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October 1, 1908

TO USE IN CASE OF FIRE.

Call Box Donated the Little Sisters

of the Poor.

The police board agreed yesterday that for the safety of the aged inmates, in case of fire, a Gamewell box was to be placed in the home conducted by the Little Sisters of the Poor at Thirty-second and Cherry streets. The Bank of Commerce donated the box and the Missouri and Kansas Telephone Company will do the work of installation free of charge. Wires will be run to Thirty-first and Holmes street, where the Gamewell wires will be tapped. From there they will connect with Westport police station No. 5.

Labels: charity, Cherry street, Fire, Holmes street, No 5 police station, telephone, Thirty-first street, Thirty-second street

September 6, 1908

SISTERS ABANDON

ST. ANTHONY'S

AFTER EIGHT HARD YEARS

OF LABOR THERE.

HIRED NURSES NOW IN CHARGE

DISAGREEMENT SAID TO BE

BACK OF IT ALL.

Sisters Had No Interest in the Home,

Owned by Corporation, and

Worked There Contrary

to Precedent.

Bad news for the foundlings of Kansas City. The Sisters of St. Vincent, who for eight years have been in charge of St. Anthony's Home for Infants, have abandoned the work and left the home. Differences between the sisters and the women board of managers finally led to notice on the sisters' part that they would leave. Orders from the mother house of the sisterhood came to them a week ago, and now strange hands are ministering to the motherless babes. The trouble, it is said, has been brewing for a year.

The building occupied by St. Anthony's home is owned by a corporation consisting of Mrs. Richard Keith, its president, Miss Rose Altman and several other Catholic women of the city. The money for the purchase of the property has all been received in the way of charitable contributions, and as proceeds from church fairs and the like, but for some reason the property has always remained in the hands of the corporation, although it is an old established rule of the Catholic church that all church property be held in the name of the bishop, in trust for his successor. Many of the convents and educational institutions of the Catholic church are owned by the orders conducting them, but there are few cases, if any, on record where the property acquired by public donations, remains in the hands of the corporation's seculars, as in the case of St. Anthony's home. And thereby hangs the substance of the trouble which culminated last week in the Sisters of Charity withdrawing from the home.

TELL CONFLICTING STORIES.

Just what led to the present crisis is hard to determine, as those in a position to know refuse to talk, and conflicting stories are given out by both sides to the controversy. But it is said that some heated scenes occurred between Sister Ceclia, superioress of the home, and the women officers of the corporation.

The trouble resulted in a visit to this city last May of the mother superior of the black cap sisters of charity. With Mrs. Keith she visited Bishop Hogan, at which time matters were temporarily patched up, but no definite understanding was reached. Last Tuesday two of the sisters of charity left St. Anthony's home for Trinidad, Col., two for St. Vincent's hospital in Santa Fe, N. M., and the other left Saturday for the mother house, near Cincinnati.

There were five sisters in charge of the work at the home, whereas last night there were eighteen paid nurses, according to the statement of Miss Mary Workman, the matron.

BABY TURNED AWAY.

Miss Workman is a nurse who has been employed at the home for a long time, and was made matron and given charge of the home by Mrs. Keith, when the sisters left the institution. When a reporter visited the home last night, the piano in the reception room was open, a stylishly gowned young woman was fingering the keys, and St. Anthony's home no longer wore its convent air. Two women, one carrying a 6-months-old babe, left the home as the reporter entered. the child had been refused admittance at the home, an unheard of proceeding when the sisters were in charge.

"The woman wants to go home and leave her child here," said the matron. "She has been working and supporting it for six months, and now she wants to leave it here; hasn't she a cheek to think we should care for it for her?"

"The sisters were broken hearted at leaving here," said Miss Workman. "Their hearts were in the work, nad I could not bear to see them bid goodby to the infants they learned to love so well, and even to the building itself, the scene of many hardships to them."

Miss Rose Altman refused to make any statement regarding conditions at the home, referring the reporter again to Mrs. Keith, but she admitted that she had heard rumors of trouble between the sisters and the corporation controlling the home, but insisted that the rumors were not true.

Labels: charity, children, churches, nuns, St Anthonys Home, women

August 14, 1908

BOYS HAD A GREAT DAY.

Orphans From Perry Memorial Home

at Fairmount Park.

One hundred children form the Perry Memorial home were given an outing at Fairmount park yesterday afternoon. they were in charge of Mrs. J. C. Tarsney, patroness of the home, and several Sisters. The children were taken to the park in a special Metropolitan street car, and immediately after their arrival there they were served a luncheon. The concessions were free to the youngsters and they had the time of their lives.

Labels: charity, children, fairmount park, nuns, streetcar

August 5, 1908

REWARD FOR AN

AMIABLE BOY.

Leo Milgrim Will Receive an Educa-

tion in a Kentucky School.

Here's where the good boy in real life gets his reward. The boy is Leo Milgrim, who has been a boarder at the Boys' hotel since the day it opened. He is 15 years old, one of a family of six children, whose parents were unable to care for him properly. He has been working every day since he became a boarder at the hotel, and is self-supporting. His conduct has been above reproach. Here's where he "gets his'n' ":

"My Dear Leo,

"Miss Allen has written me that you are looking forward to going to the school of which we spoke, when I talked with you, and so I write to tell you that it will be open September 1. I will send you a catalogue and will write to Professor Lewis, the principal of the school, to expect you.

"You can take the train from Kansas City to Cincinnati, via St. Louis, and at Cincinnati you can take the Louisville & Nashville train to London, Ky., the town wherein the school is located. I shall hope and expect you to make the very best of your opportunity as I myself will pay your scholarship, and will ask God to make of you a strong, true man, who will be a help to other boys after you have left school.

"Hoping to see you soon after your coming to London, and to find you a happy, busy student. I am sincerely your friend, MISS BELLE H. BENNETT."

