Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1902-06-04
HUSBANDS TO BLAME
Charity Cases i'm Chicago Insti-
tuti0ns for the Poor.

fhlIOIeu III On1cdSO VINO are reduced
10 a state where they are forced to
eek public charity owe their condi-
ion to deserving husbands and IA,
hers. This is the Option of men and
women engaged in charitable work in
The city, reports the Chicago Tribune.
They have found that desertion is the
prime cause of poverty. In numbers
its victims exceed those forced into
straitencd circumstances through any
other cause.
Deserving husbands-the ones who
Bring distress and want upon their
tamilies-may be placedin two classes,
hose who desert periodically when
ever home affairs become the least bit
perpleXing and those who desert once
and for all time. Strange as it may
seem, those in the latter class are less
harmful.
1t is the experience of charity work
srs thatva woman who. happens to be
possessed of. a .good-for;nothing shus-
band is better off and gets along more
satisfactorily after the man has left
Ter. She will as rule cling to him
as long as he will continue to accept
Of the fruits. of her rabors and pro-
vide for him without complaint, but
she is tied down and hampered in
hundred ways. After he has left her
she feels certain amount of freedom
and sets out to provide for herself
and family in her own way:
The periodical deserter, however, is
a constant menace to the welfare and
happiness of his family. He goes away
just when he is wanted and comes back
whe he is not wanted, so his wife's
plans to get along without his aid are
constantly upset and the home kept
in state of turmoil. DESERVING hus-
bands, as a class, are poor providers,
and when they go away they usually
leave an empty larder and hung chill
dren for the mother to look after and
care for. That is why so many women
and children are forced to seek public
charity.
Poverty, according to students Of
sociology, is reactive. 1t frequently
asserts itself among the children of
well-to-do people, who, though able to
live comparatively well, give their sons
tages. The result is that when they
set out for themselves and start fam
lilies of their own the improvidence Of
their parents bears fruit, and before
long they are applying at the Office Of
some charity organiza ton for assist
ance. Scores of cases of this charac-
ter are found in Chicago every day by
those whose duty it is to investigate
them.
There is really pathetic side to
many of the appeals for help that come
into the West side office of the bureau
of charities. 1t is not always the suf-
fering of want that hurts most. This
is illustrated by the case of a young
couple. married less than a year ago.
The husband was buried recently. and
behind his sickness and death is a
touching story.
The young man and his wife were
much in love. They had been sweet.
hearts for years. He was a good me-
chanic and received good wages. They
were married and soon after he was
taken sick with quick consumption.
Having no money ahead they were
forced to seek the aid of charity Doc
tors told the man he could not live I'M
less he changed climate. So a purse
was made up and he was sent to Col.
orado. The heart-broken wife was to
follow, but the invalid husband grew
rapidly worse after his arrival in the
west, and one day an appealing letter
came saying he wanted to come back
home, so that he might die in the com.
pany of his wife.
Another purse was raised and the
dying man was brought back to Chi.
cago. He lived but short time after
his return. He passed away and was
buried, leaving a young wife, heart.
broken and poverty-stricken.
The Life of Circus People.