The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-07-02
City N eWs
SUMMER CRUEL AS
4. WINTER I ! R ! |. I' 1
S Ests& NJ iFgFgs Il E5AA III He1 IN =
HEAT CAUSES WRETCIIEDNEss TO
PoVERTY's VICTIMS.
Associated Charity Workers Toll OF
Miseries Which Beset Those Who Are
Unable to Help Themselves of
Ice, Tainted Food and Polluted Water
. Tell on Invalids. .:,,,sss

Sickness and suffering among the
poor have not been alleNiated by the
coming of summer While the invalids
among the wealthy and well-to-do are
enjoying the fresh air and GOODNESS of
comfortable. well ventilated homes, the
chrome sufferers among the poor are
gasping in the Sitting atmosphere of
the low-roofed, poorly ventilated frame
houses which shelter the poverty
stricken of Minneapolis.
Loathsome stories of sweltering
nights, flies, lukewarm drinking water.
sickening odors and tainted food are
told by the visiting nurses of the As
ISOLATED Charities who have been max
ing twenty-eight calls a day for th,s
last three days in their efforts to allevi-
ate the sufferings Of the invalid poor.
While lake breezes are cooling the
feyered brows of the more fortunate
sick, those bedridden persons depend
emit upon charity are enduring the heat
| without the slight alienation which
| would be afforded by a refrigerator in
the house, The chief sufferers are
among the paralytics, tuberculous pa
tients and babies. :
-, Summer a Curse.
In homes where the. odcrs from i'll
kept kitchens penetrate, the sickroon,
"AS,o a1oo oW111u ~ tIlu uuScTeeueu
| windows, where milk and butter are
| tainted. by the heat within the hour,
where lukewarm water from the city
mains is the only drink, where bathing
facilities and sanitary fixtures are alb
sent, summer has come as curse rather
than O. blessing.
% 1t is true that we have not so much
| acute illness as in the winter,'' said
Miss Marie Jamme, head visiting nurse
no A I'D
'but this is the time of the wear when
our chronic cases suffer most. Their
homes are hot and ill-ventilated and
| they nearly suffocate in the hot nights.
Our nurses are making two and three
calls day upon our bedridien charges
| and even. with this care and assistance
| their lives are miserab BILE.
Ignorance Is Costly.
'tIt is impossible. as rule. to de.
pend upon7their own people, who mean
what must be done. At her morning
cal. the nurse must not only battle the
patient, who has sweltered thru the
night, and strive to bring the tempera
ture down to normal. but must fire.
quently turn to and clean up the room
and drive the flies from the house.
'Tuberculosis patients are our great.
! o:V o"io' ne uisedSe IS more. lnIeC'
tlous in hot weather and we have to
fight to protect the members Of the
family against their own ignorance and
carelessness. :, Milk and eggs, the two
staple foods Of the consumptive
spoil rapidly as soon as they are
brought to the house. The enfeebIed
constitutions Of these patients are not
able to withstand the heat.
=. lee 4 Problem.
<s1ce is the great problem. These
homes have no ice-chests and what lit:
wrapped In old sacks and carpets. The
family is, as a rule, too poor to buy ice
and we have not the funds to Distribute
'''lt IN any Quantity. Besides, to do SC
IS would mean that we would also have
to supply ice-chests. .":f
Zone woman on the north side ha.
beer, bed-ridden with. cancer for eigh1
months. Her home is one-story high
hot and ill-ventilated. y Still. She re-
fuses to leave it, tho sthe heat is kill
ing her. This is one of the least uni
pleasant cases; some are too loath
some to describe.
"People imagine that with the com
ing Of summer the poor need less re
"This may be true of certain classes
but it is not true Of The sick. Thei
suffer1ngs are greater than in winter
cases. of acute and serious illness bu
TINS is the time Of year when the yer,
ola, the very young the tuberculouss
} and the bed-ridden suffer most.''
Many Babies Born.
June has not been month of bride
tor the Associated Charities, but it ha
been a month of babies: Eighteen lit
tie strangers have been ushered int
homes OF poverty by the association ,
, obstetrlcal nurse in the last month AM
. cared for by it's visiting nurses. Til
.. Is two more than were born; in Febru
| airy, winch was a? breaking
, month. The care of these children an,
their mothers is another of the prob
lens which the nursing force Of five
called upon to solve.
.'Summer does not bring a cessatio:
of the causes of poverty, nor does il
Burdens Is p0p pf hsy htsn tn
Manager Solenberger today. ut
true that heavy clothing and fue
are no longer needed, but food Is NOR
expensive: Owing to: the fact tina
they have no cool place in which t
keep it, the poor have to buy in minut
quantities, which means a greater cost
and even then much food is tainted be
/ fore it is eaten. >"sss a13'@'s'- -
Some Sample Reports.
".The causes Of poverty do not ceas
during the: summer added mr.. IS
d lenberger, running over the. files Of
y dozen or more cases Investigated Will
e IN the last three days. "Listen to this
y Deserted by husband 'sick,' sick
h culosis,' ruined in the Frisco disa
y ter, girl stranded on her way to re
e atiyes in the east, , sickness, tube
d culosis, accident Sickness. Thes
E. things go on summer. and winter an
>. the people who imagine that becaus
4 the ground is free from snow the pot