THE PENNY LUNCH AND FREE DISPENSARY
The following is a letter written by Mr. George W. Wheeler, which was
published in our _Gospel Tidings_, of February, 1911:
PENNY LUNCH
“In an experience of twenty-six years in active, earnest, aggressive
Rescue Mission work in this city, the writer cannot recall that any
line of secular work taken up for the amelioration of the poor has
ever called forth such universal expressions of interest, sympathy
and co-operation as the 'Penny Lunch and Newsboys' Waiting Room,'
opened by the Gospel Mission, at 304 Fourteenth Street, on Saturday,
February 4. The city papers published pictures of the interior and
exterior, and a portrait of our Superintendent, Mr. Kline, and were
most generous in their endorsement of the enterprise, while the _New
York Times_ and other papers spread the news far and wide that the
cost of living had been solved in Washington by the Gospel Mission
'_Penny Lunch_.'
“The opening of this lunch-room was made possible by a noble
Christian woman of wealth, who was born, reared and now resides in
this city. Her interest was aroused by reading a statement of the
work and needs of the Gospel Mission, prepared by our
Superintendent, and she came to see about the matter, learned its
approximate cost, and sent a check to pay the expenses.
“For two weeks or more Mr. Kline and his assistants were busy
papering, painting, etc., and finally the steam table and coffee
urns, with many other essentials of a twentieth century up-to-date
lunch-room were installed and the doors were opened to a waiting
crowd. Mrs. Kline oversees the cooking, and everything is as clean
and neat as in one's home.
“The menu consists of the following articles: Coffee, 1 penny; bread
or rolls, 1 penny; beans, 1 penny; doughnuts, 1 penny; sour, 1
penny; beef stew, 3 pennies; one-half pie, 3 pennies. A lunch,
consisting of soup, meat, vegetables, bread and coffee, 5 cents.
This brings a well-cooked, clean, nourishing meal within the reach
of all who have any income whatever.
“It was amusing to see the class of men and boys who came to have
their appetites satisfied at the lowest cost. Newsboys, messenger
boys, laboring men, teamsters, and all kinds of indescribables came,
and they appeared greatly surprised to find such an attractive room
with all the 'latest improvements' found in a lunch-room. And how
they did eat! A big soup plate filled to the brim with bean soup, a
big china cup filled with steaming hot coffee, a big brown roll or
three slices of Corby's 'Mother's Bread.' These were good, and
'mighty filling at the price.'
“Well, the 'Penny Lunch' is launched, and whether the prices charged
will pay the cost of the material, cooking and serving, or not, we
feel certain that any little deficiency that may occur will be
cheerfully met by the well-to-do of our community.
“A coffee-roasting firm has pledged five pounds of good coffee each
week for use at the 'Penny Lunch' room, and we are sure dealers in
other lines will be glad to assist. Corby Brothers have been
furnishing from fifty to seventy-five loaves of bread for our 'bread
line' for many months, and Browning & Baines, coffee dealers, have
supplied six pounds of coffee a week for a long time past.
“We greatly appreciate the generous co-operation of all these dear
friends, who help us to help others to help themselves.”
The benefits of the Penny Lunch can never be told till the books of
eternity are opened, but some idea may be gathered when we state that
the report of the bread line from May 12, 1911, to May 12, 1912, was
41,750, but the report from May 12, 1912, to May 12, 1913, was 18,950.
The Bread Line is the name of a service at 6 A.M., the year round, when
bread and black coffee is served to all who come for it. If people will
come before daylight in the winter, or at that early hour in the summer
for coffee, without cream or sugar, and a quarter of a loaf of bread, we
believe they need it, and we gladly give it, not as a charity, but as a
visible token of our sympathy. Now, the fact that 22,800 fewer people
took bread and coffee free in the year 1912 to 1913, compared with the
preceding year, can only be accounted for that when a man has a few
pennies in his pocket he could buy a satisfactory breakfast, and gladly
did so rather than to line up for an unrequited kindness.
