The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1919-12-02
Appeal For Babies.

Mothers come INTO the OFFICES VI
the coal dealers here. Little chill
dren crying and clinging to their
| skirts give mute evidence Of cold,
fireless rooms, in the pinched, blue
look on their faces. Traces of tears
streak their unwashed cheeks; their
hands are red, and sometimes crack
ed and bleeding.
81 can keep warm, but my babies
the mother pleads. Just give me
little coal"
AS best he can the coal dealer ex'
plains that there is no coal to be
had, that perhaps he can get little
coke. or some wood. The primitive
instinct of motherhood Is aroused.
Like an animal at bay she turns.
"But you must for Them" and then
she sobs as she realizes that she is
facing the hardest problem ever put
before her. Her babies are freezing.
Some place in town there must De
some coal. Cant you take it from
them that have so much?" she de.
| mands.
1t is things like this, repeated a
hundred times or more a day IN
every coal office in town, that is
| bringing the problem home to Keo-
kuk men and women. The coal men
stand helpless before appealing hui
manity. Some of them even have
SUSPICIOUS catch in their voices as
thew turn away from the appeal they
know is coming, and try as best they
can to tell the mother and her chill
dren that they. can give them no
coal
Burn Shingles OF Roof.
| One family in town has burned all
| of the shingles off Of the adjoining
shed roof. This fact was discovered
when dollars worth of wood was
sent out to the home on the urgent
appeal Of the people there.
my sakes alive, I'm glad to see
that wood; we've been burning the
| shingles off the shed there" she re-
| marked, and the driver, looking up,
| saw the bare boards Of the roof
'Tts things like we're getting
| every day that get your goat" was
the way one Of the coal men ex'
pressed It after he had turned away
from the fiftieth pleading mother
with scared. cold babies clinging to
her skirts. you can't be stern to
them. God knows they've got trou
bles enough, and when you haven't
anv coal to give them, what are you
going to dor
Telephone bells in the coal office
iangle necessarily all day long. 1t
ia the same story-"we must have
coal. we are freezing" and the
same answer must be repeated many
hundreds of times-"we're sorry, but
we have no coal.
Calling Everywhere.
"Will 1t do any good for me to see
Mr.. Nagel, mister?" man asked the
coal man eagerly. But Mr.. Nagel
with all of the troubles of the city's
fuelless people, is just as powerless
to do anything as the coal men, and
the man who was clutching as at the
last straw was told SO. Nevertheless
he saw Mr.. Nagel, but his visit added
lust one more to the string OF calls
IN the fuel board executive.
INV mamma is sick, we have new
baby brother at our house. and our
papa-well, he's gone away, and I'm
so cold''-the childish voice was
raised in protest as she gazed into
the kindly face of the man behind
the counter at the coal office.
Good Lord, what can we dor was
the fervent ejaculation Of the coal
man as he turned away for minute
before answering.
| The women are even getting sc
they can swear over the situation
one of the coal men said last night