The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924, 1920-10-24

w ter?" queries the citizen who
knows his old and new New
York in these days of political frenzy and
discussion of the cost of living hitting the
toboggan slide. Is there any pulse left in this
famous old thoroughfare by which we may
diagnose ills of the immediate future? Are
these fringe men the nearest to down and out
now left with us giving any intimation of
changes in industrial and living conditions:
Substantially those questions asked
the heads of three institutions engaged sole
ly in work with Bowery and lower East Side
men and women.
That's a hard question to answer" said
Capt. C. c. Bunnell, who is In charge of the
Salvation Army Memorial Hotel at 225 Bow
cry. There is no scarcity of work for the
men here who really want to work. The
great trouble is that those with their
IS and Sc daily wages are earning much
that many of them don't care about working
steadily.
II was talking only the other day with a
business man, who told me Of his difficulties,
in keeping men at work. One week he paid a
man 1913 and his helper something like $50.
The former told his boss that he had just
bought shack down on Staten Island and
wanted to take some time off to make repairs
inasmuch he couldn't find carpenter TO
do the work. He took the week. and then
another. When his employer told him later
that work accommodating and he needed
him back his reply was that he would come
back when he got ready.
Nobody Worries About Winter
Other social service workers tell a similar
story. The pinch hasn't been felt yet, and
the men seem content with a liberal num-
Der Of vacation days to break up the
notony of work for unusual wages. Oc-
casionally there appears old habitue who
drifts down from a New England industrial
centre which has been hit by unstable con-
ditions of employment, but these wayfarers
are not numerous and are not expected to
be much in evidence until cooler weather
sets In.
Walk or ride up what used to be Misery's
Mile with all its old haunts, attractions and
vices, and what will you see to-day? In all
probability there will be the same prosper
Gus Bowery that grew out of the war boom
and its own crusading. assisted by I'M
paralleled wages and equally unparalleled
Observation-Disclosures of men hurrying along
as if on definite business, other hundreds
scattered along the curb or resting on heaps
of paving blocks near Canal street In rush
hours or during the week end holiday there
are just such crowds of both men and women
you would find any teeming thorough
fare
Some Of the wise old prognosticators wag
their heads and say there's a hard winter
!. ahead.
We're in for a rotten winter. friend" is
one admonishing forecast. Better stick to
your job while 1t lasts, and if you haven't
a job to stick to, scratch for one right away"
Crowds in the Mems Lodging Houses.
The Salvation Army Memorial Hotel is
these days serving capacity number of men,
1t has accommodations for 610, and at the
time of the writer's visit it filed This.
IL was explained is due to the return of many
to the city after spending the summer
months in some employment In the country
or at watering places. Boweryites migrate
with the seasons almost as regularly more
prosperous humanity.
At the Municipal Lodging House on East
Twenty-fifth street during the first
days of October average of seventy men
and women had received lodging offered by
the city at its terms-less than SO pocket
money. bath and disnfection Of clothing,
and examination by the physician compul-
sorry. These figures appreciaby lower
than at the same time last year. The Sep
TENDER average fifty-nine, August
forty-two and July thirty-two. June hit the
bottom with twenty-six. And the city has
provision for 913,
This place has never been full in the two
years I have been here" said Edward c.
Mcmahon, superintendent. "and prohibition
will soon close it,"