Miss Bennett is president of the Woman's Home Missionary Society, Richmond, Ky. The letter was addressed to Leo and received by him yesterday. He will leave in time to reach London, Ky., before school opens.

Labels: boys hotel, charity, children, railroad

July 10, 1908

NEW RECRUITS TO THE CAMP.

One Hundred Little Ones Will Go to

the Country Today.

Relays of children will be changed today at the Salvation Army's fresh air camp. About 100 will be taken out and the forty-two who have been at the camp a week will be brought back to their homes unless it is found that they need more of the fresh air.

"Mong the principal features of the camp," siad Colonel Blanche B. Cox,"is the supplying of wholesome food. It is our aim to give the children all the meat that it will be good for them to eat in the summer time, but we intend to make a specialty of milk and eggs for their diet We think that proper feeding will do as much good in getting their bodies into health and strength as the fresh air, the exercise, and the sleeping out of doors."

Only $8 came in for the fresh air camp yesterday and $10 for the penny ice.

Labels: charity, children, ice, Salvation Army

July 1, 1908

CHILDREN REIGN IN

SWOPE FOR A DAY.

WOMEN ENTERTAIN 300 LITTLE

GUESTS THERE.

Gathered From All Parts of the City

and Carried to the Park in Spe-

cial Cars -- Day of Feast-

ing and Games.

Pathos was interwoven with the pleasure of almost 300 poor children on the occasion of their first annual outing under the auspices of the Federation of Women's Clubs at Swope park yesterday, but the event probably will be remembered by all participating as one of the most enjoyable of their lives.

Children of many nationalities were there from every section of the city. The majority had been arrayed for the occasion, but a few went as best they could. Sunday behavior, too, accompanied the merrymakers, and the ladies in charge had little or no difficulty.

At designated meeting points in various sections of the city the little ones, whose ages ranged from 6 to 13 years, were met by special cars at an early morning hour, and later were unloaded at the gates of the park with baskets of good things, hammocks, swings and other articles designed to add to the pleasure of the day, all of which had been provided by ladies of the various city clubs, shortly after which a large shaded spot was taken possession of and the fun began.

Until noon there was singing, dancing, racing for boys and girls and other sports appealing to little folk in which all participated and enjoyed, but the principal event of the day was the feast, a feast the like of which probably never had been dreamed of even by the most daring of those present.

THE ABSENT ARE REMEMBERED.

When the word was given to unpack the baskets the task was accomplished in record time by the girls, during the course of which many a luscious cookie or lump of sugar mysteriously found its way into watering mouths and not over-fed stomachs. Within a short time spreads had been laid on the grass, all were seated and the signal given to "pitch in," which was done immediately.

Some ate slow, others fast, but all ate with relish. Before long much of what had been provided had disappeared, but not all into the mouths of hungry children. There were thoughts of loved ones at home who could not attend the feast, and many a dainty morsel was hidden under skirts or in coat pockets to be taken to hard working mothers, sick brothers or sisters or unfortunate fathers. Indeed, there were many instances of children eating sparingly so that they might be enable to take baskets home, hence the pathos.

After the feast, playing was resumed until at such time as all were gathered together to indulge in singing many of the familiar national songs, the accompaniments to which were rendered by Mrs. Dr. J. A. McLaughlin and Miss Margaret Hart, and for a time the woods rang with song from almost 300 throats.

ENDED IN SONG.

The singing stimulated the children as nothing else during the day had. Boys who probably had never before made an effort because of bashfulness, stood arm in arm with each other or with girls, their mouths open and singing at the top of their voices. The singing, which was heard all over the park, proved contagious and within a short time many other picnic parties had been attracted and joined in. Probably never before had there been such a gathering, and it is exceedingly doubtful if ever there will be a repetition.

When evening came the crowd was found tired and ready to depart. No difficulty was experienced getting all together, and on schedule time the cars left the beauty of the country for the conjested sections of the city.

The clubs whose members participated in the day and who were responsible for the outing are: Eternal Progress, South Prospect Study, History and Literature, Anthenaeum, Portia, Women's Reading, Women's Progress Reading, Bancroft, Central Study, Tuesday Morning Study Class, Every Other Week, Alternate Tuesday, Council of Jewish Women and the Melrose Fortnightly.

The arrangements of the day were in charge of Mrs. Harry Kyle, district chairman, and Mrs. H. N. Ess, state chairman of the Federation of Women's Clubs.

Labels: charity, children, organizations, picnics, streetcar, Swope park, women

June 26, 1908

TRIPLETS' FATHER

IS UNDER ARREST.

NEIGHBORS CHARGE HIM WITH

NEGLECTING CHILDREN.

He Has Seven, One of Them Being

Boaz, Last Remaining of Trip-

lets -- Mother of Chil-

dren Dead.

Martin Curry, father of the much advertised Curry triplets, was arrested yesterday afternoon on a warrant issued out of the juvenile court, Kansas City, Kas., charging him with neglecting his children. He was locked up in the county jail and will be arraigned in the juvenile court today The arrest of Curry was caused by numerous complaints made by neighbors. He has six children beside the one remaining triplet, Boaz, the two others having recently died. It is the older children that he is accused of neglecting. He stated last night that he had in no way neglected his family as far as he knows. He proposes to hire an attorney and fight the case. Under the juvenile court law neglect of children by their parents is punishable by a fine and jail sentence.

On Sunday afternoon December 22 last, triplets were born to Mr. and Mrs. Martin Curry, 2543 Alden avenue, Kansas City, Kas. The babies, two boys and a girl, were all perfectly formed and unusually healthy. Curry is a laborer and, owning to his poor financial circumstances, the people of the two Kansas Citys became deeply interested in his family, especially the triplets, and hundreds of dollars were contributed by the public that the little ones and their mother should not need for anything in the way of care and attention.

