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Show WIDOW AND HER EIGHT LITffiE ONES DESTITUTE; SUBSISTING ON POTATOES One of the most pitiable cases of destitution des-titution which Tbe Telegram has seen this winter is that e f Mrs. Louisa Den-der, Den-der, who with her eight fatherless children chil-dren lives la threadbare rooms, devoid of all comforts, at 113S East Sixth South street, on the bleak! wind-swept hilltop Just outside the reservation lines. The husband and; father of this family, fam-ily, George Dender,- worked in a brewery. brew-ery. His employment was continuous, but with so large si family to support, his savings were srjall, no matter how frugally the familymught live. ) In September thai provider became ill. For three montfcs he lay fighting a battle for his life. The meager hoard of coin, saved during- the years of toll, melted in the purchase of medicines and delicacies for the slcK man. But all the care that could be given him was of no avail and the day before Christmas be died, leaving nothing for the care of those 'dependent upon him. Then, indeed. .was the mother with her hoard of hungry children in sore straits. Winter was upon them, and all that they had to ward off the pangs of hunger was a Tew bushels of potatoes provided by one of' the boys who, had worked for a Partner for a short time during the fan, and had thus secured the winter's supply;, a ' ' -s - The eldest boy, alright, hardy lad of 17. had steady work for some time In a small pottery in the eastern part of the city, at 14 a week. This money, small as was the amount, went a long way toward providing the necessities of life. But misfortunes never come singly. When every cent that this lad earned and gave to his mother was spent for food and fuel for the family, and with the father on his deathbed, the pottery shut down for the winter, arid then nothing was coming in. This was two weeks before the father died. Since that time there has been no one working. The family consists of the mother, whose strength has been nearly exhausted ex-hausted by night watching at the bedside bed-side of her husband and by poor food and not enough of It; a boy of 17 years, another of 15 years, a girl of 13, another of 11, a boy of 9, a girl 7 years old, another an-other girl 2 years younger and a babe 7 months old. i The house is of three rooms, set out upon the top of the long slope of the east bench, where the winds of Parley's and Emigration canyons meet and sweeps over it in surging gales, forcing the cold through every crack and cranny. cran-ny. The nearest neighbor lives a quarter quar-ter of a mile away, nearer town. The rooms are bare of ornament, bare of carpets, bare of all those things that make a habitation, home. In the front room are three or four pieces of old furniture, fur-niture, a dresser with a cracked glass, a commode, a small sheet iron, stove and a bed. cheap and meanly appointed. appoint-ed. The only bedding is a mattress, one thin and worn quilt and two straw pillows. pil-lows. The middle room is furnished the same, save that chairs take the places of the commode and dresser, and there is no stove. The family was at the evening meal when a Telegram man visited the house Wednesday night. About the table were seated eight persons, the mother and her family. All there was on the table was one small loaf of bread, a pot of steaming coffee and a dish of boiled potatoes. This was the supper for eight persons! per-sons! Sugar and milk, butter and meat were lacking. Only bread, potatoes and cot-fee cot-fee were there. -v- Mrs.' Dender, when asked as to her circumstances, said that the family had absolutely nothing to keep away starvation, star-vation, except the potatoes In the cellar. cel-lar. She would willingly work if she could, but she put this question with earnestness: earnest-ness: "How can I work, with a baby In my arms, and so many little ones here at home?" Her sons, she said, would gladly work and work hard If they only had the chance. They are unable to secure employment. em-ployment. Her smaller children are so poorly clad that they cannot go out of doors in the cold weather, and she herself is without proper clothing. W. W. Woodruff, owner of the house in which the family lives, has donated the house to the family for such time as may be necessary for them to get on their feet. |