The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-12-11
PrOVident Association Secre-
fary Finds 1t in BOxcar.
Mexican Family in Desperate
Circumstances.
HEAD OF THE HOUSE SICK
Wife and Five Children Face
Hunger and Cold.
Work for a Month
in Detailed Figures.

They do things differently there.
Life is not full of the ordinary pleas
ures that one enjoys. In small ana
dingy box car. perched on four large
stumps, over on the North side, seven
people exist; they do not know Ire
in the ordinary sense of the word
A family of Mexicans, consisting OF
father and mother and five children
who live under the conditions de-
scribed have come to the notice OF the
Topeka Provident association
The head of the family has until a
few weeks ago been working for the
Rock Island railroad. Recently on &C
count of sickness he has been confined
to the one and only bed in the abode.
ed and the attention of the Provident
association was called to the case
through a grocer, who had taken a
personal interest in the family.
When the secretary of the asSoc1a-
ton. Miss Mary r. Vose, called to
investigate conditions she found the
cupboard bare"-there was just a
little meat stewing on the stove.
There were none of the things IN
the car that the majority of people
would consider necessary to proper
living The floor was bare, and the
furniture was made up OF boxes
which served various and sundry pur-
I ses.
The sick man could not speak
word of English, but the visitor from
the "P. A found that a small daugh-
ter who spoke IN broken SIyle COuIO
act as an interpreter.
A Steady Hardworking Man.
Investigation has shown that the
head of the family is steady, hard
working man. and that these MeXicans
live in their humble abode in quiet,
contented fashion under ordinary cir
cumstances. They apparently have
been perfectly satisfied with their sur
roundings: they have not been used to
anything better.
When the weather permits they
spend the greater part of the time out
of doors. AS mentioned there is a
stove in the car, but there is a second
one outside where most of the cooking
is done.
None of the real comforts of life,
unless it be the stove and one bed,
provided with anything but generous
supply of covers that are none too
clean. are to be found in the car
dwelling. The children have a way
of curling up on the floor, so to speak,
and dropping off to sleep at night; yet
when hunger does not threaten, as it
did recently, they are perfectly con-
tented.
Aid was given by the Provident as
sociation, and now it is reported that
the sick man is well on the way TO
bread and butter for his family.
Months Work by Association.
Some figures given out by the secre-
tary of the Provident association show
the work done in the course of
month. The number of articles of
clothing given out were four hundred
and siXty-f1ve. Fifty-nine baths were
taken by those who applied for aid.
One hundred and fifty persons sought
employment. and of this number one
hundred and eleven were given the
desired work. Two hundred and sixty
five persons were given lodging in the
course of month.
Donations for a month amounted to
$1,000. The rummage sales brought
in $17S.79. The disbursements were
S377.52.
Fifty-nine calls were made by the
visiting nurse department and nine
teen special Investigations made.
There were in all three hundred calls
for relief.
The board of directors of the asso-
citation has decided to affiliate with
the National Association for Organic
in Charity. In this way the manage
ment will be able to keep in touch
with work that is being done all over
the country by the different organiza-
tiOnS.