The labor argus. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1906-1915, 1909-01-06
Of the Misery and De-
gredation Causedibv,
Criminal Trusta
Displayed in New York
Xmas Day When IS
900 Victims Were Fed
by Salvation Army.

The usual distribution of Christmas
dinners by the Salvation Army took
place Christmas in New York CITY and
tie Citadel building in Brooklyn. The
- 2nner' consisted of basket contain
I"s chicken, loaf of bread, a box of
Biscuits, two cans of tomatoes. some
sugar and War Cry. One thousand of
these baskets were given away in Brook
Iyn and four thousand in New York.
Each baske: contained food enough for
five
Last year the affair was accompanied
10y disorder and confusion. Grand Cen
tral Palace was surrounded by wild
crowd of hungry and impatient appli-,
etnts, who fought one another like wild
peasts in the effort to get at the door.
IL was heartrending scene in its display
Of poverty and starvation. Men, women
and children Joined in the struggle for
bread and the police used clubs to control
the disheveled, ragged bowling and clam
oring crowd.
But not so this year. The police took
measure to avoid repetition of last year ,s
confusion and the applicants were held
IN check and kept in line, line that ex-
tended for many blocks and that con-
tlnued from clock in the morning un-
I'll l in the afternoon.
The occasion was an 'orderlyD affair.
While the one last year resembled a revo-
luton, mob at the pitch of excitement
in its struggle for food, that of Saturday
represented the same mob after it had
been dubbed into submission, after the
spirit OF revolt gave away to the humility
OF begging. The several thousand men.
women and children knew their places
and We're conscious that they were paup-
ers, that they came to receive aims
they knew their places and they kept
them. In single line, pressed against
the cold walls of several blocks of build
ings, many thousands, representing many
nationalities, both sexes and all ages,
stood with bowed heads waiting their
turn. They made no demands and raised
no voice, but moved forward, step by
step, with the slowness of a funeral pro-
ccsson.
1t was a line of horrors, tcstifying to
the misery, pain and degradation Of the
present industrial system. There was
The professional beggar, who had fallen
too low to feel the humiliation, and
there was the out -of-work mechanic too
proud to be seen, trying to avoid the
glances of the curious bystanders. There
was the woman, who, gluttonous and
greedy, looked forward with satisfaction
to the prospective basket, and there was
me mother, who, with flaming cheeks,
hraved the ordeal for the sake of the
children at home. There was the habtual
hobo to whom the occasion was one of
the regular means of subsistence, and
there was the fallen business man, who
was forced in the line by reverses and
misfortune.
There were worklngmen, who, subdued
"y poverty, accepted their lot with a
cynical Indifference, and there were
healthy, strong unemployed who accepted
me situation in the spirit of protest.
acre were children, who, trained in the
art Of begging, kept their places with
'-Nulncd meekness, and there were sensi-
''|e Young girls, who, driven by practical
HHr"nts, stood in the line with burning
'a"eS and quivering eyelids
There We're families in line. The
home, - of which many are so proud,
WAS well represented. One man, intelli
gent looking, wearing eyeglasses, who
seemed to be a ''down and out' profes-
Ni"nal, leaned hard on a negro. Next to
nun stood n good looking woman and be-
t"ad her stood a little girl, their child
''ne tall fellow held a baby in his arms
":'iIe his wife held to two elder children
'i'e man, wearing good clothes and OF
'spectablc appearance, was led by q
t'Hng boy, evidently his son. The two
"''d their places with dignity that
made the others regard them with re
z'ect. There were old couples for whom
He' evening of lfe'' was made darker
" their iamentable circumstances, stand
hrst on one foot and then on the
'Acr, leaning the wall for support.
Ihe line was led through the 43d street
rance, up many stairs, into the large
j. where thousands of baskets were ar
'Sed INTO a tail pyramid at the end OF
' H'lIl and on many tables. The app1i
MS were marched between the table:
q We're helped to the baskets by Saliva
Gusts The various captains command
me distribution and band of fifteer