Rensselaer Union, Volume 2, Number 3, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 October 1869 — Starving in the Midst of Plenty. [ARTICLE]

Starving in the Midst of Plenty.

In her giant at rides toward the goal of wealth, Omaha, like other fast growing cities, stalks on without a passing thought for the poor sufferer or wretched wayfarer who kneels by the wayside and begs for a morsel wherewith to keep soul and body together. Tho man ot wealth ill Omaha is but a type of tho nabob of New York or Chicago. They are greedy, all grasping, hoarding, selfish and miserly, hut one great desire tilling their souls, haunting their dreams and urging them on during the day. Omaha, too, has her scenes of squalor and filth, starvation and crime. In her eargerness to accumulate gold, she neglects the nobler, more elevating attributes of humanity. Wo were yesterday informed that a poor woman and her daughter were Iving iu an. old freight car on the levee, literally starving to death. In company with otnccr Harlow of the police force, our informant, we at once sought out the wretched abode, and there witnessed a scene which made ottr blood run cold. Stretched out on the car-floor lay two gaunt, emaciated forms, with no covering to protect them from the chilly night air and cold, bleak winds which come from the prairies. One of those forms was that of a woman at least 55 years of age, the hotly shriveled and shrunken by age and exposure. Her hair was disheveled, her face wrinkled, her hands bony and skcleton-liko, her eyes sunken, wild and staring, and her teeth chattering from a severe attack of that terrible disease, AVestern ague. Beside her, moajtfng and tossing on the hard, filthy floor, lay a young girl, whose age we subsequently learned was but 18. She, too, was but a mere skeleton, all wasted away, actually starved. Around the car was here and there a rag, which had evidently been picked up in the street; a few crusts of bread lay upon an old trunk, which contained—nothing, its > original contents having been solrt for the where* ith-tc keep the dread fiend from the door. At the woman’s head stood an old tin can filled with water. As she lay sliaking with the destroying disease, her knees drawn up to her chin, a little filthy dog crawled up and curled himself upon the edge of a filthy dress, alive with vermin, the. only garment she had on. Her bare feet were exposed from great gaping holes in the sides of a pair of shoes, which had at some time been worn by a man. The young girl was dressed but little better, having, in addition to her old calico gown, a light skirt or petticoat, As we entered the car this poor outcast started Up with a cry of alarm. Kind words (piicted her fhars, and she informed us that her name was Delphina H. Reed. She says she originally came from Pennsylvania, but for years has resided in St. Louis. Her husband Vas murdered in January last, some fifty miles below tho last named city. Subsequently she started for Omaha,and has worked her way from place to place, iu hopes, upon her arrival here, to find work and make for herself and daughter a home. Sixty miles below here she run out of monoy, and so walked the balance of the distance, begging her way from house to house. Her destination was at last reached, but disappointment stared her in the face. She sought work, only to meet with refusal. There was none to lend a helping hand or speak a kind word. Even the police turned upon her a cold shoulder and threatened to arrest her if she did not leave. For three long weeks the most abject poverty has clung to her, and a meagre subsistence only has been obtained from the charity of those poor people in the suburbs. As we wero leaving the car we met near the door, Miss Claude Clifford, a resident of tlie lower part of Douglas street, accompanied by another party, who carried under one arm a large bundle of clothing, while on the other he carried a large basket ol' nice provisions, consisting of sandwiches, cold bread, pickles and some fruit. She was assisted into tho car, and when the bundle was uufolded, displaying clean underclothing, a couple of dresses, woolen stockings, two pair of shoes and some warm coverlets, the joy of the starving women was unbounded. Tears streamed down their sunken cheeks, while blessings were called down on the head of the Good Samaritan Truly the scene was affecting.— Ornilia Republican, Oct. 2.