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Show CATHOLIC ACTIVITY Iff ! CHICAGO'S MR-WORLD Freely Stated by Those Conversant With Conditions Con-ditions That Over Half in the Slums j Are of the Catholic faith. -! (Rev. J. E. Copus, S. J.. in Rosary Magazine.) It is not to bo expected that among ihe ."0,000 or 40.000 who constitute the underworld of Chicago, Chi-cago, in the sense used in a previous sketch, that j Hf Catholics would he found among them. It is ? irooly stated hy those conversant with conditions that over half of them are of the Catholic faith. The most natural question then arises: What have ; the Catholics of Chicago done for the amelioration f ? of ihe condition f these men? That iheiv has Leon an amount of religious activity ac-tivity in the slums hy the Baptist, the Methodists, the Volunteers, ihe Salvation Army and other Protestant anl philanthropic organizations no one can deny. One can hardly say there is much to show hy way of result hy ihese pood and demon- I Ktrativo people for the prodigious amount of tam bourine-heating- lahor expended, hut there has been at least an attempt to uplift the people of our local Under-world. What have the Catholics of Chicago done? It must he admitted that until within the last two or tli roe years liltle has been attempted. Spasmodic and individual efforts have, perhaps, never been Wanting Oil the liart of zo:ilmis CjitVinlie la-mrn but. almost every individual worker has. sooner or later, become appalled by the magnitude of ' the task, and not succeeding- in .securing organized effort, ef-fort, these single-handed workers in sheer inability to make, more than a superficial impression on the might v mass of humanity have regretfully relinquished relin-quished the undertaking- as hopeless. !Two Catholic churches are situated right in the heart of the slum di.-trict. St. Peter's, a German Irancisean church, is well attended by an almost exclusively German congregation, but its influence is not felt by the element we are attempting to describe de-scribe in these sketches. St. Clary's if not the oldest, one of the oldest churches in Chicago,, and jf almost within a stone's throw of St. Peter's is cs- - , sentinlly n down-town "hotel" church, with a con- ' gregation composed almost exclusively of transient ' ' hotel g-uests. Recently the Reverend Fathers of the j, Panlit congregation have assumed charge 01 St. jMary's. These zealous missionaries and pastors V ' tftke the keenest interest in the temporal and,spirit- Ttal welfare of the hobo, but at present the paucity of numbers in their clergy-house prevents them" from doing- as much as they have the will to do. The Small Beginning. A little over three years ago a young layman, a ! former student of St. Ignatius' college, Chicago, - f-aw and realized the vat field of labor that lay open to Catholic ndeavor among the denizens of the under-world. Without funds and almost single-handed he began a work v.hieh is destined 'in time to produce great results by ameliorating the moral and the physical condition of the genus ' tramp. This Mr. M. F. I). Collins began his work i 3H a very humble way. At first he gathered around him a few of 1 ho men of the slums and tried to bring them to a better life and to self-respect. Others soon came, and it was not long before he rented a store on South Clark street, the rent money being generously supplied by the Particular Council of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul of : this city. Gradually he gathered around him a I corps of zealous young workers. He named his ? venture the Mission .f Our Lady of Victory, arid it was not long before he devoted his whole time ' 1o ihe work. The first mission-room was situated ; at 4r.s South Clark, a few doors south of St. Peter's church, and within a few minutes' walk of a large number of rooming houses, whence he expected to come in closer contact with those to whom he wished to do good. Soon a more commodious room was secured across the street, at No. 4."iT. During last winter Catholics of the city willingly donated i stoves, coal. etc. The venture was successful al most from its inception. II is idea in opening the i chapel club room was to afford a rendezvous for any who, having no home of their own, had no place to resort to in order to keep out of the temptation of the ever-welcoming saloon, and who could not be : induced to gather in a church or church basement, j The mission-room is open from 5 o'clock every j evening until near midnight, and all day on Sun- I day. Cards, books, dominoes and other games are j provided, and ihe men are allowed to smoke. The ! plan has worked successfully, and scores of, men, and young men, frequent the mission f Time Limit Temperance Pledge. I The idea occurred to the originator of the Cath- I olic slum mission that, in order to effect a real re- form in men's lives a time-limit temperance pledge would be of untold assistance, lie therefore or- g-anized a club, which hecalled Our Lady of Vic- tory Club, the essentials for membership in which consist of taking a total abstinence pledge for six i months and a promise to go to confession and com- j xnunion once a month. . i The next step was to secure rational aniuso-? aniuso-? ment and recreation. With this object in view, he procured the assistance of a number of Catholic I ladies and gentlemen and even of bright and clever children, who, every Wednesday evening, provide a -very enjoyable concert. These entertainments have !ever been popular, and have drawn large numbers cf men to the mission. I Amusement was