Then I wondered what the large kindly man at the desk, who did not have
to wash or scrub floors or saw wood, had had for breakfast, and what
the other big good-natured attendant had had, whose only business was
to boss the "under dog." I also wondered what the other members of the
society of organized charities had had for breakfast, and if they were
driven out of bed at four or five o'clock in the morning to eat it.
At six-thirty we were put to work. A number of us were sent to the
woodyard and several of us were put to washing, cleaning, and scrubbing
the floors and stairs.
I was set to washing, and I asked the "boss" attendant, "How long
will I have to work?" He replied, "three or four hours," the same as
the attendant had told me at the door when I entered. However, after
working from half-past six until twenty-five minutes to nine--kept
in there just at the time when I ought to have been out looking for
work--I was allowed to go.
As I was leaving I said to a boy about fifteen years of age, "Are
you going now?" He said, referring to the attendant, "He's not told
me that I could go. These people treat a boy mighty mean here. They
worked me from half-past six yesterday morning until four-thirty in the
afternoon."
"Why didn't you leave after you had worked for your bed and breakfast?"
"Well, it was so near dinner time, and I won't beg or steal, so I
waited for the cheap dinner, and they worked me, as I told you, until
four-thirty in the afternoon, but I am going to try to get a job
to-day, if possible."
Does Philadelphia need a Municipal Emergency Home? Philadelphians, you,
too, send your delegation to New York and inspect their new Municipal
Emergency Home, that you, too, may have one even surpassing that New
York Home, or at least turn the one you have into a humane one, for
you cannot afford to have New York surpass you in its humanitarian
activities. Keep the great reputation you have of "Brotherly Love" and
"Hospitality," and if you do, your lives and your city will continue
resplendent, and this new refuge will speak in wonderful language the
praise of "The City of Homes."
CHAPTER XI
PITTSBURG AND THE WOLF
"_I resolved that the wolf of poverty should be driven from my
door._"--ANDREW CARNEGIE.
Our train was late, and would not reach Pittsburgh until noon.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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