USA > New York > Bronx County > The Bronx and its people; a history, 1609-1927, Volume II > Part 25
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45
In order to give the student a clear understanding of the actual work of constructing ships and engines, each student is required to spend a period of eight weeks each summer in a shipyard, drafting office, aboard ship, in a machine shop, or in some line closely allied to marine engi- neering or naval architecture. If circumstances permit, the student spends the summer following his Freshman year in the shipyard, that
652
THE BRONX AND ITS PEOPLE
following his Sophomore year aboard ship at sea, and that following his Junior year in the shipyard, in the drafting room, in the machine shop or aboard ship. Positions are secured by the Institute for the students, but permission may be granted to a student to apply for posi- tions other than those at the disposal of the Institute, provided the Dean is informed as to what the student intends to do and gives his ap- proval. Transportation expenses to places of employment are borne by the Institute. Wages earned above living expenses are retained by the students. Each student is required to present a technical report on his summer work. Marks based on this and the employer's report are given at the end of the following first term.
United Odd Fellows' Home and Orphanage Association-This is sit- uated at Havemeyer Avenue and East 177th Street, in The Bronx. In the year 1886 a small group of men, members of various lodges of New York City, realized that Odd Fellowship beginning and ending at the threshold of a lodge room, did not fully measure up to the high stand- ard of the fundamental teachings of the Order. Often helpless to assist and care properly for those who found themselves in want in their de- clining years; or the small children who were bereft of their parents, discussion on the subject proved the necessity of a Home owned and controlled by Odd Fellows. On May 10, 1886, Brother Hugo H. Hoenack, D. D. G. M. District No. 4, New York, proposed the establishment of a Home. On August 12, 1886, fifty Lodges, their membership mostly of German origin, voted to establish the German Odd Fellow Home As- sociation, of the State of New York. In the month of November, 1886, the Association was incorporated and six and one-half acres of land and buildings thereon located at Unionport, New York, were purchased for $18,000.
The period between then and the present date represents "an endless amount of work, good will, sacrifice and energy rendered by good Brothers and Sisters of limited means, but true to the principles of the Order" says a review of past years issued by the Association. "Ex- pressed in figures, we find that over 500 aged Brothers and Sisters and 800 Orphans have enjoyed the benefit of the Home in that period, and that a total amount of about $1,100,000, was raised and expended for their comfort and for the Home as it stands today. Many of us have not, and many more will not, see the Home reach its greatest efficiency ; but the work so well begun must and will be carried on. The large in- crease of members in the past year will help to lessen the burden and guarantee the result."
The Association was established on August 12, 1886, and incorporated on November 10, 1886, under the laws of the State of New York. The charter was amended March 30, 1893. The officers of the Assocication
653
CHARITABLE AND PHILANTHROPIC
for 1926 are: President, Marcus Berliner; First Vice-President, Peter Kiefer; Second Vice-President, Frederick J. Kirchner; Recording and Corresponding Secretary, R. W. Niebisch; Financial Secretary, Frank J. Fuchs; Treasurer, Otto Beck.
The incorporators of the Association, all of whom, with the excep- tion of Frank Gass, have died, were: Hugo H. Hoenack, Frank Mac- hauer, John B. Brachfield, Hermann Wolf, Charles Kiehl, Henry Lo- renz, Gerald D. Meinen, Charles A. Wehr, H. W. Leonard, John W. Meyer, Wilhelm Engel, Frank Gass.
Since the founding of the Home Association, the following have been its Presidents: Hugo H. Hoenack, John W. Meyer, Jacob Balz, Charles Kiehl, B. Wragge, Anton Halm, F. W. Buetehorn, Dr. Eberhard W. Dittrich, F. C. Merkel, Henry Weitzel, Frank J. Fuchs, Frank Wuttge, Marcus Berliner.
The managers for the year 1926 are: (For one year, term expiring third Wednesday in January, 1927) : Barbara Wolf, Elizabeth Lang, Paul Fuessel, Ernst Lewin, Frank Rauth, Henry Auerbach. (For two years, term expiring third Wednesday in January, 1928) : Frank Wuttge, Joe Hegeman, John Pfeiffer, John Willi, Max Loewenthal, Louise Fis- cher. (For three years, term expiring third Wednesday in January, 1929) : Anna Schendorff, Magdalene Imhoff, Michael Bauer, E. B. Thomas, Joseph Goldsmith. The counsel of the Association is Joel Krone; Superintendent, Alwin Menge; Home Physician, Dr. O. H. Bohm; Volunteer Physicians, Dr. A. Tretiak, Dr. F. J. Haendel, Dr. Leopold Gross, Dr. R. H. Roehr, Dr. F. W. Cordes. Specialists are : Dr. F. J. Haendel, Surgeon; Dr. F. E. D'Oench, Eyes; Dr. Otto Glogau, Eyes, Ears, Nose, Throat; Dr. Saul Steiner, Cancer; Dr. A. V. Grimm, Consulting Surgeon.