not the sole object the manager had ii view. lien the concert is finished, a priest,' I Taulist, Jesuit or one of the diocesan priests of the I city, upon invitation, gives the men a sound, earn-. est instruction, in language easily understood by the auditors, on ihe necessity of reformation in f life and kindred subjects. The strength and force I f these instructions lay in the power of the speaker speak-er to get near to the hearts of hearers, and to touch them with thoughts of better things, and the remembrance re-membrance of boyhood's happier and holier times. A forcible speaker can effect wonders with' these jnen, on the faces of whom can frequently be seen, Continued on Page 5. ; If if 1 n M 'r I ' r .X r--"11-"1 CATHOLIC ACTIVITY IN CHICAGO'S UNDER-WORLD Continued from Page 1. behind the marks anMines 0f a dissipated life, a countenance which ttT.' failure in life's struggle a struggle, however, which has not obliterated the signs of the soul's longing for cleaner and better things. When the instruction is over, an invitation is extended to come and take the pledge for six months. Each Wednesday generally sees a small contingent brave enough to do this publicly. It often happens that many others make it privately to the priest. All who desire it arothen invested in the brown scapular. Penitents Become Club Members. When these ceremonies are completed, and tho performers at the. concert politely dismissed, a portable confessional is erected, and the priest will hear the confession of all who come. He is often occupied unil midnight. Here many a soul which has been estranged from its God for years finds peace and reconciliation and strength to begin life's battle afresh. It cannot be said that all who go to confession join the mission club, yet a fair percentage percent-age of the penitents become members. The club membership at the present time numbers num-bers 125. On last Easter Sunday morning ninety members of the club received holy communion in a body in St. Mary's church. Special seats were reserved re-served for them by the kindness of the Paulist Fathers, Fa-thers, and they gave great edification. Mr. Collins, the head and animating, spirit of the mission, always provides a breakfast 'at the mission on the first Sunday of the month for those who have that- morning received holy communion. He has often told the writer of-this sketch that on the Saturday evening previous to the communion commun-ion Sunday he had not a dollar with which to provide pro-vide the. breakfast on the morrow, and yet he has never disappointed his men. He has undoubting confidence in the power' of Our Lady of Victory and he declares he has never yet been disappointed. On last Christinas day. a dinner wa served at the mission for 100iprt.;'le, and some twenty baskets bas-kets of food wero distiobutod'to the poor living in the immediate vicinity of the mission. The audience at the Wcdnesdayf night concert frequently numbers over 200. The task of making the mission known and of bringing the men in on Wndnr-adnv ni.o-lits; is iii'irlfrt!ikjn ' hv Mr. CnlliTic: himself. lie takes a number of dodgers, announcing announc-ing the evening programme and a free lecture by a priest, to many of the rooming-houses, and distributes distrib-utes them between 6 and 7 o'clock. The result is that by 8 o'clock the: mission chapel is generally, filled to the doors. ;l All Kneel at Rosary. The concert is preceded by the recitation of the Rosary, in which a somewhat unique method is followed. fol-lowed. In tho first place, the manager of the mission mis-sion insists that' all shall kneel, strangers as well as club members. The men arc well-behaved and docile. do-cile. Were it not so pathetic, it would be amusing to witness the surprise of many a seedy tramp oil finding himself suddenly upon his knees, a position he has not been in the habit of assuming for, perhaps, per-haps, many a long year. In the recitation of the decades, each member of the club in turn says the first part of tho Hail Mary and is answered by the j Avhole audience, thus impelling the men to pray, doubtless to tho surprise of many who long ago gave up this practice. A good effect is produced by the recitation of the Rosary. It puts tho most careless in the humor to listen later to the words of the priest. The concert, con-cert, which is often varied and always enjoyable, further assists the men towards a receptive frame of mind, for men of this class, ordinarily scorned and repudiated and driven from pillar to post, are doubly appreciative of anything which they perceive per-ceive is "done for their benefit. After the Rosary follows a popular hymn, and the rest of the order of the evening- is as above described. The new mission chapel of Our Lady of Victory at 457 South Clark street is a cozy, comfortable place. The walls are of a dark, soit green color. At the rear of the long room stands a large crucifix, with a staute of the the. Blessed Virgin on one side and that of the Sacred Heart on the other. Backed against the side wall on the low platform is a rented rent-ed cottage piano. There is plenty of light in the rtimn nvwl nn n!r nt nnmfni'f find in mnnv tlin -firch visit to the place is a turning-point in their life. Mass is never celebrated at the mission, but the sacrament of penance is often administered there, making it by that fact alone infinitely superior to the Baptist or Salvation Army slum chapel nearby, where emotion takes the place of sacramental grace, and "finding religion" does duty for repentance and a firm purpose of amendment. Hobo Has a