Charity Relief Overwhelmed by Unemployed Men
A Seattle wood yard meant to provide work for the destitute is flooded with applicants, highlighting the desperation of the city’s unemployed during an economic downturn.
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.
The wood yard started by the Associated Charities was not able to furnish more than half a dozen men work yesterday. The reason was that the rush for work was so great for the last few days of last week that about all of the wood in the yard was used up and the road leading to where the rest of the wood is piled is several feet under water. The truth is that the officers of the bureau have been completely overwhelmed with applications for work at the yard, and say they would have to sell at least twenty cords a day right along to give all of these men employment. There is something almost tragic in the anxiety of these men to cut a quarter of a cord of wood for a 15-cent meal. It certainly shows that there are many men in Seattle willing to work for their board. Citizens are asked not to send any more men to saw wood until a new supply of wood is obtained.
“There is something almost tragic in the anxiety of these men to cut a quarter of a cord of wood for a 15-cent meal.”
This 1894 report of men desperate for a 15-cent meal in exchange for hard labor captures the harsh realities of the 'Panic of 1893,' mirroring contemporary conversations about the thin safety net for those experiencing homelessness and unemployment in Seattle.
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