The report of the financial condition of the Association given out on December 31, 1925, shows: Receipts-Ordinary, $46,093.10; Receipts- Extraordinary, $800; Receipts-Interest, $20,224.78; Receipts-Special, $10,500.41. Total, $77,618.29. Disbursements-Ordinary, $43,180.67 ; Disbursements-Extraordinary, $9,110; Interest Payments, $7,203.72; Disbursements-Special, $9,800; Total Disbursements, $69,294.39. Sta- tistics from 1886 to December 31, 1925 : Admitted : Females, 177 ; Males, 395, Total, 572. Died: Females, 90; Males, 251. Left voluntarily : Females, 46, Males, 89-Total 135. Expelled : Males, 4. Orphans Ad- mitted, 896. Residents at the Home, December 31, 1925: 39 Females, 53 Males; Orphanage, 29 Girls, 28 Boys.
Association for the Aid of Crippled Children-The officers of this as- sociation, a large part of the work of which is in The Bronx, are: Pres- ident, Mrs. Edgar S. Auchincloss, Jr .; First Vice-President, Mrs. Charles Fiske Bound; Second Vice-President, Mrs. Walter Sullivan;
654
THE BRONX AND ITS PEOPLE
Secretary, Mrs. Mark W. Maclay; Treasurer, Mr. Thomas S. McLane. The Board of Directors for 1926 are : Mrs. Henry B. Barnes; Miss Doro- othy Collins, Mrs. Betsy Flagg, Mrs. Franklin B. Kirkbride, Mrs. Thomas S. McLane, Mrs. Gardner Millett, Mrs. Edgar Rickard, Miss Sofie M. Shippen, Mrs. Walter Sullivan, Mrs. Charles M. Williams. The Advisory Committee consists of: Mrs. George Blagden, Mr. Charles C. Burlingham, Miss Martha L. Draper, Mr. Robert A. Pad- dock. The Committee Chairmen are as follows: Miss Margaret Arm- strong, Publicity Committee; Mrs. Henry B. Barnes, Nurses' Commit- tee; Mrs. William R. Barnes, Executive Committee ; Miss Emily Chaun- cey, Membership Committee; Mrs. Charles G. Child, Fresh Air Com- mittee; Mrs. Mark W. Maclay, Education Committee; Mr. Thomas S. McLane, Ways and Means Committee; Mrs. Gardner Millett, Junior Auxiliary ; Mrs. Eugene W. Stetson, Transportation Committee; Mrs. Walter Sullivan, Junior Committee; Executive Secretary, Miss Gene- vieve Wilson; Financial Secretary, Miss Florence A. Niemitz.
The Association has now been at work for over a quarter of a cen- tury. The Executive Secretary has outlined the following policy in an endeavor to carry out the aim of the Association: 1. Early registra- tion of all crippled children. 2. Overcoming parental ignorance. 3. Securing expert medical diagnosis and making possible any treat- ment necessary. 4. Furnishing transportation to and from clinics. 5. Follow-up care in crippled classes. 6. Convalescent care.
The most far-reaching effect of the work of the Association is accom- plished through its staff of nurses in locating cripples and through reg- ular and friendly contact with the family, says the report of the Execu- tive Secretary.
Our work is of slow moving character because of the afflictions we are occupied in relieving and the difficulty in overcoming the prejudice of parents towards hos- pitals, clinics and operations. This feeling often prevents them from coming for- ward with the crippled child at the time the trouble is discovered, and improvement often leads them to drop treatments after they are started. Surely nothing is more thoroughly constructive than to take a child whose physical condition is such that the parents believe it is to grow up a helpless being, and through persistent effort and follow-up care develop it into a normal unit, no longer an economic loss. Neither the hospitals nor the city have facilities for hunting them up and insisting that they report for treatment or for tracing the families as they move from one location to another. Every available social force in the community is utilized in our plan of work. We look to these agencies for special help in our task of recreating handicapped children and they in turn refer hundreds of cases to us for the sus- tained and continued supervision that is so essential. Efficiency requires the division of the field into districts defined by the limits of a single nurse's work, with an office in each. The year ends with 2,960 cases under observation, of this number 560 are new cases that have been reported from fifty-two different sources. The Association's sixteen nurses have made 31,233 visits to the homes and 11,220 to hospitals, schools and cooperating agencies, totaling 42,453.
