A Mother, a Child, and a Cold Shack Off Albert Street
A police officer's dollar leads Superintendent Gilmer to a family with no food, no furniture and no shoes—and to a quiet rescue before the county takes over.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Superintendent Gilmer, of the Bureau of Associated Charities, has been informed by Police Officer Griffith that he had discovered a woman in extremely needy circumstances in a little shack in an alley off Albert street, and that he had given her $1 with which to get something to eat. It was after office hours when the officer called, but Mr. Gilmer called on his way home, and when he knocked at the door he was asked who he was by a childish voice. He answered "A friend," and the mother of the child opened the door.
He found that the woman was without any of the comforts of life and without food. There was no furniture in the room, with the exception of a broken chair and a small battered stove, in which were a few embers. The woman wore only a few rags and no shoes. Her face was haggard, and the child, about 4 years old, was pale, and it was easily discernible that but little food had passed its lips.
The woman, who gave her name as Duroskla, said she came to this city about four months ago from Clallam, but Mr. Gilmer found out later that she had been here about four months. Since arriving in the city she has pawned a fur coat and other articles of apparel, and states that she could not get work.
At first the woman refused help, but when Mr. Gilmer told her who he was she said she would accept aid. In one corner of the room was a large trunk, but it was empty, showing that she had got rid of all her clothes.
Superintendent Gilmer went down to his grocer and got a large bag of eatables that would not require cooking and took them to the house. He also took up some comforters, as the only thing there was in the house to cover the baby or herself was a piece of carpet. He gave her the food and covering and made her comfortable for the night. Yesterday morning he took to the unfortunates a complete outfit of clothes and some more provisions, and reported the case to the county commissioners.
It seems that the woman left her husband in the East some time ago and came to live with a brother-in-law in Clallam, but could not get along with him, so came to this city to reside.
“There was no furniture in the room, with the exception of a broken chair and a small battered stove, in which were a few embers.”
Then as now, Seattle's prosperity could sit beside invisible poverty; the city's charity network patched gaps that wages and housing could not. The story echoes contemporary debates over homeless encampments, single mothers, and who qualifies for aid.
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