The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1932-03-22

town of nearly 10000 people. We
have at least 200 families in dire
circumstances. The situation is
desperate, but those most involved
are not. They will pray but will
not fight. Their passage through
this world may be a trial of hunger
and rags but palace awaits them
in Heaven, for most of them are
Baptists or MethOdists. The others
are Nazarenes, CampDellItes, or
Holiness.
THE local newspaper the other
day carried a story announcing
that woman so years of age died
hunger and neglect in a shack
here where she and her two young
sons spent the winter months
without fire-nOt even a cook
stove. The doctor who took the
woman to the h ospital and treated
her there said the woman died of
starvation-that and nothing more.
/ personally of a young Negroes,
who has three or four children, who
keeps herself and family on scraps
she gathers by canvassing the white
residential section. Until year or
so ago she made living doing odd
jobs for the women around town
but she can find nothing to do.
Tnere are scores OF other cases
just as desperate here.
"The great American Legion I'M
employment drive came and went
here with little accomplished eV-
cept publicity. About 200 persons
registered TOR jobs, of these $50
found work. But here is the joker
the average job was for about 2
hours and the pay about 25 cents
an hour. That means, of course,
that no more than 500 was given
i'm two weeks to relieve 200 families.
And the drive" Is over. Some
kind-hearted man offered to give a
man 81 for cleaning up around his
place and working in his garden
for a week.
The Salvation Army is about the
only relief organization we have
here. This winter they asked for
a budget of $4,000, of which $4,000
was to be spent on relief" and
$4,000 on Jesus. They did not an
nounce how much they got, but
Jesus will be taken care of to the
compartment Of considerable
rum beating on the streets at
night
Hunger and Separations.
Not only is hunger killing OF
thousands of children of unemployel
workers, but starvation is breakin
Up thousands OF families. Starvin
unemployed workers are forced t.
put their children in orphan asylum
if they can find any place--to keel
their children from dying. A repor
in the New Times on March q, de
clared:
"a marked increase in the number
of children entering charitable
homes in recent years because their
parents have separated or there has
been "a breakdown Of family NOR
ale" was notedin the annual report
of Samuel Strasbourger, president
of the board of trustees at the He
brew Orphan Asylum, made last
night at meeting of the board in
the home at 13Sth Street and Am
sterdam Avenue.
MIR. Strasbourger revealed that
only per cent of the 1900 children
either housed at the asylum or
cared for in homes under the asyl-
.um's guidance are full orphans
that is, with both parents dead
and that GO per cent have both par
ents living. The rest have one par
ent living.
I'm a few cases, he said, children
have been placed in the asylumns
because their parents are economi-
cally unable to care for them ade-
quately--a reflection of the eco
nomic depression. The physical
conditions of children admitted re-
Gently has also reflected conditions
of living under economic strain in
the past two years.