The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-03-10
SALVATION ARMY'S SHELTERS.
CITY COUNCIL WILL CONSIDER ITS
CHARITY PLAN.

DenistOn, Giving an Exposition of
the Army's Plan of Dealing with
the Charity Question Read Before
Council and Received With Inter-
est and ApprOVaI-COmmitte OF
the Whole VIII Discuss the Sub
ject-At the Army Shelters Appli-
cants Pay in Money or Labor for
What They Get and the Plan Is
Self Supporting.
Capt. j. B. Deniston of the Salvation
Army, thinks the charitable people of
Savannah are badly imposed upon and
that a great improvement is possible in
the present methods of bestowing charity.
In letter to the Mayor and Aldermen.
read at the adjourned meeting yesterday
afternoon, he makes a very thorough ex-
position of the plan which has been sue
lcessfully pursued by the Salvation Army
In many different countries as well as in
a number of cities in this country.
Capt. Deniston points out that the evils
of the present system are that Savannah
has become a favorite resort for the army
of tramps which pours South every sum
rected and that those who receive are but
little, if any, benefited by it. The plan
which he outlines is simple and direct and
is evidently based upon practical expert
ence. The peculiar feature about Capt.
Deniston's communication is that it
makes no request for direct assistance
but simply asks the cooperation of the
off in rla tod int
effect.
The aldermen listened attentively to the
reading of the letter and outline of plan
and there were expressions of approval
from nearly every member of the board
at the conclusion.
The idea set forth by Capt. Deniston
will be of interest to hundreds of readers
of the Morning News, whose attention is
constantly attracted to the evils which
he discusses The letter to Mayor Myers
is as follows:
During the three months that I
have been residing in your city and in
the pursuance of my work which brings
me into contact with the poorest and most
submerged class of your residents, l have
studied the methods of bes towing charity
For some years 1 have made this a spe-
cial feature of my work and have breach.
ed the subject to a number of your lead
ing citizens. They one and all approve
very highly of my plan and have urged
me strenuously to bring the matter to
your honor's attention. The citizens of
Savannah are public spirited and charita-
bic, but their charity is very badly abused
by unworthy people. Our Salvation Army
social work is replacing organized charity
in ,f,-f1 A.,
fact that under our management we COM
pletely systematic it,"
The following is Capt. Deniston's expo
siton of the Salvation Army plan of deal
ing with the charity questions:
What the city of Savannah needs and
what. in fact every city with floating
population requires, is a systematic plan
for the amelioration of the condition OF its
homeless and penniless men and women.
The Salvation Army shelters meet all
these requirements. A shelter is build
ing, fitted up as a dormitory and restau-
rant and attached to it a woodward or
workshop. a man can procure a good,
clean, comfortable bed for small amount
and also good. substantial meals II
man is penniless, work is furnished him
and he earns a bed or meal or both all
depending on the length of time he works.
For instance, the price of a bed or meal
is, We will say, Is cents One and a half
hours work entities him to one on the
other, and he can earn two meals and
bed for four and one-half hours work an
allowance of 10 cents an hour being made
for the time he is employed The work
consists of saving and splitting wood for
knding purposes and for persons not
strong physically the salvage warehouse
is provided. Here the waste paper rags
bottles, pieces of old metal etc, which
have been collected by our wagons, are
tn1 4 ~
ent grades and then put up in bales,
crates, etc. All Of these have a ready
sale. The Army having contracts with
Wholesale rag and paper merchants, who
take all that can be supplied, or we could
sell them TO the merchants In Savannah
IAN our shelters are kept in such good
sanitary condition that in Boston, Mass.
where the charges are 10 cents 20 cents
and 25 cents per night, the sign Full is
exposed every night by s p m. and the
better class of beds are occupied by men
who cannot afford a permanent room, and
will not sleep in the ordinary lodging
house. Each inmate is compelled TO bathe
regularly and for the first night this rule
is inviolable. clean night shirt is fur
nished nightly, thus insuring absolute
cleanliness. A laundry is also provided,
with hot and cold water in which the in
mate can wash and dry their clio hing We
have in the United States at the present
time torty-nlne male and five female shell
ters permanently established We have
just procured a building in New Orleans
and are fitting it up to be used as a shell
ter and Atlanta has had one in operation
for nearly a year. and they are doing
good work. We have shelters established
in forty-nine countries and colonies in the
world although it was not until 1890 that
Gen. Booth inaugurated the work We
will take New York city, for instance Qn-
Guiding Jersey City and Newark N. j.,
where we have six Of these institutions.
The expenses for twelve months ending
June. 1899, were $19511.S0 and the income.
$40 1924 leaving a balance of S595.A on
the credit side of the ledger after paying
for material, groceries, fuel, gas rent,
etc A very good showing considering
that the work in the United States is
only a few years old lit having been tried
in the United States for three years oniy)
and proving that it is more than self
supporting.
1.-THE city of Savannah and its citizens
can be benefited In the following man
ner: The citizens can, in conjunction with