Evening journal., 1920-04-21

! IN PETITIONS
FOR HONESTY
MOVING day
Continued From First Page.

nve. six and seven. But mostly the
number given is four.
1t would be a gross violation OF
confidence 10 even SO much as hint
AT the names or the addresses of the
letter writers. althougt some evident
lv care little for secrecy, al they use
costcaris. Sentences taken at ran
dom, however. may be given, and
go FAR 20 show The desperation and
plight OF the writer's. The trustful-
moss felt by many OF them IN the
mayor is shown by such expressions
as II thank YOU in advance OF II
appreciate your effort 20 help me.
or the more simple. Il know you VIII
aid me- None however, offered to
pray for His Honor
Another nc@.ble feature Of the let
iers Is the general excellence OF hheir
handwriting and diction. Most of the
writers also have used good paper.
Judging by these evidences and also
the localities from which the letters
mostly were sent, IL would appear
a majority are persons OF education,
accustomed to good homes. Occa-
si0nal flashes of unintended humor
relieve the pathOs, such as: 81 have
no place to go; / haven't seen any
yet My Family ranges from 3 to p
years old" Quite a number OF the
writers are women. one OF whom
eays she must 'mOve peaccably,'
which while true is yet far from the
''Ne haven't got a place 10 go"
writes another "le we have got TO
move They are gong TO tear the
house down" One man Is in a most
peculiar fx. He writes: we have
10 vaoste and have no place In sight.
have in Inn family chill.
drnn ! have four building lots and
a little cash and would consider one
Of these bungalows Of ihe duPonts
Il the city would let me have one
and would give a hand in putting II
up
The word ocity~ frequently occurs
throughout the epistles, indicating
fine dependence which the public has
come to place In municipal service.
A Socialist would smile In satisfac-
ton.
~We Arr Delawareans''
One OF the strongest letters, also
one OF the longest, is written by
woman and says In part, as follows. :.
~As you have asked the people 10
ffle their names with you who VIII
be homeless June -, ! am writing to
you There are two boys and TWO
girls In our family and there Will
be another by dune %.
eve are DelaWareans and feel that
we are entitled TO a roof over our
heads before they are givSn TO for
elgners or floaters We have always
lived In Wilmington We occupy a.
sn-room house az present and pay
ei8 a month rent This house has
an modern conveniences in IL. We
could not pay more rent because OF
the size OF our family and the wages
my husband earns.
"This house is owned by the -
a which Mr.. Is president
Tney told me the house was for SAFE
and II It was not sold by June y,
q would stand idle until II was sold
mink this Is something that the
housing committee or City Council
should inquire into. II property own
crs do not have principle enoueh 90
rent their propertv 10 homeless fam
lies then thev should be seized by
the State and rented until the scarcity
OF homes has been overcome. Iht
landlords should receive the rent OF
their property. OF course, through the
useless laws passed by the State ami
city. why not start something like
this to benefit the homeless famil-
iesf" The writer closes by ventur-
ing an opinion there are 30 vacant
houses In her section which The own
ers viii not rent, holding them To-
sale
Another writer. also a woman
writes that her husband has been
sick in bed an winter and she has
been compelled TO make a living for
him, herself and two children. She
then adds, without least trace OF Dit
terness. AS your city councilman,
has bought my house for
his sister TO live in. he has told me
he would like 70 have Il as soon SIS
be can get H."
Il am among the poor who have
been ordered 10 the street on June
y says another writer who has
nseq used. postcard Another postcard
applicant says briefly: Am enc OF
the many families who Will he IN
need OF a home June %. Havo a
wife and six children" Still a third
postal says: Just another name 70
add to your list Of those to be homo
less June .. There are seven N
family, five children. two adults.
Hoping that your committee NAV be
able to accomplish something, ] re-
MAN." etc.
Il am taking fhe privilege OF witt
ing 10 you says a neatly written
!etler, 10 see II you can do some
at the present address II years and
nov. the house has been sold and I
must Nacate June % and have no
eight
After referring to the dupont bun
g1oWS another writes. II should
De very thankful to you II ] may
soecur4 one OF these houses. ] have
Wile\ and three children, aged z
and ~ respectively. and I have
poen unaHte TO secure a house or an
apartmentl mostly because I have
lnfee chilHenn This writer adds that
ne Is a Bnnsylyania Railroad engl-
neer, hattne came here from Jersey
City and Would like toomake a per.
manent home in Wilmington. Unles.
assured a house, however, he implies
he viii move away.
One OF (the most pathetic cases j.
tod in Just two short sentences: 81
am a wldbw with eleven In the fam.
ily. ! am compelled TO move anl
nave no lhOpes OF finding a house e
rent. Another makes this appeal
Ne would be very thankful II vol
would get us a place, or advise M
What TO do"
Light is shed upon the rapid-flrl
real estate changes in Wilmington b,
statement which was written by
man Who came TO The Evening Jour
nql office in person. He penned thl
following missive:
n, the Undersigned, arrived in vii
mlngton. Del. six years ago anl
within this time have lived In thre
Places. This last location. in whicl
am now, has changed hands f0u
times IN the four years OF my Oc
cupncy. The owner has now givel
Us notice 10 vacate and being unabi