THE CRY OF THE POOR.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 14111, 2 August 1911, Page 9

THE CRY OF THE POOR.

COAL AND BLANKET FOTsD EXHAUSTED.

HELP WANTED

Tho treasury chest of the Goal and Blnnket Fund is empty —not one penny remains. Tho winter is etill hero, and the poor are always with us. Tho fund is urgently in need of replenishing;, and there are necessitous unfortunates who are asking for help. Tho strain on tho fund is so acuto that orders given to sereral applicants have been cancelled. Tho managers of tho fund, while acknowledging tho help of tho past, hope that tho fountains of genorosity haro not dried up. '' There aro sonio terrible cases in the city, and wo hope that, tho people will respond to the appeal."' Theso aro tho words of Miss Cardale, tho secretary of tho Coal and Blanket Fund. Some real poverty lias been fteon in Christchureh this winter, and tho cold and wet weather has taken its toll in lives. Among old pooplo tho mortality has been very heavy- The claims made on tho Coal and Blanket Fund have been very numerous, and a financial statement prepared shows that up to July 18th tho expenditure was fully £100 in execes of that of tho corresponding period of tho previous year. There linve been nearly 500 applicants. Tho fund was drawn on for os Id for coal, and £117 5s for blankets. Thero woro 483 orders for coal alone. Tho sphere of operations has this year been extended to include Sockburn, Now Brighton, Sumner, and Probble-

j Wlio arc the people who nro helped :by the fund ? Sonio aro unfortunate, some aro improvident. Some of them apply only when driven to it by stress ior poverty, others apply because their own improvidence or indulgence have I left thora stranded. Among the unfortunates are deserted wives and families, wives whoso husbands spend their substance in riotous living; poor widows and their children bereft of thoir breadwinners ; women who aro past work, but have not qualified for the old aas pension because they have not reached ! the qualifying ago of 65. Among the . improvident to relate—young : couples just setting out on their matri- ■ nionial career; pooplo who have lived , well while money was coming in, and laid nothing by for a rainy day. Here are sotnn of the cases the Fund has to deal with: —A woman with ten of a family and a drunken husband; a delicate wifo. whose husband is dying of the "white plaguo"; a wife, of fifty years, whoso husband will never be able to work; a wife left destitute with two little ones; a delicate wife with two daughters in bad health; and an nlmoat incredible number of deswW wives. The Fund workers truly see the sonmy side of life. It was found necessary this winter to warn a number of young couples that they would not be assisted ; with blankets in future years. One of ! the ladies wrote back indignantly that she was not "young." She begged to inform tho committee that she was thirty 1 Instances of quiet heroism are met with. It has been said that pooplo fight poverty to the last ditch before, appealing for charity. Their houses arc kept clean and tidy, and it is late in tho battle when they capitulate- to poverty. People ars 'now applying for help who have staved off as Jong as they can the day of surrender. There aro fifty cases waiting now for relief. Tho Fund usually operates until tho end of August.