The evening world., 1904-04-06
EV|CTORS BEGIN
THEIR WORK
Sad Case of Mrs. SchWab, Who,
Turned Into Street To-Day, Is
a Sample Of Thousands to
Follow Next. Week.

A touching illustration of shs pathetic
scenes which will be witnessed next
Monday and Tuesday on the East Side,
whom the city marshals begin tho work
Of wholesale evictions, occurred to-day
when Mrs. Philip Schwab. her con.
sumptive husband, his crippled mother
and hve little children. were dispossed
from their home, at No. 173 Avenue c.
For twelve years Mrs. Schwab has
been the sole support Of this unfortu-
nate family. She kept a dry-goods store
and lived In two little rooms in the rear.
In the twelve years she has built UP a
hourishing trade in the neishborhood
and was getting along very we'll until
two successive increases in her rent
drove her to the wall.
Worked Fourteen Hours q Day.
In addition to providing her fve chill
dren with food and clothing and attend
ing the wants of her sick husband and
his crippled mother, Mrs. Schwab has
had to attend her little store, and she
has worked on an average OF fourteen
hours n day.
Her landlord was a well-known east
side real estate man and he never
store and rooms. This she could afford
to pay and did pay promptly. On Jan.
!. however, this man sold the property
to n woman Of wealth. This woman
does not live on the east side. 1t Is
said that she lives in the fashionable
quarter uptown. Her first act was to
raise the rent to $50. This Mrs. Schwab
managed to pay by denying herself and
her family even the necessaries of life.
On the first day OF the present month.
however, the final blow came The rent
was again raised, this time to $40. Mrs.
Schwab couldn't pay 1t.
Turned Into the street.
She was served with dispossess
notice and this morning her landlady
dumped her, her goods and her sick
charges and fye little Children out on
the street.
Friends of Mrs. Schwab got a van
and the goods were taken off the side
walk. Meantime Mrs. Schwab secured
store at Avenue A and Eightieth
street for S+. where she will try to
get along.
There will be many such scenes an
this on the east side on Monday. for
taat IS the final day, and all who can
not pay the increased rentals asked Of
them then must go. Justices Roesch
and Hoffman, whose duty 1t Is to sign
the dispossess' warrants. have delayed
matters all they possibly can, but
their plain duty is before them and
they cannot dodge dt.
All the dispossess warrants now out.
and there are over a thousand of
them. are dated for Friday. but each
one allows two days of grace. This
will carry the unfortunates over Sat-
urday and Sunday.
Fear to Arouse the People.
The executive authorities and the
judiciary understand only too well what
the consequences would be II an attempt
were made to-day or tomorrow to dis
possess those who observe the Pass
over. Stirred as they are by the SEEM
ing injustice OF the landlords, action be-
fore Monday at least could not escape
being construed as a radical attack So
Monday has practically been decided
on as the day, and unless something
is done In the mean time there Is no
surety that blood will not be shed
AEitators Ever Ready.
There are agitators on the east side
ever ready for such a moment as this.
and they are moving among the poor
people preaching doctrines OF defiance.
They stand forth on the street corners
and harangue for hours, and 1t is not
hard for them to hold an audience.
Strangely enough, Jews of prominence
say that 1t is people of their own race
and not landlords Of another who are
pressing the Hebrew tenants. Not all
the property owners are Hebrews. but
tho greater number are men who ten
and twelve years AGO bought land when
the big estates were being divided.