How shamed many men were to take food in the bread line, but the loving
word sweetened many a bitter cup. Once a hand so unusually white and
well-kept reached for the cup of coffee. Mrs. Kline looked up and saw
the face of a man who had been a minister of the gospel. She said,
“Brother, take only the coffee, we want you to take breakfast at our
family table this morning.” He sat down to drink the coffee with bitter
tears coursing down his shamed face. Of course, every kindness was shown
him, “for need has its right, and necessity its claim,” then the blessed
Spirit came in and lo, he prayed, and God received back to a useful life
a man who had found sorrow and sin bitter and the tears of remorse salt.
WHAT DR. HALLIMOND, OF THE NEW YORK BOWERY MISSION, SAYS ABOUT THE BREAD
LINE
“There are in the Bowery men who never sleep in a lodging house because
they have not the price, and they get their bed either by stealing or
begging, and eat out of the garbage boxes. You who have never been to
the Bowery know nothing of the agony or remorse that these men feel.
Now, what are we to do with them? There is not anybody to look after
them but us. Oh, the horrors of the homeless man! It is the many little
comforts that go to make our comfortable life. They cannot keep clean.
They cannot brush their clothes or comb their hair, they cannot take
their shoes off their poor tired feet. These men gather there in the
great meetings, and among them are many that are in the last stages of
physical weakness. Many of them ought to be in the hospital instead of
walking the street day and night. Many of them are dying of hunger.
Sometimes we cannot get men to understand that we have people in our
meetings that are dying of hunger. I am not using any figure of speech.
It is not an unheard-of thing for men to drop dead in our meetings. That
is why we have the 'bread line.' We dare not fail to help these people.
People sometimes come to us with the very best of intentions, talking to
us of the sin of indiscriminate charity; but, bless your life! is not
God indiscriminate, for does not He cause the rain to fall on the just
and unjust? Did Jesus Christ ever go through the hungry crowds and find
out who was worthy and who was unworthy? Did He not spend His life to
help just such men? These dear people some of them are spending
seventy-five cents to find out where the other twenty-five cents is to
go. I have made up my mind that if I ever find a man dying on my
doorstep of hunger, and I can do anything to save him, I am going to do
it, whether he deserves it or whether he does not.
“That is the origin of our bread line about which you have heard so
much. We cannot help but have a bread line. In fact, I refuse to allow
our work to be called a charity. It is not a charity, it is brotherly
kindness. It is not a charity, but a kind hospitality, just a little
evidence, just a little token, that there is somebody who cares for
their poor weary hearts which these destitute brothers of ours possess.
As long as the bread line exists, and God helping, it shall exist as
long as there is need for it, people must know that there is something
wrong with our social system, a problem that we cannot solve but that is
up to the politician. As long as we are in this great, rich country with
all the extravagances of wealth, then the bread line shall tell that
there is something wrong, and that our Declaration of Independence,
declaring, as it does, for 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,'
is but a delusion and a snare.”
This seems a long interlude to the Penny Lunch chapter, but you can see
the lunch counter where five cents can buy beans, bread and coffee,
saves many a man from feeling that he takes charity. The bread line was
instituted to fortify a man's stomach against needing to go to the
saloon in the morning for the free lunch, also to give strength to a
poor fellow so he could search for work.
The bread line food given each morning will not of itself sustain life,
as we found out to our sorrow. One Tuesday night, as the writer entered
the Mission for the purpose of conducting the service, I found the men
at the door excited. On inquiry, I found a man lying on the front seat
dying. The Emergency Hospital ambulance had already been called. I found
a man who twenty years ago had been a leading patent attorney of this
city. I saw the soul was about to depart. I said, “Mr. West, say, 'Lord
Jesus, receive my spirit.'” “No, I have lived wicked, I shall die
wicked.” “O son, say, 'Lord Jesus, forgive me.'” “Too late, too late; I
have heard you all, night after night, and I have rejected Christ. I
must die as I have lived.”
