Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 228, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 September 1915 — WRECKED MANKIND AT ELLIS ISLAND [ARTICLE]

WRECKED MANKIND AT ELLIS ISLAND

WHERE HUNGRY HUNDREDS FIND HAVEN OF BHELTER. Homeless Hers Find Better Cheer .Then at the Mun!:>al Lodges, Which They Criticise. New York. —On wire and canvas cots, on wooden benches, and not inr frequently on tiled floors, hundreds of men sleep each night on Ellis Island. These men are not Immigrants, although many, but by no means most, of them are aliens. They are homeless, hungry men, who have neither work nor the wherewithal to live, a condition that Is In dire contrast to the comfortable and happy existence of those who live in the small cities and towns of our land, but one that for months has been experienced by thousands of unfortunates in our metropolitan centers. You do not hare to look closely at these men to see how poorly dressed they are; but, if you were to spend a night with them you would- flhd that beneath their soiled and wretched outer covering there Is no clothing, and that the flesh, that is weak, in many cases Is sore and infected and in need of care. For with them underwear long since has become a bitter memory of better days, and their feet are without socks and their boots without soles.

Now these men are not lazy men. Let there be no misunderstanding as to that. Any one can satisfy himself on that score by announcing that he needs a man to work. He will be surrounded by a hundred men, who will not merely clamor for the job, but will actually beg for it. Here is what the commissioner has to say of them: ‘The unemployed men have been coming to Ellis Island for the past five months. The numbers for the last two months have averaged between 700 and 800 each night. The men are perfectly orderly, and are most grateful for the opportunity offered them for sleeping some place other than in the parks, under the bridges, or any other such place as are open to them. They required no policing, and have'not given us a bit of trouble in that time. A large percentage of them rush eagerly to the bathroom as soon as they arrive at the island. They maintain barbers and clothea-menders to keep in good condition, and are, so far as I can judge, making every possible effort to retain their self-respect under terrible conditions.

“It is almost complete presumption to my mind in favor of a man If he is willing to sleep night after night on a hardwood floor, without any covering over him, and that is what many of the mea have been doing. They get what little food they have as best they can, and the great majority of them are in a state of chronic hunger. It seems to me a far greater reflection upon this rich city that these men should be left wholly to their own fate than it is upon the men themselves, for they cannot create their own employment; many of them are in rags, and do not present a good appearance, and some of them are so weak and enfeebled by long exposure that they are hardly in position to help themselves.” It was to learn something of these men at first hand that a reporter, dressed as one of them, and unshaved and of sorry appearance, joined their company for one never-to-be-forgotten night on the island. But the suffering and discomfort were more than made up for by the. fact that, although these were rough man, in the privacy of the room in which we slept—except for some swearing—there was not spoken -one' word that any woman might not have heard. It Is really a be able to say that. These unfortunate* men say they are much happier within the hospitable halls of Ellis Ishand than they ever could be at Ihtl municipal lodging institutions, whteh they criticise very unfavorably and with various reasons, among their; objections being too many unnecessary questions asked, entirely too mu ch work expected for the amount of .assistance given, and many times no, food at all when food Is due; in oth/er words, they pronounce organized charity,- as exemplified in New Yokk, a proved failure so far as It benefits those ifor whom it is supposed tof be carried' on.