The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1914-03-22
SHE HAS FELT PULSE
OF POOR FOR IS YEARS
Dr. Annie S Daniel One of Best Known figures New York
Gives Intimate Views of Life on the
East Side

aged. II we have today the children
and the grandchildren of the people
we had to care for fifteen. twenty.
thirty years ago. / might think it was
an unsound proposition.
But we don't have them. The
poor immigrants of thirty years ago
are the weIl-to-do citizens and tax
payers Of today. l have been watching
the procession Of nations through our
East side tenements all this time
And l say without hesitation that the
great majority of them are we'll worth
our care"
Overcrowding an Evil.
In reply to question, DIR. Daniel
discussed existent evils. The two
great evils on the East side today"
she said. ARE overcrowding and home
manufacturing. When we get more
means of rapid transit. so that people
can live in the outskirts instead Of
IN the heart OF the city, the over
erowding will be Iessened.
'One great reason why 1t exists to-
day Is that rents on the East side are
SO high. A poor family can't have
rooms enough for itself. Yet inorder
to help pay the rent it takes dodgers,
often In defiance of the law IL the
people can get out where rents are
lower ii Will help to solve the prob
lem.
AS for the home manufacturing,
that is a pretty serious matter. Wher-
ever il exists there Is sure to be child
labor; little children, anywhere from
three years old. working for hours
al stretch"
What can three-year old child
do?"
"Dos 1t can sew on buttons. It
can help make artificial flowers. Last
autumn. when we had the typhoid
fever epidemic, ! saw a child of three
who was put TO work as soon as il
was able to sit up. 1t wasn't strong
enough to sew on buttons, but It
could manage TO thread a needle So
it kept the rest In threaded needles"
Perhaps that amused It," suggested
the reporter, to see what the doctor
would reply. She had been talking
very practically and without any show
of sentiment, but at that remark
there was a sudden CLINT of hardness
in her eyes,
Il hardly think the amusement
II got would account for it's fainting
from WEAKNESS. she said. THE peo-
pie who go 10 Albany TO fight the
bills on child labor and home manu-
facture say things like that. They
SAY that the work keeps the children
off the streets. But they ougntn't
10 be kept off the streets, So long as
the streets are their only Fairgrounds.
they ought TO be there. lit the open
air. filling their lungs. exercising their
bodies.
The Law Prctends
The law pretends to regulate these
home industries. 1t doesn't do It.
though. 1t contradicts itself. 1t SAYS
that certain things shan't be done
Then 1t says that mans home Is his
castle. and cannot be invaded. Even
II every home could be inspected. we
haven't enough inspectors to visit
n hundredth part OF the tenement
homes where work is being done.
What do we know about the con-
ditions in these homese / have seen
wedding cake boxes being made by a
man with tuberculosis I have seen
children who were recovering from
scarlet fever working on--well. new
er mind what.
THE law ought to forbid the fac
tory owner to send work into the ten
ciilrIltSs IEOptc say THAT AZ HOIlS
manufacture Is stopped the mother
will have to leave her children ana go
to the factory.
1T would be better, both for her
and her children. II she went to a
factory and paid, five cents a day
for each of the children, at day
nursery. find that good many ten
ement house women have day nur-
series of their own. They take eight
or ten children whose mothers 90 out
to work. care for them in their own
rooms, and keep them till the mo-
theirs come home at night. They get
Ave cents apiece for the children. and
=. seems to work very well.
Zone thing il certain. Home man
ufacture ought to be stopped
Have the diseases Of the East side
changed since you began working
there?"
YES to certain degree. We used
to have q good deal more diphtheria
than we have now. / should say that
the greatest change Is in summer
sicknesses Of children. They are not
~ frequent or as serious as they used
to be. That is largely due to i'm
proved milk supply. And now there
are so many more opportunities Of
getting the mothers and children away
for . change. II even for only day,
on q floating hospital.
THE mothers themselves general
Nly know nothing--or worse still, the
wrong thing--about caring for their
babies, But most Of them are ready
and anxious to learn. When they
como here they have very little no.
ton Of proper hygiene. but there is
always ones way ofsgetting them ~ 20