The speedy and generous response of the public lifted a load of worry from the father and all went well until the death of Mrs. Curry, which occurred five weeks after the birth of the triplets. The little ones were doing splendidly at that time and the prospects for them to live were pronounced good by the family physician. At the time of Mrs. Curry's death an effort was made to have the triplets placed in a nursery where they might receive the best of care, but the father decided to trust the rearing of the babies to his 17-year-old daughter Bertha.

Ten days ago the babies were taken ill from having been fed sour milk. Ruth died on Wednesday, June 17, followed by the death of David last Sunday. Boaz, the last of the triplets, still lives, but is not in the best of health. Dr. T. C. Benson stated last night that the child was much better than it was a few days ago, and expressed the belief that it would live if properly cared for. It was Dr. Benson that named the triplets, christening them as they were born.

Labels: charity, children, death, doctors, illness, juvenile court, Kansas City Kas

June 2, 1908

CLAREMORE WANTS CHILDREN.

Oklahoma Town Sends for Kansas

City Boys and Girls.

The Chamber of Commerce of Claremore, Ok., has offered to care for a number of Kansas City children free in order to demonstrate to the people of the West that the noted mineral waters there have curative properties superior to any in the West. The following letter was yesterday received by Mayor Crittenden;

June 1, 1908
Hon. T. T. Crittenden, Mayor, Kansas City, Mo.
Dear Sir; -- The fact has never been extensively advertised, but at the city of Claremore, Ok., there flows from artesian wells the most wonderful curative water yet discovered in the world for the cure of skin diseases of all kinds, eczema, rheumatism and stomach trouble. In ever city in the United States there are hundreds of poor children suffering from skin diseases and afflictions of the eyes, whose lives are torture and misery. The parents of these children cannot afford to send them to this watering place for treatment, consequently, knowing the hundreds of cures that have been performed by this wonderful water, the Chamber of Commerce and the good women of Claremore, Ok., desiring to relieve the suffering of these little ones, make you the following proposition:

Through the Young Woman's Christian Association of Kansas City, the Chamber of Commerce of Claremore, Ok., desires that you select twenty poor children, afflicted by any form of skin disease, eczema, sore eyes, rheumatism or stomach trouble, send them to Claremore, Ok., and the Chamber of Commerce and the good women of Claremore, Ok., will take care of them, see that they are given every are and treatment of this wonderful curative water.

God, in His infinite wisdom, having sent us this wonderful curative, we firmly believe that it is our duty to place it at the disposal of as many of the suffering and afflicted as possible. It is our intention to make this same offer to every large city of the United States, and we respectfully request that you place this matter in the hands of the Young Women's Christian Association of Kansas City and that they at the earliest possible date make known to the Chamber of Commerce at Claremore, Ok., their desires in co-operating with us in this humane work All we ask is that the city sending these poor children pay their railway fare between their home city and Claremore, Ok., and return; the citizens of Claremore will do the rest.

Claremore, Ok., is on the main lines of the Rock Island-Frisco railway system and the Missouri-Pacific Iron Mountain route direct from Kansas City. I am, sir, your obedient servant,

P. C. LAVEY,
Secretary Claremore Chamber of Commerce, Claremore, Ok.

Labels: charity, children, health, Mayor Crittenden, oklahoma, organizations, railroad

June 2, 1908

NO MORE PENNY ICE

FOR THE CITY'S POOR.

SALVATION ARMY WILL DISCON-

TINUE THIS CHARITY.

All Effort and Funds Will Be Cen-

tered in the Summer Camp for

Women and Children -- Dull

in Suicide Bureau.

There will be no penny ice this summer.

The Salvation Army has decided that the money usually expended in this manner will be devoted to other and greater needs, and consequently that plan, which has been so popular among the poor people in the slums, will be discontinued.

The announcement was made yesterday, and when it becomes known to those who have had the benefit of this charitable work a wail of protest undoubtedly will go up. Penny ice has been a boon to the poor of the tenement districts for several years. The people in those districts have begun to look forward to the time when the Salvation Army would start its penny ice wagons.

The idea of the Army officers is to concentrate their work a little more. The time that has been devoted heretofore in the penny ice work will be devoted to the summer camp. Preparations for establishing the camp are already being made and by July 1 it will be ready to accommodate guests. The camp will be located on the Swope grounds south of Swope park as heretofore Preparations are being made to accommodate at least fifty mothers and their children for a week or ten days at a time this year This is on a somewhat larger scale than in previous years, and the officers feel that all the time at their disposal will be necessary to keep the camp going.

Another feature of the Salvation Army's work that may be discontinued after a time is the anti-suicide bureau. "We haven't had a case for months," one of the officers said yesterday.

If this bureau is discontinued it will not be because of a lack of its need, but because it is not being made use of by those who need its services. When the idea was new the bureau was brought into prominence frequently, but for many months there has not been a single application for its services.

"Nevertheless, we are always ready and willing to render services whenever called upon," said Brigadier Blanche Cox yesterday afternoon.

Labels: charity, ice, Salvation Army, Suicide, Swope park

May 22, 1908

CLUB WOMEN PLAN OUTING

FOR THE POOR CHILDREN.

Fifteen Organizations to Give Them

a Day in the Woods at

Swope Park.

Mrs. Henry N. Ess, state chairman of the philanthropy committee of the Missouri Federation of Women's Clubs, has received the indorsement of the Second district executive committee to give the children of the poor of Kansas City an outing of one day at Swope park.

Mrs. Ess presented her plans at the recent meeting in this city of the Second District Federation, composed of the counties of Platte, Carroll, Clay, Jackson, Ray, Lafayette, Cass and Johnson. Jackson is represented by the following fifteen federated clubs, all of which are enthusiastic over the plan for a children's club day at Swope: Anthenaeum, Central Study, South Prospect, Every Other Week, Bancroft, Ruskin, Tuesday Morning Study Class, Women's Reading Club, History and Literature, Alternate Tuesday Club, Council of Jewish Women, Magazine, Portia, Clionian and Keramic.

