Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1909-11-26
.,o,v ,,,onv homeless men ure there


now many homeless men ufe 'here
in New York;
Twenty thousand OF So ,,
"Twenty thousand homeless men:
repeated Haggleton. Ala "nat 10
the others do, those who can stay
hereT'
"About 5000 walk the streets" re-
piled Philip. .,
"Not ON cold nights like this"
"On cold nights and on hot nights.
They middle in alleyways out OF the
wind. They crouch over gralihsS
above engine rooms and get the warm
air They stand In the midnight bread
lines and then go back TO their hoies'
"There are 5000 like that in New
York;"
Eyes"
"And the rest?"
"The rest pay 10 or IS cents In cheap
lodging houses. You'll see.'
what do they pay here!
"Nothing, but the same man may
not come more than three times III q
month. II he does he goes 10 the
stope pile. So they're careful. Come
in"
The Office attendants nodded pleas
anKy to Philip.
Downstairs they saw these men
III (cnn1n
peeled off two or three sets OF gar
ments-their whole wardrobe, and
scrubbed under hot shower bath.
One mans legs were blotched with
sores (from low vitality, the doctor
said. and one had Il deeply liberated
heel from walking on his uppers.
Philip now led the way into another
lodging house. in the opposite block.
"This place accommodates about 400.
and the mon pay from 10 to 20 cents
n night. There's no compulsory bath.
and as for cleanliness-look"
Philip pointed out that each cot had
a small, dirty locker for the mep's
clothes. where abundant cracks en-
couraged the free circulation Of vc'-
| min.
"They get no nightgOwns," continued
Philip. "and the sheets are changed
on,i once or twice week. Many @.
the men have loathsome diseases.
rnsxy have consumption, and there's
no doubt consumption and other dis
eases can be transmitted from man to
man by the contamination OF sheets"
GLOW many of these lodging houses
are there"
"About 40, and you've seen the best
| The others are so filthy that-well. ]
| asked an attendant once how often
they washed the towels. and he said,
with a grin: Wash 'em? We never
wash 'en. We use 'em until they
| break"
They went 10 Grand street and visit
ed more of these sinister asylums on
the Bowery where hunks are offered
| to human wrecks at 20 or ID or ~
cents a night or less. In one hideous
resort on Mulberry street, where the
charge was cents. they found mer
ranged along in hammocks, with
neither sheets nor covers. and dozens
sleeping on the bare floor.
"Pretty bad" muttered Haggleton,
"but what's your idea In showing me-
all this?
"It's a problem for you to solve. We
have ideas, but you'll have better
ones before you get through"
"Why do you say that?' asked Hag
gleton r7,-
Because you have great brain
You know how TO organize. Well, or
| ganize these wasted lives, find some
place for them. It's up to you"
Haggleton shook his head. j
"Im not responsible for these lodg
ing houses"
"You are responsible" flashed Philip.
because It's men like you who own
them: it's men like you who take the
dimes ard pennies Of these poor devils
talk about tainted money-a million
dollars in lidging house money paid
every year in New York city by your
| fellow graduates in poverty"
"No, no." objected IIacgleton. IT'S
not poverty that brought them where
they are; it's drink and laziness."
Philip paused. and his eyes metthe
old mans In steady defiance. Then ne
said slowly: NO; You are wrong
| These men Gre products Of conditions,
It's years Of bad air I'm your tene-
ments and of undertaking at your
wages that make them crave drink
It's childhood wasted In brutnliZtle
labor that has weakened their bodies
and dulled their minds. There are
10000 of them in New York, Mr.. Hag
gIeton. who are buns. wrecks. lodg
ing house loafers. but don't forget that
they are victims of cruel order which
for the vast majority gives poverty as
the only reward Of toll" -
Nonsense said Haggleton.
CHAPTER VII.
| NOPE WRECKS