The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1913-12-24

II one wishes to appreciate their
blessing let them sit where they can
see the line of needy" people pass to
'charity.s door"
No pen can sketch the scene no word
picture can paint 1t true One flowing
stream of humanity asking for the
they We're unacquainted with bread.
and their shaggy clothes are soiled
and insisting; yet they are human.
These scenes are transacted on the
fifth floor of the Chamber of Commerce
from early morn till the nightfall,
while down below the rafting wheels
of the busy world speak of traffic and
trade; of people making a great city.
Here comes the old man, feeble and
bent-whether he has wasted his life
or whether it was wrecked by disaster,
there is a spark of 1t now ebbing- away
amid misery and want There the poor
old woman-toddling for her share, and
the division Is long one. What will
the morrow bring forth; will 1t be any
better than today? These people are
simply keeping their bodies together
amid the bitterness of hunger and the
lack of home. their souls are being
deadened by the anguish of a shattered
brain. For what machinery Is at its
best worn out and rusty, left in the
weather.
No matter what the cause-we have
the effect right in our midst-the
fearful march of hungry humanity"
Nor Is this condition confined to the
n IN I'D
the white-man and woman-steadily
moving on for help-not help today,
but help every day the public de-
pendants; and they are all our neigh
bors. We do not know them because we
have contrib uted to a fund to help;
and that fund must be very elastic to
care for the daily emergencies. They
are not looking for Santa Claus. They
are looking for bread and a place to
sleep.
Birmingham is a charitable place;
no people are more generous when we
know the conditions; but do we know
them? Do we try to know where to find
our sick and our down and outs" I'M
til we read some fearful story OF dis
pair, and then we are sorry for it, and
make haste to remedy the condition?
1t will take eyes from every church
stair or down that alley human frames
are needing care. This fact is verified
by what we see-see every day winding
their way to ask for more.
1t is pitiful to see a poor. sick mother
wrapped in somebody's old shawl lead
ing tnree helpless babies by the nand,
ragged, dirty. and to hear them tell of
their needs. We follow the crowd some
times to find the truth of their con-
dition.
Christmas Is near, the people are
getting ready for their turkey dinners,
and their Santa Claus-it is time we
should peep into our neighbors' homes
and see for ourselves what we have to
be thankful for, il for nothing else.
We all realize what it means to receive
even a kindly carol of a friend, who
has thought of us in our hours of pleas
ure, what will a kindly visit mean to the
howell? A bundle of clothes, a basket of
food to those who want and what will if
cost those who hays. We are telling you
the story of a litye girls Christmas one
year ago and how 1t came about
Through the suffering of one mother,
home was helped. She had felt the pangs
of mother love and that love was made
deeper by the cry of a motherless child.
There are many crying in Birmingham
today. VIII Santa Claus get the message?
Twas the night before Christmas, the