Nor is the movement confined to only federated clubs, but all women's clubs of the city are invited to join in celebrating and making a success of the big picnic for the juvenile poor of this city on Saturday, June 13.

Th membership of these clubs will aggregate 1,000 members and each woman has been asked to pledge herself to take at least two children from the poorer districts of the city, out to Kansas City's open country show place, Swope park, and give them an outing in the green fields. Each woman is to provide the lunch and entertainment for her little charges and is to give them her personal attention all day, and plan for their enjoyment. It will mean that several thousand children will make merry June 13 at their first attendance of a real "open" session of a woman's club.

All children ranging in ages from 6 to 12 years old will be eligible to this treat until the proper number has been reached, the assignment of two children to each club woman.

The event promises to be not only an exceptional treat for unfortunate children of this city, but will demonstrate the practical possibilities of the woman club movement, which reaches out and beyond the mere delving into Isben, Browning or Shakespeare, and shows the real good which can be accomplished by Kansas City's bright women when they take a notion to do a thing.

Labels: charity, children, organizations, picnics, Swope park

February 2, 1908

TRIPLET CARDS IN BIG DEMAND.

Supply at Jones's Soon Exhausted, but

More are Coming.

The postcards containing the picture of the Curry triplets which were placed on sale at the Jones dry goods store yesterday sold like hot cakes at a country fair. Only a small consignment of the cards were delivered at the store, owing to the inability of Miss Tillie Thornbrue, the young woman who conceived the idea of raising money for the curry family the sale of the cards, to print enough of the pictures to supply the demand. There was a constant call for the cards at the store all day and the limited supply furnished by Miss Thronbrue was quickly exhausted.

All those who made application yesterday for the cards and could not be accommodated were informed that an additional supply would be ready for sale Monday morning. Miss Thornbrue stated yesterday afternoon that she would be able to furnish at least 2,000 of the cards early tomorrow morning and that she had made arrangements to print them fast enough to keep the postcard counter at Jones's supplied in the future.

The proceeds from the sale of the postcards, with the exception of the cost of their production, is to be given to the support of the Curry family. The Jones Dry Goods company has consented to handle the sale without any compensation whatever.

The babies are still being cared for at the Curry home by Miss Bertha Curry, their 17-year-old sister, and a trained nurse. They appear to be in the best of health and are gaining in weight rapidly. They have been fed from bottles from the time of their birth, December 22. The mother, who died last Tuesday night, had only seen the triplets two or three times.

Mr. Curry and his eldest daughter, Bertha, who has the care of the babies, refuse to listen to any proposition to turn the triplets over to some charitable institution for care, but insist that they will see to their welfare at home. The people living in the vicinity of the Curry home are rendering all assistance possible.

Labels: charity, children, Jones Dry Goods

January 26, 1908

GIRLS' HOME OPENS

IN NEW QUARTERS.

Object of the Organization Is to

Afford Refuge to Friendless

and Inexperienced

Working Girls.

After many months of enforced idleness, the Girls' Home Association, an organization for maintaining for young women a good boarding place at a moderate price, has resumed work. In a beautiful new home that fairly shies with fresh paper and paint, the association opened its doors last week to receive all who come. The home, which is located at 612-614 West Eleventh street, was bought several months ago. It was known then as the "Endicott," and was an old-fashioned three-story brick residence. It was so old-fashioned, in fact, that many a woman would have been discouraged in the attempt to make it modern and comfortable. Mrs. John W. Wagner, the president of the association, realized the possibilities of the quaint home, and after three months of untiring effort she has succeeded in making it a most attractive place.

"And the house, with its furniture, amounting to $12,000, is all paid for," Mrs. Wagner exclaimed enthusiastically as she displayed the comforts of the home.. "We can accommodate fifty girls now and more if necessary, for we are never to turn away any girl who wants to come. We are going to find a place for them all somehow. As soon as we begin to turn away, the great object of the home has failed."

The last home of the association was at 1432 Baltimore avenue. This house, which was owned by the association, was left thirty feet "in the air" when Baltimore avenue was graded and it was necessary to vacate. Thirty girls were living in the home at that time.

ITS BIG LIVING ROOM.

The present home, since it has been modernized, will prove much more cheerful than the old. On ground floor the partitions on one side of the house have been torn out to make a long living room, which extends the entire length of the house.. This room has been decorated in shades of dull blue. In one end is a fireplace with cozy corners on either side. A huge window seat with the coverings and pillows in dull blue burlap occupies the other. Several good water colors hang on the walls and pretty soft blue sanitary rugs cover the floors.

On the opposite side of the hall from the living room are the long dining rooms and kitchens, all as complete as the most fastidious housekeeper could desire. It is in this kitchen that the members of the board of the association will teach the young women how to cook. The cooking school is to be open every afternoon and any young woman may attend. Ultimately, too, the home wants to teach these girls how to become mistresses of their own homes. The two upper floors of the home are all sleeping rooms, have pretty sanitary rugs, a dresser, a bed and washstand and comfortable chairs. Each room has a large closet. Mrs. Wagner and her corps of assistants have taken a great deal of care in making the home sanitary. Everything in it is washable. A great deal of care was expended, too, in the selection of the decorations, and rugs and papers harmonize beautifully.

Every girl in the house will pay $3.75 a week for her board. Provision has also been made for the young women out of work. Two dormitory rooms have been set aside for them. They will be taken care of by the association until positions can be found for them and they are able to pay their own way. The home is only for girls of small means, and when it is found that the young woman is earning more than $10 or $12 a week she will be persuaded to go somewhere else.