Place to Go to. The mission chapel is open all day on Sundays, and is well frequented on that day. The fact of having a place to go to, and which men may call their own, is much appreciated. Taken all in all, the men who come to the mission are more weak than vicious. The divine in human nature is constantly con-stantly struggling for expression. The drink habit and the wandering shif tlessness are some of the causes of va debilitated will, making foi; weakness rather than viciousness. To effect their redeeming, these men have to be handled with tact and care in order that they be not scandalized. ! It is the desire of Mr. Collins and his associates to establish an employment bureau. Many of tho men who, from one cause or another, have descended descend-ed to the under-world are good mechanics. Others are there through the temporary misfortune of being be-ing unable to find emploj-ment. There is no denying the fact that the slum district of Chicago, in the midst of which the Catholic slum mission is located, has a bad reputation among the business men of Chicago. Let any young- fellow, at present, from the mission make an application for a position to any down-town business man, and let the applicant give his address as South Clark street, negotiations are invariably and immediately "off," and the young fellow, in the vernacular of the Windy City, is "trim down."' This is a disadvantage with which Our Lady of Victory mission people will have to contend for some time, until those who go our from them have established a reputation for capability and trustworthiness. Correspondence Bureau. One phase of the mission's activity detimd to exercise, a great influence for good when the mission mis-sion becomes better known east and west, is a species of correspondence bureau. Scores, hundreds hun-dreds of hot-headed young fello. misbehaving themselves at home, skip out and land in Chicago. They are generally penniless, or if not so on their arrival, soon become so. These gravitate unfailingly unfailing-ly toward the slum life of the city. Heartrending f letters are not infrequently received from distressed j lathers and mothers by Mr. Collins, and ninny a j happy reconciliation and return of the "black sheep" has been effected by him. As is the ease with many a Catholic work, at least in the earlv stages, ihe mission of Our Lady of Victory at -i 5 7 South Clark street is straightened straight-ened for funds. The writer of these pages has neither been requested nor authorized to make any appeal, and he does not wish to" be understood as doing so. The plans of the manager and his as- J i . . i . ...... i l 1 ... . i:. sisianis are very compreneusic, ami un- raiuus m- j lie coterie are all optimists of a very pronounced f type. They do not worry about finances. They be- j lieve they are doing the work of the Lord, as far as i they have the power, and that he will provide the necessary dollars as they are needed. N It is the purpose of the founder of the Catholic j slum mission, having obtained ecclesiastical ap- j proval. eventually to house and board the perma- j nent members of the Victory club. Already the j story above the mission room has been rented and all the rooms available let to club members, who prefer to make the mission their home rather than frequent the ID-cent rooming-houses. Association and environment are large factors in life for happiness. hap-piness. The Catholic club mission members who have come up and out of the slum purlieus into a broader and better life, and by the aid of religion have n -gained their self-respect, realize the importance import-ance of establishing right in the heart of the slum district a large Catholic mission hotel in fact several sev-eral of them where Catholics will take care of their own. Slum Missions to Dot the City. The above description, from the personal knowledge knowl-edge of the writer, i.s but an imperfect sketch of a very small beginning in the line of Catholic activity activ-ity in Chicago's under-world. The city offers an unlimited field for labor. . There should be, and, it is hoped, will be, in the not distaut future, Cath- j olic slum missions dotting the whole city of Chi- cago wherever the shiftless, the drunken, the degraded de-graded Catholic element, abounds. They arc of our faith, and we may not repudiate them. Instead of holding up our hands in horror at the condition of affairs, we must stretch out our hands to help. Ten expressions of disgust coming from wounded prido because things are as they are, are not worth one charitable deed. Good as is the work of the Catholic Cath-olic slum mission, it is but a beginning. At present it no more than touches the edge of the vast army within our borders. Vast labors yet remain to be begun. Vast results are yet to be accomplished. One proprietor of a large rooming-house recently recent-ly told the writer that the Catholic Mission of Our Lady of Victory is already exercising'a moral influence in-fluence in the "hotels." "It is now," he said, "no uncommon sight to see j quite a number of the 'boes' kneel down at night; and say their prayers at their bedside. I have been i in this business a good many years, and I assure you that no such thing was ever seen in my house, before the mission started." It is not fair to presume that this Catholic mission mis-sion is the leaven destined to leaven the whole lump. ' More men, however, active, earnest, tactful, zealous ; and self-sacrificing workers are wauted before this ! leaven shall influence the thousands who const i- j tute Chicago's under-world. i , 4 |