Rensselaer Republican, Volume 17, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 June 1885 — Paupers Who Have a Soft Snap. [ARTICLE]

Paupers Who Have a Soft Snap.

Enfield, Connecticut, is the most conservative and most charitable town in the State. So when the State Board of Charities said she treated the poor the best of any in the State, it is not to be Wondered at. Nineteen paupers live like princes now in the town poorhouse and drive out behind a fine pair of steeds when they get a chance. Their quarters are on one of the pleasantest spots in-the-town. A house with every convenience gives them three square meals a day and furnished room and warm bed to every several one at night, while eighty acres of good land afford exercise for those who are able to take it. The men and women eat at separate tables food made from th’6 best provisions in market, and each drink a big bowl of coffee or tea at every meal. Most are too old to work, so they gather in different rooms, well heated and furnished, and gabble the hours away. Nearly all use tobacco in some form, and the town indulges this petty weakness by allowing each 20 cents’ worth a month. They are all ducked in a bathtub once a week, too, and made to keep themselves tidy. No wonder their eyes gaze toward this haven, and that when one gets about so old, weary and neglected he seeks refuge there, where three sumptuous repasts each day are served, followed by a dreamy smoke and gurglings of reminiscenses of eighty years or more of active life. Many who have money prefer this place to any other, and so give it to the town to support them.