WILL ADVERTISE IT.

The Girls' Home Association was originally founded to help the young women who come into the city from the surrounding country and villages in quest of employment, without friends and many with little or no means and with but small appreciation of their own helplessness. This will be one of the great works of the present home and in all of the depots in the city neatly framed little signs will be put up bearing the name of the house and the location. "Instructions on Cooking Every Afternoon"; "An Attractive Home for Young Women of Limited Means"; "Girls Out of Employment Temporarily Cared For," are the inducements held out to the new arrivals. A house mother will superintend the care of the home and it is expected that the girls will co-operate with her in everything. Only good behavior is required of the young women, for there are no house rules.

The Girls' Home Association is to be self-supporting as far as possible, but an income of $60 a month has been subscribed by a number of business men to met the monthly deficit.

The first home for working girls was opened in 1901 in a leased house at 805 Forest avenue. Fifteen girls lived there. The girls organized a club called the Hybho Club." They got the name by taking the first letters of the words, "Help yourselves by helping others." In June, 1902, the club bought the property at 1432 Baltimore avenue, and in August the "Girls' Home Association was formally incorporated.

Labels: Baltimore avenue, charity, Eleventh street, women

December 29, 1907

5 TONS OF RABBITS FOR ARMY.

Game Is Sent by Kansas Hunters to

Feed City's Poor.

The Salvation Army received word last night that there are five tons of rabbits at the Rock Island depot waiting for them to get and distribute to the poor people of Kansas City. These rabbits were killed by hunting parties in Kansas and sent here. They will be given out within the next three or four days, some of them to be used by the poor for New Year's dinners.

More than 1,000 rabbits were given to poor people by the Salvation Army yesterday. A shipment of 500 was received from a hunting party at La Crosse, Kas.

The Army will entertain the poor and give them presents New Year's eve.

Labels: charity, food, New Years, Salvation Army

October 15, 1907

PAID TO GO TO SCHOOL.

JUVENILE COURT INSTITUTION

THAT GETS MANY EDUCATION.

This Form of Charity Amounts Prac-

tically to Widows' Pensions and

Is Made Possible by Volun-

tary Subscriptions.

"There is a heap in this world that is good. There are any amount of good fellows in it. There is sunshine pretty nearly every day it rains," said Judge McCune yesterday morning just after he refused to issue a permit to little George Galloway to remain out of school.

The boy's mother had told that she needed his earnings; that he could make $5 per week, and that he had been a faithful child to her. In proof of his good behavior the mother, through occasional tears, said that only once in years had he missed attending Sunday School, "and that was to attend his father's funeral last April."

"You say he can make $5 a week, madam?" Judge McCune inquired.

"Six dollars, and we need the money judge, since papa died."

"He must go to school. We can fix him up right. I have a scholarship I can let him have. He will get $3 a week for going to school."

This astonishing conclusion of the widow's petition was beyond her comprehension for the moment.

This scholarship business is a part of the new juvenile court. Explaining its operation, Judge McCune said that institutions and private individuals agree to pay into Judge McCune's hand pensions of $3 a week to compensate impoverished mothers for the loss of wages children might earn if allowed to work.

"We hire the boys to work for it by going to school," said Judge McCune. "Instead of letting them work for somebody else. In that way somebody educates them and helps take care of the mother. We have a long list of big-hearted people who give these scholarships, which really are widows' pensions."

The bottom of the pension barrel was scraped yesterday. Judge McCune encountered Phil Toll and left with four pensions in his note book.

"Heaps of good fellows in this old world," the judge of the juvenile court asserted.

Labels: charity, children, Judge McCune, schools

October 14, 1907

PLENTY OF TOUGH WOOD.

HELPING HAND IS NOW READY

TO ENTERTAIN.

All Comers Will Be Cared for in

Terms of Equality --

One Penalty Is a Bath.

The Helping Hand Institute has finished laying in its annual fall supply of cordwood. This announcement, while perhaps not interesting to the casual reader, will doubtless be received with something of misgiving by certain patrons of the institution. It means that hereafter the man who goes to the institute for a warm bed in the name of charity will have first to go down to the basemen of the building and work out his salvation with a buck saw.

Three carloads of good, tough hickory wood have been put into the basement in readiness of the usual autumn demand. From time immemorial it has been the custom of this institution to require every man who applied for a free bed to say a given amount of cord wood before he can go to his bed-chamber. And, what is infinitely worse in most cases after the wood is "bucked" and piled up neatly, he is required also to take a bath. It has never been on record that one who had finished his task and taken his bath found himself afterwards cheated out of a good night's sleep by insomnia.

"Many seem to think this requirement rather a hardship upon the men," said E. T. Brigham, the superintendent, last night. "But our theory is that indiscriminate charity makes tramps. We believe that a man ought to be given an opportunity to work for what he gets and then be compelled to work before he gets it. No man who is unwilling to earn his way ought to be cared for, we think, and we have adopted the cordwood method with this idea in view.

"The result is that the very worst hoboes steer clear of our place, while deserving men who ask nothing better than a chance to work for a bed and breakfast are glad to come to us. It makes no difference whether an applicant gets in as late as 10:30 o'clock at night, he is taken to the basement, where a good sharp saw is put into his hands and he is told the quantity he is to cut. The average is about one hour's work, but an industrious and willing man can finish his task in less time than that. He feels all the better for his exercise after he gets in bed, while we are ahead of the stove wood."

Labels: charity, Helping Hand

August 19, 1907

OFFERS HER A HOME.

Woman Reads of Pauline Nelson's

Plight and Comes to Her Aid.