655
CHARITABLE AND PHILANTHROPIC
There are in Manhattan and The Bronx forty-eight classes for crippled children located in sixteen public schools.
The Salvation Army-The Bronx Social Service Centre of the Salva- tion Army is located at Nos. 4109-19 Park Avenue and Nos. 4133-35 Park Avenue. The building belonging to the Army on the corner of Park Ave- nue and 175th Street, was formerly the John Wanamaker Distributing Centre for The Bronx and the sections north. This building was pur- chased in October, 1923, and at that time it was realized that it would not be adequate to the demands that would be made upon the Army to con- tinue its present work and allow for developments in the future. The property therefore located at Nos. 4133-35 was purchased, and work started on the erection of a new unit.
The corner-stone of this building was laid on November 12, 1924, by the Territorial Leader of the Salvation Army in the Eastern States, Commissioner Thomas Estill. The building was completed and dedi- cated in the fall of 1925, and the whole plant put to work looking after the needy families and out-of-work men in The Bronx. The officers of this social centre are Adjutant and Mrs. Grace, who have had a good many years' experience. The purposes of The Bronx Centre include the gathering of waste material such as clothing, furniture, magazines and newspapers from the homes and business places of The Bronx. This provides work for unemployed men and for those who are unable be- cause of advanced years or physical disabilities to meet the competition of the strong and youthful. There is also a Family Relief Station in the unit at No. 4109 Park Avenue under the supervision of Adjutant Mary Metz, where the needs of worthy families in The Bronx are attended to. At Eastern Training College, West Tremont and Andrews avenues, there is accommodation for one hundred and twenty-five to one hundred and forty men and women who receive nine months' preliminary training be- fore becoming Probationary Officers. The principal of the college is Colonel Thomas Stanyon.
There are also three centres of religious worship, where street meet- ings are carried on nightly and the Hall is used for evangelical serv- ices. The location of these religious centres is as follows: New York No. 5-329 East 157th Street, Captain William Mathewson in charge; New York No. 10-1891 Washington Avenue, Captain (Miss) Ada Bar- tholimus in charge; New York No. 13-1006 Tinton Avenue, Captain (Mrs.) Emily Henderson in charge.
The Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor-The As- sociation for Improving the Condition of the Poor, known more briefly as the A. I. C. P., does a large work in The Bronx. The Association ex- pended nearly a million dollars for its work during the year 1924 in The Bronx and in Manhattan and neighborhood. During the course of the
656
THE BRONX AND ITS PEOPLE
year the Association ministered, through its various services, to the needs of 6,345 families, according to the annual report. It goes on : "That this represents no small population is seen from the fact that it represents at least 28,500 people and includes some 18,500 children. Our Relief Bureau alone expended some $482,195 in the care of these fam- ilies. This is by no means the whole picture of the amount of money expended in influencing these families, because the work of other di- visions was brought to bear directly on many of them. It is true, of course, also that in many instances no material relief was required. What was required was skilled assistance in making and executing plans for overcoming the many different problems that had been re- sponsible for their distress. This involved the work of nurses, trained visitors, physicians, persons skilled in finding employment. It cannot be emphasized too strongly that the greatest need of many of these fami- lies is personal service. This service is less understood and often more difficult to provide than material relief. Without it, material relief is a very incomplete remedy in most family situations, and many difficult family troubles, anxieties and distress require nothing but skilled per- sonal service.
"In 1912 the 'New York Times' started an appeal for the 100 Neediest Cases. As a result of the appeal the first year a total of $3,630.88 was raised. During the Christmas campaign of 1923 this had grown to the gratifying total of $177,683.67. The A. I. C. P. received from this source $44,280.42. This represents a very substantial item in the Relief Bureau of the A. I. C. P. More important still the development of the 100 Neediest Cases Campaign with its growth year by year has been an important educational factor in the community. It is serving in an in- creasing way each year to interpret to the public of New York City con- cretely what the needs are and what steps are necessary in order to meet these needs constructively and adequately. The campaign is managed on the part of the 'New York Times' with definite recognition on its part that it offers an opportunity to strengthen and re-inforce the organiza- tions in their efforts to cope with the problems of dependency in fami- lies and that in so far as the campaign serves to interpret better the needs and methods of meeting these needs to the general public it will result in the greatest possible good in the organized effort to meet them. The 100 Neediest Cases Campaign, therefore, has much more signifi- cance to the A. I. C. P. and to the community than is represented by the amount of money itself which is raised through this campaign, how- ever large and important that may be.
