I. Order for rent for one month, $8.
II. Order for furniture to include one double bed, spring and mattress, one pair of double blankets, one comfortable, two pillows, one kitchen table, two chairs, one rocking chair, one oilcloth (for table), one chest of drawers, one small mirror, two window-shades.
For one cooking stove.
IV. For one-half ton of coal.
V. For groceries to the amount of $1.50.
VI. For meat to the amount of $2.
VII. For crockery and kitchen utensils; also for one lamp, clock, and laundry articles.
VIII. For four sheets and four pillow-cases. Four Viii. For four sheets and four pillow-cases. Four sets of underclothing. For woman's clothing to the amount of $5. For man's suit of clothes and hat to the amount of $10. For two pairs of shoes.
' Arrangements were made with various dealers to honor these orders, and the relief trade was distributed as widely as possible. This distribution of the trade was appreci ated by merchants, but was the cause of considerable additional trouble for the committee. The variety in the articles supplied by various dealers, and the difference in quality and in price, gave rise to no little ill feeling, and the clamorous complaints made by some families who felt themselves aggrieved, and who were accompanied in their visits of complaint by all their relatives and friends, intro duced an element of embarrassment which, although trifling in itself, is an illustration of the endless compli cations against which committees in undertaking relief work of this kind should provide. Relief orders were given out from the parish house in this manner for about three weeks,'at the end of which time a complete change of method was made, the territory covered by the fire being divided into districts and a chairman appointed for each district. Each chairman was expected, as intelli gently as possible and with close personal oversight, to supply all of the needs of the families. The amount spent upon any one family, unless there were exceptional features, was not to exceed 350. At the end of another fortnight the district chairmen reported their families in . general able to care for themselves, and asked for their own dismissal.
On the very day following this welcome request came the disastrous flood to which reference has been made. The fire committee was transformed into a flood relief committee, and the centre of operations was transferred from the parish house to the armory. The methods which had been employed were continued except that all investigations were now made by a man employed for that purpose. The victims of the flood included a large
element of Negroes, Italians, and Polish Jews, in much less favorable economic circumstances, and concerning whom it was more difficult to secure reliable information than in the case of those who had suffered from the fire. For nearly a week several hundred persons were housed in the armory, but at the end of that time they returned to their homes, which, when they were driven out, had been from three to eight feet under water. The assist ance given was mainly in clothing, floor covering, and coal, and in restocking small business enterprises. There were a few families that encountered both disasters. The expenditures for emergency relief from February 12 to April 21, 1902, were as follows :— Shortly after these trying experiences in Paterson in emergency relief there was formed a charity organization society. At the very outset the efficiency of the new society was put to a severe test by a third disaster similar to the second of those already described. The second flood was occasioned by a fall of fifteen inches of rain on October 8 and 9, 1903, as a result of which about 500 per sons needed to be sheltered and fed for several days, and over 800 families required subsequent assistance. The first step in the relief of the flood sufferers was a state ment issued by the mayor, turning over to the Charity Organization Society the responsibility for relief, after a conference, at which the Rev. David Stuart Hamilton, who had been chairman of the Fire and Flood Commit tee of 1902, and Otto W. Davis, secretary of the Charity Organization Society, were present. In Apollo Hall, which was opened for the refugees on the first night, there were sheltered and fed between 400 and 500 persons. On the following day, when it was apparent that the hall would not be large enough for the purpose, the armory was secured by authority of the governor. Officers and mem bers of the Fifth Regiment rendered valuable assistance in handling the tumultuous crowd, composed chiefly of excited foreigners. About 500 were accommodated in the armory for several days, but at the end of a week the numbers had decreased sufficiently to permit the armory to be closed, and the few remaining families were temporarily housed elsewhere until they found a place to begin housekeeping. The work of giving relief to fami lies in their homes was, from the beginning, separated from the work of providing food and shelter for the homeless, and the former was placed under the immediate care of the agent of the society.