The Washington times., 1911-05-12

pity that the burden of such prices al
these should fall on the poor"
Because in this case" | said, "the
is short"
How have they?' she insisted.
I'VE can't buy coal by the ton be.
cause we haven't any place to put it,
She thought a moment and then she
| said
I'VE could take care of a fifth of a
ton. Billy. That's only five baskets"
They won't sell five any cheaper
And every family in this house could
take care Of ive," she went on. THAT
would make a ton"
1 began to see what she meant and
as thought of it l didn't see why II
wasn't practical scheme.
Il believe that's good idea." said.
And If there were more women like
you in the world don't believe there d
De any trusts at ALL
Nonsense" she said. You leave II
to me now and I'll see the other women
in the house They are the ones who'll
appreciate good saving like that"
She saw them and after a good deal
of talk they agreed. so ] told Ruth to
tell them to save out of next Saturday
nights pay dollar and half apiece.
I was a bit afraid that IL l didn't get
the cash when the coal was delivered
l might get stuck on the deal The next
Monday l ordered the coal and asked TO
have 1t delivered late in the day.
When / came home / found the
wagon waiting and II created about as
much excitement on the street as an
ambulance. / guess ii was the first
time in the history of Little Italy that
coal team had ever stopped before a
tenement
The driver had brought baskets with
him and l filed up one and took ii to a
-, Ev,sa q al ,tty
pounds of coal. With that for my guide
gathered the other men of the fam
lilies about me and made them carry the
coal in while I measured II out.
The driver, who at first was inclined
to object to the whole proceeding, was
content to let things go on when he
found himself relieved of all the carry
ing.
We emptied the wagon in no time and
the other men insisted upon carrying
up my coal for me. l collected every
cent of my money and incidentally es-
tablished myself on a firm footing with
every family in the house. Several other
lenements later adopted the plan, but
the idea didn't take hold the way you'd
have thought II would.
/ guess il was because there weren't
any more Ruths around there to oversee
the job Then, too, while these people
are far-sighted in a good many ways,
they are short sighted in others.
Neither the wholesale nor cooperative
plans appeal TO them. For one thing
they are suspicious, and for another
they don't like to spend any more than
they have TO day by day.
Later on. through Ruth's influence. we
carried our scheme little farther, with
just the people in the house, and bought
-four and sugar that way, but II was
made possible only through their abso-
lutte trust in her. We always insisted
on carrying out every such little opera
ton on a cash basis and they never
failed us.
Ruth's influence had been gradually
spreading through the neighborhood.
She had found time to meet the other
families in the house and through them
had met a dozen more. The first floor
was occupied by Michele, an Italian
laborer, his wife, his wife's sister and
two children.
On the second floor there was
father and mother. The father was an
invalid and the lad supported the three.
On the third floor lived a fruit peddler,
his wife and his wife's mother-rather
a commonplace family, while the fourth
floor was occupied by Pietro, young
and hoped some day to have garden
of his own.
He had two children and a grand
mother to care for.
1t certainly a1Orded contrast 10 Nlsit
those other flats and then Ruth's. Right
here is where her superior intelligence
came in. of course. The foreign-born
women do not so quickly adapt them
selves TO the standards of this country
as the men do. Most of them, as l
learned come from the country districts
of Italy, where they live very rudely.
Once here they make their new quar-
ters little better than their old. The
younger ones, however, who are going
to school are doing better. But taken
by and large it was difficult t. per-
suade them that cleanliness offered any
special advantages.
1t wasn't as though they minded the
dirt and were chained to II by circum-
stances from which they couldn't es-
cape-as / used to think. They simply
didn't object to 1t.
So long as they were warm ana nad
food enough they were content. They
didn't suffer in any way that they them
selves could see.
But when Ruth first went into their
quarters she was Mortified. She thought
that at length she was face to face with
all the misery and squalor OF the slums
of which she had read.
I remember her chalk-white face as
she met me at the door upon my return
home one night. She nearly drove the
color, out of MY own cheeks, for !
thought that something had happened
to the boy.
Irontfnuafior of This Story VIII BE