"The East Harlem Nursing and Health Demonstration, participated in by the A. I. C. P., the Visiting Nurse Service of Henry Street Settle- ment, the American Red Cross, and the Maternity Center Association, and supported jointly by them with additional support from the Laura
ISESTREET
WEBSTER
VETERIKAR HJAPI AL
=
A VETERINARY HOSPITAL THAT IS THE CITY'S TINIEST HOUSE
657
CHARITABLE AND PHILANTHROPIC
Spelman Rockefeller Memorial, has been a very interesting demonstra- tion of the advantages to be gained by complete correlation and unity of nursing service in any given area. Not only has there been a consid- erable increase in the health work of this area as a result of the develop- ment of this work, but it has been conducted in such a way that it is making important contributions to the field of public health nursing. It promises, for example, to give a definite answer to the relative merits of generalized and specialized nursing, to present new and available data with regard to the costs not only of various services, but also with regard to the total cost of a reasonably adequate nursing service, as well as to make other important contributions to the field of public health nursing. It is suggestive of a type of organization that would seem to be increasingly desirable as the public health work and nursing service of the city become more and more adequate. As pointing the way for the future, this Demonstration is very significant."
The report goes on to say that one of the outstanding features of the past year's work was the preparation, publication and distribution of nine special studies and reports. "These have all grown out of the ac- tual work as carried on by the A. I. C. P. and are already widely used and are influencing thought and practice in many varied fields of social and health endeavor. In a review of these studies appearing in the June, 1924, issue of the 'Survey,' Dr. Haven Emerson stated : 'After twelve years of sustained study to answer questions, at least one of which is faced by every household in the land at some time we come back out of the tenements gripping generous handfuls of facts. With such a series of studies to build on, it would be dull health officer who could not score success in his bailiwick. But where is the city, country, or village, in this or any other country which can produce the solid facts we find in these pamphlets? And how can we justify our public and private cases for health without just such information for our own area and community ? It is not individual authorship that counts so much in the value of these little classics in community health as the evidence of sustained and consecutive central direction, competent execution of field duties, honest balancing of results and restraint on the scientific expression of them. Each and all, these booklets do credit to the com- mon interests of medicine and sociology as expressed through the joint endeavors of a wide variety of trained professional representatives.'"
In an effort to widen public interest in the support of the Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor, a Citizens' Committee was formed, and the Association issued this statement: "With the gradual increase in the number of activities and the consequent increase in the financial responsibilities of the A. I. C. P., the need for a much broader understanding and wider public support has become a serious problem
Bronx-42
658
THE BRONX AND ITS PEOPLE
for the Association to meet. In an attempt to arrive at a solution to this pressing need a 'Committee for Widening the Interest in and Support of the Work of the A. I. C. P.' was formed a year ago under the chair- manship of Mr. George M. Murnane. After a careful study of the situ- ation, three interesting experiments have been launched by three sub- committees now known as the 'Citizens' Committee,' 'Trade and Pro- fessional Membership,' and 'A. I. C. P. Auxiliaries.' The functions of these committees and the work accomplished by them to date are briefly outlined under separate headings as follows: Citizens' Committee: This committee, of which Mrs. August Belmont is the chairman, has as its purpose the creation and development of a wide variety of activ- ities aimed at increasing financial support of the Association, as well as activities designed to interpret the Association's work to the general public. One hundred and fifty-nine committee members have already en- rolled and it is hoped that before the year is ended, the membership will have been greatly increased." A list of over a hundred members follows. The statement goes on: "Members of the Citizens' Committee are, in reality, minute men and women who have pledged themselves to render whatever service may seem, at the moment, most important. An exam- ple of the type of service which may be rendered from time to time is the organization and conduct of the Piano Festival, held recently at the Met- ropolitan Opera House, a benefit performance which earned approxi- mately $38,000 for the work of the Association. Another example is the 'sale' of minutes, hours and days of the Association's work, whereby the contributors of given amounts will support the work of the Associ- ation for whatever time they elect, at the rate of $1.00 per minute, $60 per hour, and $1,440 per day."
