The Washington bee., 1909-07-31
A Thousand Men Are Fed
Every Night.
THE BOWT MISSION
at this Pla0~ - - F1eischmaRn's
May Be Ez-~s--z .sze Men in Actual
Need-fI As the Aim of THESE
Places TO Send Away No Hungry
Person.

The two policemen Who were
standing at the corner OF Canal
street and the Bowery as / approach
eu them looked ne over when ULey
saw was about to interrupt their
CT nveTsauOn 1t wa anything but Z
pleasant night; the coat / had bor-
rOwed for the evening was none too
tnck, and the old shoes 1 wore were
lot waterproof. If my abject pow
erty was assumed, felt q sembla1cs
OF the real thing, for l was cold and
tired after trampilg up and down the
muddy streets for an hour.
Where kin a teller git cup o
coffee r q handout?" l asked.
One Of the officers smiled affably.
''Two doors up he said, indicating
one of the numerous FIVE and ten
cent feeding places, Of which theeo
ars one or two in every block in bhis
neighborhood.
II didn't mean that kiRd." I re-
piled. i've got to f1nJ 8 place
where there amt a price on the
grub"
''I guess the bread line at Fleisch-
mann's or the Bowery Mission 8
the only place, then, Jack, said tls
officer as he turned his back on me.
So I sIouched along to 55 Bowery,
[ where sign in the window, reading.
"BoWery Mission-Services Every
Evening" indicated that 1 had found
the right place. looked in the door.
The big room. filed with chairs, was
dimly- lighted, and on the platform
at the far end, man was moving
some chairs around.
"Nothin' doin' yet, bo," said a
rOugh-looking fellow. They don't
give ye no grub until l o'clock"
This was disheartening, or would
have been, had l really needed the
food, for 1t was only q little after
eleven. I'm goin' up ter the bak-
cry the tramp Continued. "Ye sit
your: at IL sharp Up there"
8 We ambled up the Bowery to
Eighth street, and from there to
Tenth street and Fourth avenue. Al
ready the waiting line extended from
| tn rear door of the bakery around
the corner to the entrance OF Grace
church. I dropped into the process
sien which In few moments reached
up Broadway to Twelfth street.
had been In the line but short time
when a clock nearby sounded fOI
midnight The line began to move
along and the waiting men on either
side of me cheered up a bit. There
! was very little conversation, however
+ Now and then some of them muttered
/ curses, and once when a sightseeing
automobile stopped at the corner the
curses Jecame quite audible.
After the line OF waiting men -
| over 500 In number, as l ascertaineC
had had their bread and coffee
most Of them dispersed, though a few
repeated" in order to get q second
helping. A number of them hung
around until they could get a chance
to ask the manager OF the restauran
for work. But there was no chancC
for any one, though the refusal Wa:
not made unpleasantly.
From the bakery I went back Il
I the Bowery Mission.
4 thousand men are fed every
night at the Bowery Mission-some
times more. It is the aim at botl
| this place and at Fleischmann's Il
send no one away hungry, but JUS
now the demand is much In excess o
| that usual at this time of year.
One sees at these two places the
men who are In actual need Of fooC
and drink. The street beggars arr
In nine cases out of ten unworthy o
notice. But tie man or woman whC
doubts the distress-the real need o
food among the unemployed-shoult
spend a couple OF hours at the TIVE
| places I have described, and he o.
she will be convinced that there i
no lack of opportunity for the office
of the Good Samaritan, and no ex
cessivs erowding IN the ranks o
! helpers OF unfortunate humanity.