I motioned the choir to sing softly, “Jesus receiveth sinful men.” I
bent over him, urging repentance; the ambulance men were at my side,
they picked him up and laid him carefully on the stretcher. I said,
“Dear Mr. West, we are praying for you, pray for yourself.” I kept my
hand tenderly on his head as the stretcher was slowly carried out, but
he continued to say, “Too late, too late for me.”
He died within an hour, and the post-mortem showed he had died of
inanition caused by slow starvation. We found he had tried to live on
the bread and coffee of the bread line alone; he was too poor to buy
food, too proud to tell his needs, and we were too stupid and too busy
to realize his awful need. We thereby learned a good lesson, and the
Superintendent and helpers now all look more carefully after the man who
sits down claiming either exhaustion or sickness.
No man, woman or child is ever refused food because without money, but
if a man can buy whisky, we think he ought to be able to buy food,
though even then we look after him.
We cannot leave the granting of food to employees, so when the
Superintendent and his wife are absent we have some pathetic cases. Mr.
Gordon found a little fellow crying at the door. “What is the matter,
little man?” said the big man. “Mother gave me ten cents to buy food for
our family, and I have lost the money.” You may be sure Mr. Gordon
obtained much more than ten cents' worth of food for the child. Very
many families live in one furnished room and get all their food at the
penny lunch counter. Seamstresses, all the dollar a day men for many
squares, girls from the Agricultural Seed Bureau, come in and buy at
cost the luncheon at the middle of the day. Many well-to-do people come
in and take luncheon to watch the various grades of humanity who solve
the cost of high living by taking meals at the Mission. All the street
peddlers, the umbrella man, the shoestring and pencil man, the rag
gatherers, eat at the counter, the better class sit at the tables.
Mr. Gordon saw a little altercation between a waiter and a customer, the
waiter demanding four cents while the man had but three cents. “But you
should not have ordered food unless you could pay for it.” The poor man
looked dreadfully embarrassed, at last he looked up and said, “Will you
lend me a cent, sir?” which was gladly done.
Many who come only for the cheap meal are induced by the kindness shown
and by the good music and bright lights in the chapel, to go in to the
services. There some song, some word from the speaker, some devout
prayer, touches the chord of memory of what a mother, a faithful teacher
or almost forgotten preacher has taught years ago, and, backed by the
Holy Spirit, a prodigal son or a prodigal daughter returns to the
Father's house.
Mr. Kline reports the meals furnished in the Penny Lunch Room from May
12, 1912, to May, 1913, to be 87,856, at an average cost of four and
one-third cents per meal.
THE DISPENSARY
was opened February 1, 1912, after the need was very apparent, and
further neglect of this branch of work seemed impossible.
Never will I forget the day when I first called up Dr. C. H. Bowker, one
of the leading physicians of the city, living on Massachusetts Avenue,
near Thomas Circle, the very heart of the city, and told him of a man
who had pneumonia, and of a woman in the shelter with a severe cold, and
asked him to go to the Mission free of charge. I waited with bated
breath for the reply. It was, “I am an exceedingly busy man, but I shall
try to go within an hour.” Very much emboldened, I said, “Could you stop
in once a day to see if anyone there has a contagious disease, or if
anyone should be sent immediately to the hospital?”
The answer seemed very slow, and I fairly trembled, for our need was so
great. At last he said, “Well, I have noticed if I put a duty on my
daily program, I manage in some way to get it in.” From that day to this
that blessed doctor has been at the beck and call of the Mission day and
night; only God knows what a help and a comfort he has been to broken
men and sorrowful women in that part of the city.
The February _Gospel Tidings_, of 1912, had the following:
GOSPEL MISSION DISPENSARY
“For several months we have had a house physician, and the use and need
for him has steadily increased. The establishment of regular hours at
which patients could see the doctor, and a proper place for
consultation, naturally suggested the establishment of a dispensary.
