The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-07-09
M|LNER WRITES OF NEED FOR CHARITY Asks Cooperation In Seek ing COunty's Aid WORK OF THE YEAR Cases of Real Destitution, Many of Them Children, Are Here and In
 Need of Immediate
 Assistance

President H. K. Miner of the As
 sociated Charities yesterday issued the | following statement on the work of the
 organization.
 "One hundred and thirty-seven fam
 files rendered destitue.
 Three hundred and seventy men,
 women and little children affected by
 a great calamity.
 And the name of 1t Is poverty. Poverty which swings in its end
 less circle about the triangle of disease,
 unemployment and old age.
 "Poverty, the sphere of the physically
 and mentally unfit
 | Poverty. the direct corollary of ig
 norance to which Is attributable the
 existence of heavy tax. direct and in-
 direct. on the public for support of in
 stitutions to ameliorate the condition of the unfortunate.
 "If q disaster such as a mine eXplo-
 sion, tornado or great fire were to visit 1 the Birmingham district and render 137
 families destitute and dependent on public aid for the necessities of life 1 if 73 heads of families were killed out
 right and the balance suffered the loss
 of their employment what would Bir-
 min gham do?
 ",rhe future can usually be Judged by
 the past, so the answer to that ques- l ton is found in the annals of the spring
 of 1910. In April of this year mine
 explosion occurred at Mulga followed
 in May by another In Palos with 13o | q 1F urhn heads of families leaving behind the | wives and 137 little children. mass
 meeting was held and $40,000 raised
 to care for these helpless ones. A beau tiful act and a most necessary one. | This money was appropriated accord ing to the individual needs of the fam | flies involved and a monthly pension plan adopted. Some received as low u 1872 month, some were given $35. The
 amounts were thus apportioned. not to place the dependent ones where there would be no necessity for personal ex- ertion but to assist the beneficiary to
 become self-sustaining.
 l "In the 137 families now being as- sisted by the Associated Charities we find IS widows and IS deserted wives, | 37 cases where the wage earner Is i'll,
 A total of 73, in effect killed by dis aster, 26 cases where the main support l Is out of employment and 3S whose in- come from their labor Is insufficient
 to provide food for those dependent upon them. Did the reader of this art l icle ever see any underfed and hungry
 little children crying for food. with the
 deserted mother lying i'll and nigh unto death turning her dim eyes in anguish | toward those for whom she can no l longer struggle?
 l Has the average individual ever l been called into a home where was en- l I .F a nt a children dead or gone away, no one | to whom to turn in their hour of dis tress waiting patiently. hopelessly for l the summons that meant separation,
 one to one institution the other 10 a
 different one?
 Has the reader ever gone into a home where death had entered; death
 that might have been averted had a little money been available; death that ! came while the last hours of the loved | one were unsoothed by simple atten-
 ton that money could buy; death that came and left an aftermath, not only l of sorrow but of humiliation In. the
 shame and the anguish of leaving the | loved one without the last sad rites
 until the undertaken should be paid? | "A situation where parents have to | wait nearly a week while their little child lies in an undertakers shop be- l cause they have no money, Is intoler- | able and seems 1mDOHSlDle III II tlNltlHtu i community, yet such case was brought to the attention of the Asso- ciated Charities only last week. In the | same week the secretary was called | to the phone at 10 o'clock at night and requested to guarantee the funeral ex- penses of d man who had Just died land to whom the undertaken would not l go until money was guaranteed. Oi 1 course this, like any other business i cannot be done without remuneration and these are instances to which at l tention Is drawn only to illustrate some of the demands that are made contin- ually.
 work of the Associated Charities with | these 137 families during the past week 1 In addition to the money furnished for | the funerals above mentioned the or ganization supplied clothes to II fam ! ilies groceries to 66, rent to H. Ice to I34 milk to 5. nurse to 12 and special diet to 13. Some were moved to bet
 ter quarters. some received medical aid
 some had their rent paid while others obtained the employment that made | them self-sustaining and self-support-
 ing. of the 1s7 families involved s1
 received attention during the week. BIS people being concerned in this number 1S9 of whom were little children. Some
 of the 137 cases did not require any attention during the week, others need | ed a great deal In answering these needs our visitors made 1S9 calls eith- CT on the people personally concerned or on others in the effort to interest them in behalf of those needing aid
 'In giving this personal service and material relief three paid visitors and two volunteer workers were used at 2 cost of $32 for the service and $16S. 6s for relief, total s2Oo.e5, or about s2 per family Little enough in all conscience