Pauline Nelson, 18 years old, of Hutchison, Kas., wh, while on her way from Hutchinson to Detroit, where she said she had been offered a place in the chorus of a Detroit opera company, was robbed of her purse and suitcase Thursday night, is being cared for at the Helping Hand Institute. The girl after arriving in Kansas City Thursday night remained at the Union depot until Saturday night, when Harry Harvey, a city detective on duty at the depot, took her to police headquarters.

A telegrarm was sent to Hutchison yesterday, informing the family with whom she stayed of her wherabouts, but last night no reply had been received.

A woman, who read of the account of the young woman's plight in the newspapers yesterday morning, called at the Helping Hand Institute at noon, and said that she would give the girl a home if she so desired.

Labels: charity, detectives, Helping Hand, police headquarters, Union depot

August 7, 1907

TO SAVE HER LIFE

JOURNAL READERS RAISE FUND

FOR MRS. LOWREY.

THEY SEND HER TO ARIZONA.

WIFE'S SACRIFICE AND DEVO-

TION AMPLY REPAID.

Happy to the Verge of Tears, the

Unfortunate Woman Starts on

the Long Journey in Search

of Health in More

Congenial Climate.

The following contributions were received by The Journal yesterday as a fund to send Mrs. J. A. Lowry, the self-sacrificing wife to Arizona in hope that her health may be restored.

"A Journal Reader".....................$10.00
Cash..................................................10.00
Cash..................................................10.00
Cash..................................................10.00
Cash....................................................5.00
L. S. Larimore, Calwell, Kas.........2.00

Total................................................$47.00
Last night the Journal received a check for $50 from a woman who asked that her name be kept secret.

"I hardly know what to say -- the people have been so kind to me -- I am grateful, of course -- more grateful than I can express -- it was so unexpected and so splendid -- goodby, and thank you, oh, ever so much!"

The speaker was a frail woman, too feeble to stand without assistance, and as she sat in an invalid's chair at the Union depot last night waiting for the train that was to bear her away to health and ahppiness, her expressions of gratitude for the kindness tha had made her journey possible were broken with tears. She was Mrs. M. A. Lowry, of 1106 Cherry street, just departing for Prescott, Arizona, where she hopes that the pure dry climate of that state will cure her of tuberculosis.

A WIFE'S DEVOTION.

There are doubtless few in Kansas City who have not heard the story of this unfortunate woman's sufferings: How six years ago she married a stalwart young railroad man and came to Kansas City to help him build a home; how after two bright-eyed children came to them the mother was stricken with a terrible disease which only a climatic change could cure; how just as she and her husband were on the point of starting for Arizona last winter, the man was arrested on a charge based on circumstanial evidence and thrown into an Arkansas prison; how the woman without a murmur laid her life upon the altar of her husband's honor by expending the little savings laid by for the Western journey in a futile attempt to clear the charges against him; how he went to prison, while her health faded away; how after her strength failed she sat day in and day out before the doorway of their home that she might be the first to welcome him upon his return; how finally her pathetic story reached the governor of Arkansas who ordered the husband liberated, and how last week he came home to begin anew the fight to build a home.

When Mr. Lowrey reached Kansas City last Tuesday he set about finding a place to work. At the best it is a hard proposition for a man just out of prison to find profitable employment, yet he went to work with commendable zeal. But the wife's health began to fail rapidly after the reaction of her joy at his liberation, and it became apparent that something had to be done at once.

Following an editorial in The Journal, a number of citizens sent contributions for the unfortunate family. That no time might be lost, preparations for the trip were hurried, and Mrs. Lowrey, accompanied by her husband and two little children, left on a 9 o'clock train last night for Arizona.

When a newpaper reporter called at the Lowrey home yesterday afternoon, with the money that meant so much to the stricken woman, the gift was received with unmistakable marks of appreciation and gratitude. Part of it was in silver coins, and as the reporter poured these into the lap of the invalid she was so overcome with emotion that it was many moments before she could speak. When she did find words, however, she expressed her gratitude with grace and felling that showed greatly her glad surprise at the unexpected assistance.

Labels: charity, illness, The Journal

July 27, 1907

COMPLAINS OF A 'HOME'

CHILDREN MISTREATED BY AT-

TENDANTS, IT IS ALLEGED.

Matron at Joseph's Home Denies

Charges Made by Mrs. Ambie

Russell -- Juvenile Court to

Decide Next Monday.

THE JOSEPH HOME, 2610 CLEVELAND AVENUE.

Upon a complaint of Mrs. Ambie Russell, who has had four children in Joseph's home at 2610 Cleveland avenue since last Thanksgiving day, petitions were filed in the juvenile court yesterday afternoon alleging that the children were neglected.

Two of them, Irene, 10, and Katie, 7 years old were found at the home, taken to the detention home and later to the day nursery of the Institutional church by Probation Officer Edgar Warden. The other two, Earl, 13, and Eddie, 14 years old, were not found at the home. Subpoenas were issued for Mrs. Anna Baker, manager of the home; Mrs. Nellie Shaw, who is usually in charge, and for Mrs. Leslie Lewald, an employe, to appear before Judge Goodrich of the juvenile court Monday morning.

In a signed statement which Mrs. Russell made to Humane Officer Frank McCrary yesterday afternoon she charges that Mrs. Lewald and Frances Robinson, a negro woman who was until recently employed at Joseph's home, frequently punished the children by strangling them in basins of water and by beating them in the face until their little noses bled.

ARE NEGLECTED, WOMAN SAYS.

"There are about thirty children in the home and they are not properly clothed and fed," Mrs. Russell says in her statement. "I have bought clothes during the last eight weeks for my children and upon one occasion when I visited the home I saw a dress I had taken out for Katie on another child and Katie was dressed in rags.

"One one occasion during my stay Mrs. Shaw, an assistant to Mrs. Baker, struck Earl with a stick and then hit him on the nose with her hand and dragged him off to bed. I went to his room and found his pillow saturated with blood."

