Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 90, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 April 1910 — Poor Travelers Sell Soap And Note Tells Story of Desertion. [ARTICLE]

Poor Travelers Sell Soap And Note Tells Story of Desertion.

A great many families in Rensselaer today responded to an appeal for aid from a family of travelers that was passing through Rensselaer and had camped some place near town. There were a number of children who went from house to house in town offering soap for sale. A note which each set carried with them and which was worded to indicate that some one interested in the family had written it, told a story of husband and father’s desertion of the wife and nine children and assigned as the reason for his leaving, that the wife had rebelled against the steady increase in the family. The children were very poorly dressed and the object of pity wherever they appeared and they consequently found many ready to buy their soap and give other aid in the way of money, clothing, food, etc. Of course, there is a chance that the scheme was really that of professional beggars, and it is probable that almost every family appealed to contributed by the purchase of soap or the giving of something, and as the soap, that was sold 3 cakes for 25 cents, was not worth more than 3 for a dime, the family had a good day’s work and those who, prompted by charity, helped them along, are deserving of credit, even if it" was misplaced.