I may add that the closest supervision is exercised in these places when they are occupied.  Night watchmen are always on duty, and an Officer sleeps in a little apartment attached to each dormitory.  The result is that there are practically no troubles of any kind.  Sometimes, however, a poor wanderer is found dead in the morning, in which case the body is quietly conveyed away to await inquest.

I asked what happened when men who could not produce the necessary coppers to pay for their lodging, applied for admission.  The answer was that the matter was left to the discretion of the Officer in charge.  In fact, in cases of absolute and piteous want, men are admitted free, although, naturally enough, the Army does not advertise that this happens.  If it did, its hospitality would be considerably overtaxed.

Leaving the dormitories, I entered the great hall, in which were gathered nearly 600 men seated upon benches, every one of which was filled.  The faces and general aspect of these men were eloquent of want and sorrow.  Some of them appeared to be intent upon the religious service that was going on, attendance at this service being the condition on which the free breakfast is given to all who need food and have passed the previous night in the street.  Others were gazing about them vacantly, and others, sufferers from the effects of drink, debauchery, or fatigue, seemed to be half comatose or asleep.

This congregation, the strangest that I have ever seen, comprised men of all classes.  Some might once have belonged to the learned professions, while others had fallen so low that they looked scarcely human.  Every grade of rag-clad misery was represented here, and every stage of life from the lad of sixteen up to the aged man whose allotted span was almost at an end.  Rank upon rank of them, there they sat in their infinite variety, linked only by the common bond of utter wretchedness, the most melancholy sight, I think, that ever my eyes beheld.  All of them, however, were fairly clean, for this matter had been seen to by the Officers who attend upon them.  The Salvation Army does not only wash the feet of its guests, but the whole body.  Also, it dries and purifies their tattered garments.

When I entered the hall, an Officer on the platform was engaged in offering up an extempore prayer.

’We pray that the Holy Spirit may be poured out upon these men.  We pray, O God, that Thou wilt help them to take fresh courage, to find fresh hope, and that they may rise once again to fight the battle of life.  We pray that Thou mayst bring to Thy feet, this morning, such as shall be saved eternally.’