The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1936-02-21
Squarlng
the Circle
With
THE HOOSIER EDITOR

THE furnace goes out and the ca
l. won't start. The milk is frozel
ard it's hard to get TO the grocery
The sidewalks are slippery ant
downtown shopping is difficult
That's a cold wave-the longest o
record in indianapolis.
Taxi drivers will tell you that al
most every fare they get spends hi
time in the car grabbing at TIT
weather and asking the driver wher
he thinks it will end. Most of then
don't know.
The weather bureau has calls a
the rate of 300 an hour, all com
planning bitterly. When every ON,
begins to hope, on comparatively
warm sunny day, that the wave il
over and subzero weather is ended
that dull noise they hear is thu
mercury hitting bottom again.
Pull up closer to the fire and heal
about another angle of the colo
wave-one that is taken directly
from the records of the Community
Fund. No more than so much print
to you, it may give you feeling o.
snugness you hadn't had before.
THIS is the way one agency sup
l. ported in part by the Commu
nifty Fund spent $500 during Thu
bitter cold spell. Here is the repor
as it was written in the Community
Fund office:
More coal was given to family
where the father was just brough
home from the hospital and the
mother was caring for young baby
A widow, dying with cancer, whs
has two young children, was giver
an extra ton of coal.
Another woman suffering with
cancer and trying to care for five
young children on her husband.
WPA salary of ST a week was giver
an additional ton of coal.
A suit of warm underwear, 6
couple of warm dresses and half 9
ton of coal, over and above the reg
ular allowances, were given to g
mother of young child whose hus-
band is unemployed.
A warm, f1eece-lined coat was
given to father of eight, who was
working on an outside PWA project
inadequately clad.
A sweater was given to a 4-year-
cid just recovering from scarlet
fever.
A MOTHER sick mother of eight
L n whose husbands salary is in
adequate, was given a ton of coal
she otherwise would not have had
An unemployed cripple and two
children were given coal.
A mother of nine, worried over
their condition, was given coal.
A 12-year-old boy, who appeared
almost frozen at school in a pre-
vious cold spell and had to be sent
to the hospital to be cared for, was
given warm underwear, gloves, a
heavy sweater, shirts and wool
stockings. His family had refused
aid previously because of pride.
A mother of seven, deserted by her
husband, was given coal over and
above her allowance, which ap-
peared to be inadequate.
The family of an unemployed IA
ther, where sick baby was the
most pressing problem, was given
more coal.
The balance on a clay away" pair
of wool-lined trousers for a father
of seven working outside on a Fed
eral project was paid.
A widow with seven children
whose oldest is working on Fed
eral project as the family's only
support, was given a quantity OF
coal.
A warm sweater was given to a
high school boy who needed it.
THERE you are. An itenized &C
The money was made available dur
ing the bitterest weather, and the
organization went about spending il
with talent that the record shows
This has been a draining winter
on the resources of relief agencies
There have been many more calls
for coal than usual There has been
less coal. There have been more
calls for clothing, and there have
been no more funds than in other
years.
Occasionally some one gives some
extra money to this or that agency
Mostly they do it anonymously. The
money is promptly spent.
EOR the homeless, or for the in
Il digent, extreme cold weather
has only meager compensation
There is the circumstance that rail-
roads need men for simple but
necessary duties occasioned by snow
Out goes the call and in come the
men, some of them so obviously
weakened that they don't even have
strength to sweep snow from tracks
in cold weather They can't be used
Some of them have WORKOUT
shoes. Their feet are wrapped in
burlap, and their ears are covered
with muff1ers and their hands en-
cased in company gloves and they
are sent out.
They work, maybe IS minutes, and
then seek shelter and food in lean
to portable set up along the open
track. They get paid something for
this-often the first wages they've
earned in weeks or maybe months.
1t just barely is break for them