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Page 7
Many of our wealthy people wish so sincerely that poor people should have
more comforts, that they are spending their money in building beautiful
model tenement-houses, which will give the tenants every possible comfort
for the same amount of money that they now have to pay for the dark,
wretched places they live in.
One gentleman, Mr. D.O. Mills, felt so sorry for the men who had no homes,
and were obliged to take board in these wretched tenements, that he is
building a model lodging-house for them.
This house is down-town, where the men need it. It is large enough for
1,500 men to sleep in, and for each to have a comfortable room to himself.
The house is to be heated throughout, and there are to be elevators to
take the men upstairs. The arrangements for washing and bathing are
splendid, there is any amount of hot and cold water, and a laundry, with
all the newest arrangements for washing and drying clothes quickly, where
the men can go and wash their own clothes, and have them clean for the
morning.
There are also comfortable rooms, where the men can read and write and
play games. All the books and papers and games will be ready for them in
the rooms, for it is Mr. Mills' wish to make the lodging-house a home to
the men, so they may find their amusement at home, and not be tempted to
go to saloons.
All they are to be charged is twenty cents a night. For this they will
have all the comfort, warmth, and cleanliness that a man could wish for.
There is to be a restaurant in the house, where the lodgers can buy their
meals. Their food will not be given them for the twenty cents, but it will
be made as cheap as possible, and will be of the best kind, and cooked in
the nicest way.
It is to be hoped Mr. Mills' experiment will be such a success, that many
others will follow his example. This lodging-house is on Bleecker Street,
and work is already commenced on it.
* * * * *
A sailor who has just come back from Japan brings word that sixteen
American sailors are in prison in Siberia for trying to kill Russian
seals, and carry away their fur to market.
The story the man tells is that in October, 1895, the American schooner
_Saitans_ was cruising in the Okhotsk Sea, off the Siberian coast. Some of
the men landed on an island, and while they were ashore a heavy gale
sprang up, and, to save herself, the _Saitans_ put out to sea, leaving the
men behind.
They remained where they were for five days, and then they were found by a
Russian man-of-war. They were accused of trying to catch seals, and were
sent to prison for five months.
The following May, one of the United States cruisers went to the port
where the men were imprisoned, and the officers saw them.
The men begged the officers to do something for them, because they had
been told that when their five months' imprisonment was over, they were to
be arrested again, and sent back to prison once more.
The officers asked the police about this, and were told that it was all
nonsense; the five months would be up in a few weeks, and the men set at
liberty. The officers were satisfied that this was the truth, and went
away.
But when the five months were up, the sailors found that their fears were
only too well grounded. They were rearrested, and sent back to prison for
eighteen months.
The sailor who brings this news says that, when he reached the port where
the men are imprisoned, he managed to be taken to see them, and found them
working on some Russian fortifications.
He says the men were very unhappy, and had almost lost their courage.
Their second sentence will not be over till October, and they are afraid
that they will be rearrested, and imprisoned once more, unless something
is done for them.
They declare that it was not their fault that they were on the island.
They insist that they were doing no harm, and their vessel put back to sea
and left them in their unhappy position.
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