Mrs. Russell was deserted by her husband four years ago in Herrin, Ill. she has lived in Kansas City several months and when she became ill went with her children to the Joseph home. Several weeks ago she left the home by request because it was said that she had spoken disparagingly of the place to prospective contributors to its support. Mrs. Russell is now employed at the Hotel Kupper.

WHAT AN OFFICER FOUND.

Edgard Warden, who brought the Russell girls to the detention home yesterday, reported that he had found Mrs. Shaw to be a very pleasant woman, and that the children seem to like her. He also said that the home has solicitors working in nineteen states. There are about thirty children there.

The two little Russell girls were neatly dressed when brought to the detention home. They said they and the other children at Joseph's home attended the Greenwood school, Twenty-seventh and Cleveland streets. They looked bashful and would not answer when asked if they had had enough to eat and were well treated.

The Associated Charities, through G. F. Damon, secretary, issued a circular December 5, 1906, containing what purports to be a history of Mrs. Baker.

Mrs. Nellie Shaw, the matron in charge of Joseph's home, emphatically denies the charges made by Mrs. Russell. Mrs. Shaw was formerly assistant matron at the Institutional church.

"There is no truth in any of the charges made against this home," said Mrs. Shaw yesterday. "I came here to take the management of the children in February, and since I have been here I can answer that there has been no cruelty of any kind. I have two children of my own who live here, and I treat them just as I do the others. The only punishment which children ever receive is a spanking. It is necessary where there are so many children that discipline be kept. But no one ever punishes the little ones but myself, and I only spank them whenever it is necessary, with my open hand."

CHILDREN LIKE MRS. SHAW.

The little boys and girls in the home do not seem to be afraid of Mrs. Shaw, but play about her in what seems to be the most affectionate manner.

"I think the boys and girls love me, and I have always wanted them to," said she.

Mrs. Shaw says that Mrs. Russell, who was an inmate of the home with her four children for months without cost, became angry at her because she suggested that some of the money which Mrs. Russell earned after she finally secured a position at the Kupper hotel be spent on the children.

" 'My money is my own,' she said, and seemed angry at the suggestion. 'I'll spend it as I please.' "

Eddie, Mrs. Russell's 14-year-son, was placed by the home on a farm at Arthur, Kas., and his 13-year-old brother Earl is on another farm a few miles from there. Mrs. Shaw says that the boys were not placed in adoption, but were simply put on the farms for a summer's outing. She says that is the custom of the Institution church and other charitable institutions in Kansas City to place children with private families, sometimes for adoption, unless a part at least of their board is paid. Mrs. Russell consented that her two boys be sent to Kansas for the summer, she says.

FOUNDED FOUR YEARS AGO.

St. Joseph's home was founded four years ago by Mrs. Annie Baker, who had run a similar institution for two years in Joplin, Mo. Mrs. Shaw says the home was founded by Mrs. Baker after being left destitute with two children, in order to help mothers where were in a similar condition. It is supported by public subscription.

"The whole trouble is that we do not give an accounting of our finances to the Associated Charities," said Mrs. Shaw. "They have been trying to get us to do this for a long time, and when we consistently refused to make regular financial reports to them they became angry and have been trying to do the home harm ever since.

"We cannot see why we should give up the management of our enterprise to the Associated Charities, who had nothing to do with its beginning or its development."

Labels: Associated Charities, charity, children, Cleveland avenue, detention home, Institutional church, Judge Goodrich

July 25, 1907

LITTLE BOYS ARRESTED.

LOCKED IN A CELL BY POLICE TO

"GIVE THEM A SCARE."

"Don't Do It Again," Warns the

Mayor -- Preacher Who Caused

the Arrests Interrogated

by Commissioners.

Two young boys, Jesse Lynch, residing at 2106 Belleview, and his chum, John Rafferty, living next door, gave Sergeant Seldon and Policeman Barton a fright yesterday in the police board room. By way of a by-product, the boys had the fun of hearing the mayor bore in on John Hart, who said he was the "commanding officer" of the Red Cross mission at Twenty-first and Belleview.

The boys had been arrested on a charge of disturbing a religious meeting. Six or eight neighbors were on hand to testify that they had been sitting on their porches watching each other and the boys for an hour or more, so they were able to say there had been no disturbance. The policemen's defense was that "Commanding Officer" Hart had directed them to arrest the boys, "and some of them," said M. G. Hammon, "were not more than 7 years of age."

"I think there were some little fellows in the gang. I got nine," said the policeman. Afterward his sergeant admitted locking them in a cell to scare them. The bad impression this made on the commissioners was wiped out when the sergeant said he had refused to let the "commanding officer" swear out a warrant, but that he had turned the boys loose.

"I do not like that sort of thing," Commissioner Gallagher said.

"That is exactly the way I feel about it," the mayor echoed. "I do not want little boys locked up. I do not even want them arrested if it can be avoided. Here we find this preacher telephoning for the police to rout a gang. Officer Barton comes on the scene, finds two excellent boys, so this testimony every bit shows, sitting peacefully chatting. They are arrested and in the march to the station seven others are picked up. This is not right. Don't do it again." Policeman Barton said he had supposed his duty would compel him to arrest on information filed by a reputable citizen.

"But not women or children for trivial things like this," Commissioner Gallagher said.

"This was supposed to end the case, when the "commanding officer" returned to the attack. He wanted to know if the boys could train dogs to go into his mission and break up the meetings.

"That is not what the commissioners ought to settle," said a Mrs. Parks. "What you ought to settle is whether or not Preacher Hart has the right to shoot into a crowd of boys with a revolver."

"It was a cannon firecracker," the "commander" quickly said.

"It was a revolver, for I saw you loading it after you had fired it, and you put it under a pillow. I could see through my window and yours," Mrs. Parks asserted. By this time the mayor was sitting up and taking notice.

