The times., 1899-07-17
NEW YoRKs FLOWER MISSION
4 Noble Work of Charity Among the
Poor and Suffering.

New l ork, July lb--Ine basement OF All
Souls Unitarian Church. at the corner of
Twentieth Street and Fourth Avenue on
a recent Thursday, looked like a florists
shop just before a fashionable wedding.
Thousands of roses were piled high on
long tables in the room. Baskets and
boxes on the floor were filled with mig
nonette. phlox, pinks. aste-s, sweet peas,
yerbenas, ageratum. cosmos. daisies, syrin-
ga, hyacinths. and all sorts of garden
flowers. The room was literally filled with
flowers which women, sitting at the tables,
made up into bouquets and nosegays which
in turn were carried off by other women
and children in basketfuls.
The room is the headquarters of the New
York Flower Mission. On Mondays and
Thursdays flowers come in from the coun-
try towns within a radius of a hundred
miles of New York. Sometimes there are
so many that the women OF the mission
have great difficulty in caring for and dis
tributing all of them. Over 5000 bouquets
were sent out recently in one day, besides
quantities of loose flowers.
The flowers are distributed among the
hospitals, homes, asylums, and public and
charitable institutions Of the city and the
islands, among the tenements, and in the
vacation schools. Flowers are sent regu-
larly to fifty-six hospitals in this city. thir-
ty-two homes, and twenty-five missions,
cation schools, fourteen miscellaneous
charitable institutions, and to the tene-
ment districts. They come from the coun-
try residents OF Westchester, Long Island,
Staten Island, New Jersey, Connecticut.
Massachusetts, and throughout the State OF
New York. They are carried free by the
large express companies, and delivered free
by the local expresses. The record for last
year shows that they were received from
cnH vii IN N
1897 and 1898 rs, 900 bouquets were sent to
the tenement districts. About 100000 bou-
uuets are sent TO the various hospitals and
institutions each season. The cost OF dis
tributing the flowers is very small. Resi-
dents of small towns and those who live
in the country have simply to cut baskets
OF flowers from beds which will never miss
them. and carry them to the nearest rail-
way station. They are carried free to this
city. and the work of the women is all
gratis o. course, there is some expense
attached to carrying on the work OF the
mission but 1t is small in comparison with
the magnitude Of its work and the good
IL does.
The mission was started In 1870 by the
Misses Russell. of l26 West Thirteenth
Street. Excepting one in Boston, founded
in the same year. it was the first one in
the United States. All Souls Church ex
tended to 1t the use of rooms In the base
ment of the church. The expenses for the
first year were within $35. AT first it was
able to do hardly more than supply one
large free hospital. The cooperation OF
sick nurses and the workers OF the va
ricls charitable organizations in the city
was secured in distributing the flowers,
and the scope OF the mission was extend
ed Not only flowers, but fruit iellies, and
delicacies OF all kinds. nourishing food. and
clothing. are distributed among the insti-
tutions and the tenement districts partic-
ularly at Christmas time. when thousands
of cards and souvenirs are sent to the in
mates OF the island institutions. Any re-
membrance, however insignificant, is
gratefully received by these unfortunates.
Toys and dolls are given 10 the little in
valid "shut-ins" of the tenements.
Fifteen TO twenty-five ladies gather at
the rooms of the mission at O'Clock on
the days mentioned, and work, tying the
flowers in bouquets. until late in the after
noon, but the quantity is so great that 1t
takes most of the afternoon to tie them
up. After they have all been tied the
ladies each carry basketful to some hos
pital or institution, distributing the bou
quets themselves. The vacation schools
and many institutions send for their
flowers. and the visitors in the tenements
from other organizations assist in dis
tributing the flowers in the tenement cis-
trict
One of the women workers said: I'VE
distribute most Of the flowers that come
TO us ourselves carrying them from bed TO
bed in the hospitals, so that We know
that each bouquet does some good. The
work of distributing flowers brings its
own reward. The smile Of JOY and appre-
citation from the poor sufferer stretched on
a bed OF pain is sufficient to pay for a
whole days tramping in the hot sun"
II is claimed that operations in hospitals
are more successful on flower days than
on other days. Donations were received
last year, OF flowers and other things, from
forty-fve churches in surrounding towns
forty eight out-of-town Christian En-
deavor societies, twenty-five Kings
Daughters societies. twenty-three Wom-
ems Christian Temperance Unions. and 500
MISCELLANEOUS societies, organizations, and
individuals.