San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-09-23
Associated Charities Face
Heavier Operating Expenses

provides her with two rooms in which
TO live with her four children, and
food TO, them to eat.
The father of the children was a
soldier and fond of his wife and good
to her children until he contracted
the Mar'huana habit aboit four years
ago. The mother had been seam
stress before her marriage, anu after
her husbands desertion went back to
her work and die quite well with it
until size became so i'll. Her illness
was caused by exposure and neglect.
The man deserted from the army
some time before the youngest child
was born, and cannot be reached or
made to do anything, the visitor be-
lieves. The Charities seem t. regard
this case as a particularly deserving
one, not so much on account Of the
woman, who cannot live much longer,
but because of the children, who are
unusually bright and attractive, espe-
cially the eldest girl, who is about &
years old.
Miss Ferguson, who has done much
social service work in large cities be-
fore coming to San Antonio III 1919,
says she had always believed that the
tenerients IN those cities were the
most horrible places on the face of
the earth, but since coming here, she
considers the average large city tene-
ment quite a pleasant place il which
to live compared with the Mexican
corrals here in San Antonio. mo
wonder here is such poverty, disease
and vice to be found here" she says.
The wonder would be if there were
anything else. The whole thing is a
vicious circle. The conditions of in
capacity both mental and physical,
breed poverty, and poverty breeds in
capacity"
Rock Pile Good Medicine.
Asked what she considers the rea-
sons for the majority of ease. of dis
tress which are handled through the
Charities, Miss Ferguson says that ig-
norance is the prime reason for most
of it, with physical ill-health and a
lack of mentality the usual immediate
causes. Good intentions are usually
found and willingness to DO right,
but owing to circumstances which sur
round most of the cases, ttere is very
little stamina, either mental, moral
or physical, and very little resistance
to any exterior conditions.
when illness strikes family
Miss Ferguson says. ait almost al
ways takes the bread winner. Among
the cases we come in contact with,
if the brendwinler is man. it is
almost sure TO be he who will con-
tract some fatal d.sease-generally tu-
berculosis-or if it is woman, it
seems to be foregone conclusion that
something serious will happen to her,
sooner or later. We only care for q
family with a man at its head, when
the man is fatally sick, and it is
the rarest thing that a NAH who is
living with his family ever wants any
help from any one in taking care of
them. 1t is when the man is either
dying or has deserted that we are call
ed on. Most of the cases that we
handle are of widows who have small
children and are sick or mentally de-
fective. When a woman is well and
hasn't too many babies, she can usu-
ally take care of them somehow her
self. 1t is surprising how many wo-
men are bread-winners for their chill
dren right here in town.
There is Lo law in Texas to cover
mans desertion of his family. Some
times, when We can get hold of such
men afterwards, we can bring them
back, and the court gives them sell
fences on the rock pile. II is sur
uricir,u ,.-hot affaak,,-a
pile is of arousing a mans sense of
duty TO his family. Often wonderful
reconciliations are affected after six
months OF this kind of moral sua-
sion, and we seldom have any trou-
Bile with man after he has had such
an experience.
Must Find New Quarters.
For the last five years the Asso-
ciated Charities have occupied their
present quarters in the Chandler build
ing. which were made and fitted TO
their especial needs and donated TO
their use by the late +. 3. Chandler.
"Mr. Chandler was the best friend
an association ever had" Miss Fergu-
son says. "He did everything for the
Charities for years. Following his
death We know, of course, that we
must move to other quarters. The
executors Of The Chandler will told
" that we were welcome TO remain
where we were until the first meet
ing OF the board of directors of Char
tiles can be held early in November.
]. Il. Jarratt is vice president of the
board, and w1en he retl-ns in No
vember. they will meet and make ar
rangements for continuing the work.
Support Of the work done by the
Charities is entirely by voluntary cor
tributions. We can depend on su5-
scriptions amounting to hetveen four
and five hundred dollars each month.
but our expenditures strike a gen.
eral of about $1,000 a month. vary
ing from more in winter to less in
summer. Mr.. Chandler made IN the
balance each year in various WAYS.
usually with big ball game in The
spring. btu since his death the situa-