"Let us hear about this shooting," he said, but he heard two sides and had to take his choice. In the end the commissioners decided that Policeman Barton had not been guilty of anything in the arrest of the children. The Red Cross mission "commanding officer" was warned that he could not make another blanket raid on the boys about his church.

Labels: charity, children, churches, jail, Mayor Beardsley, ministers, police board, Twenty-first street

July 24, 1907

PURE MILK FOR THE POOR.

Franklin Institute Will Dispense

Five Gallons Daily.

Poor families living in the tenement district of which the Franklin institute is the center, will have an opportunity to secure pure, wholesome milk at a minimum of expense after Tuesday morning of this week. A pure milk dispensary will be established at the institute under the direction of the superintendent, J. T. Chafin, and arrangements will be made to distribute the milk in quart quantities according to the needs of the various families.

A dairy company has agreed to donate five gallons of milk a day to the institute, and this milk is of the highest quality. The milk will be syphoned into sterilized quart bottles, and these will be sold for 1, 2, 3 and 6 cents each, according to the families' ability to pay for them. Families unable to pay 1 cent a bottle will be given the milk free.

Labels: charity, food

June 22, 1907

MADE THE BEGGAR ANGRY.

Mendicant Arrested on Charge of

Insulting Women.

I. N. Davis, a professional beggar, was arrested at the Union depot yesterday afternoon on the charge of swearing at a woman traveler. Davis, it seems, has a system of selling small cards on which are written appeals for charity. When the woman declined he became angry and began swearing, it is charged. He was arrested by policeman Harry Moulder and taken to No. 2 station, where a charge of vagrancy was placed against him.

Labels: charity, police, Union depot, vagrancy

Special Report -- C. W. ANDERSON

CHARITY IS NOT ASKED

BY MRS. ANDERSON.

A movement was suggested by members of the Red Cross mission to start a subscription list among business men of the city to raise funds for the support of Mrs. Charles Anderson and her little daughter, but to this Mrs. Anderson has not given consent. She declared that the people were already doing so much for her in trying to obtain the release of her husband that to ask more would be imposing upon the generosity of the people.

Labels: charity, Charles Anderson

April 19, 1907

FROM ROSEDALE, NOT SEDALIA.

Police Cast Doubt Upon Mrs.

Henderson's Story of Hardships

The police and the authorities at the Helping Hand institute have grave doubts of the story told by Mrs. Mable Henderson, who, with her blind baby, insists that she walked all the way from Sedalia, Mo., to this city, a distance of ninety miles, in three days. She says that she left there at sunup Monday morning , and arrived here at about 5:30 o'clock Wednesday evening, having had only 25 cents for expenses.

Mrs. Henderson was found by the police in the bottoms late Wednesday night, and sent to headquarters and then to the Helping Hand. She said she was not tired when she came in, refused food, saying she was not hungry, and neither her dress nor shoes were at all worn as they would have been from such a long tramp.

Early yesterday morning a man called Captain Weber at police headquarters and said: "I know the Mrs. Henderson with the blind baby mentioned in the papers this morning. She has lived with several others in a tent on the outskirts of Rosedale all winter. The men named in the paper as brothers-in-law, for whom she is now looking, lived there also. They all left recently and I don't know where they went."

The man refused to give his name. An official from the Helping Hand went to Rosedale and found the report to be true. He was also informed that Mrs. Henderson has two other children somewhere else. This she denied later. The investigation will be carried on further today.
"We have had at least twenty-five calls today offering to take both the woman and her baby," said Superintendent E. T. Bringham. "Several called in person and offered to assist in any manner desired. She was being cared for, however, and a specialist was secured for the baby, so all was being done what was necessary. The eye specialist, after a close examination, said that there was no hope for the baby ever regaining its sight, it having been blind from birth."

Mrs. Henderson said that she could get no place to work on account of her blind baby, the mother herself being blind in one eye. On this account it was said yesterday that an effort would be made to take the blind baby from its mother and place it in a blind institute, where it could be educated with others similarly afflicted. Left as it is, it would have little chance to make a living. The mother, when placing the child even in the nursery was mentioned, objected strenuously, and said that wherever the baby went she would go also.

"The woman is known to the Associated Charities," said Colonel Greenman, Humane agent, "and has been for some time. Agents from there are investigation the case now. Mrs. Henderson weighs only ninety pounds and her baby seventeen pounds. To reach here in three days she would have to walk at least thirty miles a day. That seems an impossible task for one so frail as she appears to be."

Labels: Associated Charities, charity, children, Col. J. C. Greenman, con artist, Helping Hand, police headquarters, Rosedale, Sedalia

April 4, 1907

IOWA RUNAWAYS HERE.

Glad to Get Something to Eat and

Ready for a Job.

Joseph Richards, 16, William Henderson, 19, and Robert Kelly, 20 years old, all about the same size, arrived in Kansas City from Muscatine, Ia., via the Rock Island route in a boxcar early yesterday morning. They are runaways, and said they are not looking for Indians, but for work.

The boys walked the streets all day, visiting several employment agencies, but not having the dollar that it takes to get the "promise of a job," they kept on walking. About 8 o'clock last night, begrimed and hungry, they encountered Patrolman McVey. At police headquarters they were given tickets for a "big 10-cent meal" at a nearby restaurant.

"That's the first meal we've had since noon yesterday," said young Richards, as he picked his teeth.

"I hope you don't call that a meal we had at Seymour, Ia.?" asked Henderson, "A half a loaf of bread and one piece of green bologna for all three of us didn't hit the spot with me. Not much."

The lads were given shelter for the night at the Helping Hand Institute, and this morning jobs will probably be secured for Kelly and Henderson. Richards, who left a widowed mother at home, will be held until she is heard from.

Labels: charity, Helping Hand, police, police headquarters, runaway