This appeared feasible to the Executive Committee, and Mrs. Monroe,
Superintendent Kline and Dr. Bowker were appointed a committee to study
the advisability of such an addition to our work. The report from this
committee was favorable to the project, and active steps were at once
taken to the establishment of a free general dispensary for the
treatment of all classes of cases, or their reference, where necessary,
to special institutions.
“The location of the Mission for dispensary work could not be better
from any point of view. It is accessible to the hundreds needing its
help. There is no conflict in its field by any other institution doing
this class of work. Four rooms on the first floor of the Mission, with
the chapel for a waiting-room, will serve admirably for dispensary needs
at present. And these rooms are rapidly being put in shape by carpenters
and painters. Shelves are being made for the pharmacy, a door cut
through the partition, and running water is to be installed.
“Our printing plant will again demonstrate its usefulness by furnishing
the necessary record blanks, labels, treatment cards, etc.
“The Executive Committee has placed Dr. Charles Harvey Bowker, 1204
Massachusetts Avenue, in full charge of the Gospel Mission Dispensary,
and he will have associated with him at first Dr. O. C. Cox, 1320
Eleventh Street, N. W. A number of leading physicians and surgeons have
evinced an interest and willingness to give their services, and Dr.
Bowker will add them to the dispensary staff and assign them work as the
clinic grows and they are needed.
“Dr. Bowker's experience in managing a hospital in his home city, and
his hospital and dispensary work in Washington, assure us a businesslike
management of this new branch of our work.
“Our need at present is for drugs and surgical dressing, and it is hoped
that the druggists of the city may contribute.
“The dispensary opened Thursday, February 1, 1912, at 10 A.M., which
will be the regular daily hour, and all those who are interested are
invited to inspect the new rooms.”
You notice that we opened February 1, 1912, and our annual report in May
_Tidings_, 1913, shows the following:
THE MISSION FREE DISPENSARY
_Staff_
Physician in charge, Dr. Charles H. Bowker, 1204 Massachusetts
Avenue, N. W.
_Associates_
Dr. Oliver C. Cox, 1320 Eleventh Street, N. W.
Dr. W. O. Owen, Southern Building.
Dr. William F. Hemler, 706 Eighth Street, N. W.
Dr. C. A. Simpson, 1217 Connecticut Avenue, N. W.
Dr. C. F. Dufour, 1347 L Street, N. W.
Dr. Adam Kemble, Cecil Apartments, Fifteenth and L Streets, N. W.
Dr. Jesse Ramsburgh, The Portner.
_Hours for Treatment_
Medical and surgical cases treated daily, 11 to 12 A.M.
Diseases of Women—Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Diseases of Men—Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Diseases of Children—Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Diseases of Ear, Eye, Nose and Throat—Monday and Thursday.
_Report for the Year Ending April 30, 1913_
Cases treated 2500
Referred to Hospital 80
Treated at homes 80
The dispensary is in need of a sterilizer and a special fund for medical
supplies for those too poor to pay.
* * * * *
The sterilizer later was the gift of Dr. Jesse Ramsburgh, and we have a
complete set of lenses for testing the eyes of school children.
It would break your heart to see the women with babies, the aged on
crutches, the hosts of children, the aged victims of every vice, now
broken and often repentant, seek the aid of these good men. Often we run
short of remedies. “What do they do then?” you ask. Well, they simply go
down in their own pockets and buy the necessities, and no one is turned
empty away.
Think of a procession of sick and needy persons, 2500 human beings in
line, and you will see in your mind what that blessed dispensary has
done for the sorrowful of this city in one year.
I wish I dare to tell you the particulars of one of these great
physicians who had not been living close to God, seeing our work of
faith, seeing how the Mission people lay their many needs before a
patient God, who meets every demand in answer to their prayer, and
possibly feeling that in a mission he could not minister to a mind
diseased without himself being in touch with the living God, was led to
revise his views, make public confession of his faith and enlist in
God's organized method of evangelizing the world by joining the church.
We all need God, but the hand that reaches down to help sinful men must
have the other hand clasped close in God's strong hand if he would do
effective work.