thought
Of bread and butter turns his stomach.
It's funny, but 1t does. Makes him sick
to think Of 1t. He'll go to a house and
ask for something, hoping to get piece
Of pie or cup Of tea or something. They
hand out bread and butter again, and he
Just can't eat It. He's too polite to re-
fuse, so he takes It out and chucks 1t un-
der the sidewalk That's the way II Is,
boss, and if you don't believe it just try
bread and butter some time for week."
Going out the specimen was asked
"Where are you going to sleepr"
He stroked his stubby beard, shifted
his battered derby. winked one red eye
and, looking doubtfully down the street,
said he hadn't decided whether to rcpose
In Washington square or Battery park.
How much would 1t cost to get you
bed?"
Seven cents"
"Well, here's Is. That will get you
bed and something to eat tomorrow"
Then the investigator went into the
mission to ask something about the re-
suits of the restaurant experiment. He
was leaving when he CHANGED to look in
next door. Signs over the door announc-
ed that you could have your choice Of
pure Kentucky whisky, milk punch or
sherry and egg for 5 cents. Within was
the specimen. He was spending that 10
cents given him to pay for lodging and
breakfast. He swallowed a milk punch
and then took two pure Kentucky whis-
kies. The other man went away won
dering which park his friend would de-
eide to sleep in.--New York Tribune.
One Right Reserved.
So long as we don't allow any lying Ia
che paDer outside of the editorial column
we can keep track easily enough of how
much Of 1t there is in the paper, because