The sun., 1903-04-05
COTTAGES FOR CITY PAUpERS.
PLAN TO IMPROVE THE LOT OF
THE ALMSHOUSE INMATES.

Colony fer Them On staten Island
--HardShips Of the Present systeW--Osd
Couples won't BE Separated Hereafter.
Over on the Island they are glad that sum
NOR II coming. During the winter the old
men and women In the almshouse grow
very weary Of sitting In the big wards
of wandering through the dismal halls
or gazing out Of the windows In the sum
mer they have outdoor life to furnish variety
to their existence.
Winter is great leveller on the Island. 1t
forces all kinds Of inmates to dwell together
In close communion. Old women who have
been respectable must spend their days and
nights In great rooms within hearing OF
other old women who have never been re-
spectacle. There is no escape from them.
There are many nice old women on Black
well's Island who deserve q kinder fate.
Not long ago there were Ave schoolteachers
at the almshouse. all gentle. refined women,
who had passed their days OF usefulness,
yet had no friends to give them shelter In
their old age. There are women who have
toiled In many other walks Of life but most
Of the women are mothers OF grown-up
children who have forgotten them.
Some are cross and fretful and complain
all day long Of the treatment they have
received. Others are tender. gentle and for
giving while suffering their lonely neglect
An old woman who has been In the aims
house for years says she Ia the mother OF
six sons, each ons OF whom will some day
offer her home.
I'm waitin,' she says, just waitin'
Sure, sir. tn letther will Doom some day
Nobody has ever been able TO And these
sons and no letter has ever reached the
Islapd for the mother. but she does not
despair. Her faithful old heart finds
reason for the forgetfulncss Of each boy.
and the excuse once invented Ia told from
time to time as though II came to her In an
actual message.
What the poor old women have to say
| to one another a. they sit about the insti-
| tuition Ia a sure index to their past
| liyee. One diehevelled old woman, turning
| a dim eve toward the river and the house,
| tops OF Manhattan, mutters In q bored
way:
.Yes, Saray Hester. II would suit me real
well 70 be In the workhouse. Then could
| ret out and 20 see my friends on Boone
street. am just sick for q drop OF gin.'
A few steps away two moro are con-
versing just as earnestly.
| Il lust know you must have hated to part
| with IT, says one.
| sIndeed I did answers the other. 1T
was such a beautiful quilt. worked on
| II for years, and knew where every piece
in IL came from. II was all had to re-
mind me Of my children. Som etines
| would sit down and cry over II.
-The little brown stripes were jamie
nvt pair Of trousers: snd the nis S,Ss hsH c5me
| she was 10. The dear little plaid squares
| were cut from one OF Annie's old skirts.
Every thread In that quilt was dear TO me.
for the cloth was taken from the garments
Il had covered them. too, in their beds.
Oh, Oh, oh. how I loved that quilt. When
sold II was sure would get 1t back
But I camc here
Nov, now, dear. d9nt cry ~nspe ns
the the. other 'ThinS' Will % 0s'''' ''"'
I'm sure they wil,' replies the old woman,
veepine softly. I'm sure they will. And
lust a. soon as I can. I'm going 70 get 1t
You will. you will says the other
Then there h the little woman who close.
her eyes when she sing There u land
that is fairer than day she deserves 70
that is striving 70 drown her hymn In rag.
The women generally busy themselves
In prying into the mysteries OF the poor
hoe These my.teTs: Are. Are imam masy ynoio,e Ses
out az a miser because the occupant Of 2
neishboring cot had seen some kind OF
twist in her petticoat.
She has q bag Of money pinned under
her ss'her sSs eisoe TePSrsa va. 'si al srHisd
and the pins we're sticking out
Curious eyes followed the suspect foI
days. When at last the took of the garment
20 that it could be washed, there was much
comment over the discovery that y wa,
torn. IL was believed that the weight o.
the money had ripped the cloth. Not unit
another mystery grew up among therr
did the old women forget this extraor'
dinary fiction. -,
enrrossing interest besides these absurc
little mysteries. Cross old women criticist
the administration OF the institution anc
make charges OF fragrant favoritism OF
the part Of this or that one & o. .ne Seno o,oo
or spiteful are sometimes drawn into the
general hubbub through sheer delight in AZ
| animated chatter.
There are many thing. a. the =, Institution
that displease a respectable old woman
i,esides the talk Of women whom she MAJ
consider beneath her. One OF these thing
is the dining room. II 10 hard for an i'm
poverished housewife who has ruled ove'
her own clean little home 70 eat her meal az
women. II is utterly unlike any experienc,
she could ever have had before or could
The Old men OF the almshou.e are not ol
sterner. but OF coars:r nbrs fntn tno rns p. 1,e
dom because Of being shut on from the scenei
Of their former activities On bright days
ss they sit on the benches outdoors soms
Of them seem inexpressibly world weary
A great many, however, are extremely
| ahIerf,,i rsonc~nt rating their individual