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals-Prior to the enact- ment of the statute entitled "An Act to Prevent the Cruel and Improper Treatment of Cattle," introduced in England in July, 1822, the general treatment of animals in all countries of the world was inhuman. "Whether from ignorance, thoughtlessness, heedlessness, or wanton brutality," observes an annual report of the Royal Society, London, "animals were subjected to extreme pain and torture, and their condi- tion failed to excite the commiseration of the public. The best classes of society contained a few persons only who openly protested against this cruelty, while the majority were engaged in divers pastimes that caused much animal suffering, and regarded with scorn and indignation any appeal made to them in favor of the brutes. Naturally the lower and lowest orders were therefore more or less insensible to the claims of lower animals ; taking cue as well as example from their betters, they also indulged in cruel sports and maintained a right in man to behave toward dumb domestic dependents as he pleased. In fact, the protests of
659
CHARITABLE AND PHILANTHROPIC
humane people were silenced by ridicule which came from the platform, the pulpit, and the senate, as well as from the galled pen of satir- ists. No better instance can be quoted of the prevailing indifference of men in even the highest social position to the feelings of animals than the mocking treatment of the Peers when Lord Erskine stood up in the House of Lords, in the early part of the present century (1811), to ask for justice to the lower creatures of God. Insensible alike to his mod- erate demands and appeals for compassion and mercy to all defenceless animals that man had pressed into service, the chamber broke out into open derision when he argued in favor of their rights to humane treat- ment. It is said that loud jeers, vulgar ejaculations, indecorous de- meanor, and even whistling and cock-crowing were practically the only reply given to the grand speech of this high-souled man. No wonder, therefore, that the man in the street ridiculed, also, and that callous coachmen and other persons vented their unrestrained passions on ani- mals without let or hindrance. The public records of eighty years ago certainly do show that the friends of the brutes were few, and their foes many and cruel. The most reckless and savage punishment and the most disgusting disregard to the bodily sufferings of animals were ex- hibited unconcealed in the highways and streets daily; festering sores, discharging wounds, excruciating lameness, and tottering infirmity called not forth modern devices to evade public reprobation, and with- out degree the lash and goad worked their bloody inflictions. The un- combined efforts of a few benevolent individuals were no check to these evils; and hence it became necessary to establish a society which should unite the friends of dumb animal creatures.
"The founders of this Society met on the 16th of June, 1824, and in- augurated the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, ap- pointed a committee, and conceived the following plan of operations :
1. The circulation of suitable tracts gratuitously, or by cheap sale, particularly among persons intrusted with cattle, such as coachmen, carters, and drovers. 2. The introduction into schools of books calcu- lated to impress on youth the duty of humanity to inferior animals. 3. Frequent appeals to the public through the press, awakening more general attention to a subject so interesting, though too much neglected. 4. The periodical delivery of discourses from the pulpit. 5. The em- ployment of constables in the markets and streets. 6. The prosecution of persons guilty of flagrant acts of cruelty, with publicity to the pro- ceedings, and announcement of results."
The first society organized in America for the protection of animals was The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, its founder and first president being the late Henry Bergh, to whom the cause of animal protection in this country owes its origin. On April 10, 1866, "The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals"
660
THE BRONX AND ITS PEOPLE
was incorporated by the Legislature of the State of New York. Among the original charter members of the Society were many of the most emi- nent citizens of the city and State of New York.
On April 19th, in the same year, Mr. Bergh secured the passage by the Legislature of New York of the first comprehensive law enacted in this country for the protection of animals. It provided that "every person who shall, by his act or neglect, maliciously kill, maim, wound, injure, torture, or cruelly beat any horse, mule, cow, cattle, sheep, or other animal, belonging to himself or another, shall, upon conviction, be ad- judged guilty of a misdemeanor." On April 22nd, a meeting was held in Clinton Hall for the purpose of effecting a permanent organization, and at that meeting the first society for the protection of animals in this country came into active existence. The purpose of the Association, as set forth in its constitution, was "to provide effective means for the pre- vention of cruelty to animals throughout the United States, to enforce all laws which are now, or may hereafter be, enacted for the protection of animals, and to secure, by lawful means, the arrest and conviction of all persons violating such laws." As a matter of fact, the only law of that kind then to be found on the statute books of the States of the Un- ion was that which had been passed by the Legislature of New York nine days after the incorporation of the Society. Within twelve months, however, another "act for the more effectual prevention of cruelty to animals" was passed by the Legislature of the same State; and from time to time additions have been made to it, so that there is now hardly a phase of cruelty which the Society has not the legal power to prevent within the boundaries of the State of New York. The legal definition of the word "animal" now includes every living creature except mem- bers of the human race, and the words "torture" and "cruelty" include every act, omission, or neglect whereby unjustifiable pain, suffering, or death is caused or permitted.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.