Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 1, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 January 1915 — MUNICIPAL CARE OF VAGRANTS [ARTICLE]

MUNICIPAL CARE OF VAGRANTS

Gives Delphi Much Free Advertising and the Regards of ; the Lodgers. / The wanderer out of work, without money and homeless that has dropped into Delphi in his journeyings for the past year or more has fared much better than he usually does in towns of that size. They have come to know there is always a warm spot for them over at the pumping station that furnishes the water supply for the.city. The engineer in Charge, a big souled and warm hearted Irishman, has been letting them sleep there for some time past. When W. C. Smith, the present mayor, took up his work the question of the care of these itinerants came up. There was much begging from door to door on the part of vagi ants and no little pilfering and small robberies by the criminals of the class. He knew Mr. Kelly, the engineer’s kindness in the iiast, and taking him into conference they devised a plan by which a sort of municipal lodging house was created in' the pumping station.

Any man without a place to go is welcome to stop there provided he obeys the rules. The first of these is a hard and fast one that every mother’s son of those who stop there must take a bath and clean Up before he is permitted to enter the dormitory, which is none other than the room in which the big pumps are placed. Here they are permitted to sleep on the ledge running around the room between the machinery and wall or down in the pit around the pumps. These places are not so soft as beds of down, but the room is dry and warm and beats out of doors or a cold barn or freight car by many degrees, No loud talking or profane language is permissable and once In they are there for the rest of 'the night. Two nights is the limit of their stay for any one visit. There have been as, high as thirty there of a night There is record of only one man who refused to take a bath and was turned away. On Christmas. Rev. Harper, of the Methodist church, conceived It would be a fine thing to give the men who happened to be there a bounteous Christmas dinner. Assisted by Earl Cunningham he solicited supplies of the merchants, who responded quickly. These were taken to the church kitchen, where the feast was prepared and then spread In the church parlor ready for the guests. Promptly at 10 a. m., “Fogarty,” as Kelly is popularly known, marched in at the head of forty of his guests who had gromed up into the 'best shape they could under the circumstances. While at table Rev. Harper and Mayor Smith addressed them. So generous were the merchants’ contributions that plenty was left to serve lunch to the wayfarers at the lodging place in the evening and to send out several baskets to the deserving poor of the city. This creation of a warm stopping place has done much to cut out depredations in the city.