Los Angeles herald., 1906-07-22

to do his utmost to deliver me the ar
! tces that day.
was then presented with a lantern
without oil or wick (being told there
was no oiD and hurried to DR.. SEXTON
IL was nearly O'Clock. closing time
toI e tne storehouse, and by the time I
found DR.. Sexton (after having been
| toId by the man In charge of bedding
that there was no more) closing hour
had struck. DR.. Sexton waved me orr
impatiently. saying that what cots and
blankets he had left were designed for
tne speedway camp. But you can't
send them there tonight?" I begged
II have no place to sleep" ut is bv
Dr. Devine's orders through DR.. Ford
that / am holding these. madam. and
cannot do anything for YOU" and he
turned away
What was 1t to him that had no
pace to sleep? Surely he could NOT
e pe hela responsible for one more or
| less miserable homeless woman in the
world: He was subject to order from
a higher authority. But NV self-pur-
| chased coverings came that night and
with woman friend 1 slept at last in
my assigned tent.
Camp Is Orderly
The camp was as quiet and orderly , G
small village a.reet after the curfev
Instant notes of sweet, gentle song
reached us, and by half-past o,Iief
| brooded over all.
by In the morning the refugees
oesan to stir The earlier workers SET
ABOUT getting their breakfast and our
| camp was practically emptied of IT'S
men before T. l hung about Watching
the industrious housewives set their
neat tents in order, and then after n
breakfast outside the park, was start
| ing over to test the soup kitchen morn
ing fare when l encountered lustv
OLD creature with an earnest honest
face.
queried. one
oh, a long way from here" an
swered; fully mile and a half"
| My. out it's walk for a person Of
my years, and me with rheumatism"
she calculated, for I'm not as fit as
look. The doctor down at the gate
gave me 10 cents for breakfast and told
me that out at the Speedway they
take in all ;he old sick, but I'll keep nv
money to -e to the ferry and get the
basket I've left there" Though the
| Kitchen breakfast hour was past the
attendant treated" to a cup of coffee
after little persua sion on nv mart
and then 1 started with my new friend
! Tor the speedway, for it was long way
for an old woman to go alone and there
| was q llcdNy, ulSCOuGaRlng log. She
assured me a half dozen times on the
road that without my guidance she
would surely have given up the long
journey and turned back.
| / felt tired enough myself when we
finally landed at the Speedway camp
| we sat down to wait our turn and
watch the pitiful old folk who come in
to get their orders. There was no long
line here and utmost kindness was
shown the poor abandoned souls But
if the vigorous refugees had touched
my heart. these bent, white-haired vic
Tins of the disaster smote upon it so
that as 1 gazed and listened insistent
tears welled up in my eyes.
| What touched me especially was that
few questioned had any friends or rela-
t1VeS to notify in case of sickness or
death. So humble, SO meek so easily
satisfied, so like we'll disciplined help
less children! Some were p in untu-
/ tored souls, others showed evidence of
breeding and of former prosperity.
There they were, bent of back, with
quaveriug voices and uncertain steps,
| some with unques.ioning eyes, others
! with faces where tragedy had set so
deep stamp l found myself asking:
can such as these ever smile again ?''
In PitifuI Content
Most pitiful was their content. Hud-
| died in two-roomed partially parti-
toned apartments, two to a room, these
old men and women, each with his mar
row cot set on the rough wood floor,
without any other piece of furniture,
accepted their fate and murmured not.
The food is very good, l think said
an invalid from her rescued wheel
chair. ITO be sure it is very cold and
draughty here and do feel the fog,
| but it's really very nice, though of
course it is different from what lots of
us here had before the fire" 1t seemed
indeed a wretched Lace to put sick and
| elderly folk. There was a thick fog
in the air and the cold rushed throu- h
the cracks of the imperfect inner par
titions of the barracks.
My new charge had no trouble in get
ting a lodging, though there were no
| blankets in the warehouse for her to
put on her narrow iron cot. Bedding
was expected, however, before noon.
She told me she had been through much
since the fire and had worke like n
slave for two different farmers as cook
and dishwasher The pay was so small
that at length she had been forced to
return to San 'anciSco to get work.
She had been given a tent in Hamilton
| square for the past week. But the cot
was so narrow, it's iron sides cut me,
and the food was so bad l was getting
| sick from eating 1t, she explained. IF
can get a comfortable bed here I'll
find housework ~ the day." This is a
poor place for any one with rheuma-
tism," spoke up one of her fellow
lodgers. You'll never be able to work
If you stay here" But l lave her
parting assurance that all would be
we'll. and feeling pretty dubious over
the question myself, started back for
the park entrance. On the way 1 over
took an old porter of the Occidental
hotel. Il was doing a little work as a
day laborer at the time of the fire, but
was going right back to the hotel in
another month, when my job would be
completed" he laid chokingly. That
dear old hotel! l Lad worked there
thirty years come the last Of this
month. There's little chance for old
men like me to ever get work again.
Little | thought I'd ever be down to
this. Look at these poor clothes"
"Haye you had no clothing from the
relief warehouse?" 1 queried. Nothing
but these shoes. l tried to get suit.
But only few of the rustlers get them.
1t does seem a shame that we can't