Most of these poor people are waiting for something.

This man added that he could not find his relatives, and that he intended to stop in the Shelter until his book was published, or he could ‘help himself out.’

The next man I spoke to was the flower artist, whom I have already mentioned, whose work, by the way, if a little striking in colour, was by no means bad, especially as he had no real flowers to draw from.  By trade he was a lawyer’s clerk; but he stated that, unfortunately for him, the head partner of his firm went bankrupt six years before, and the bad times, together with the competition of female labour in the clerical department, prevented him from obtaining another situation, so he had been obliged to fall back upon flower painting.  He was a married man, but he said, ’While I could make a fair week’s money, things were comfortable, but when orders fell slack I was requested to go, as my room was preferable to my company, and being a man of nervous temperament I could not stand it, and have been here ever since’—­that was for about ten weeks.  He managed to make enough for his board and lodging by the sale of his flower-pictures.

A third man informed me that he had opened twenty-seven shops for a large firm of tobacconists, and then left to start in business for himself; also he used to go out window-dressing, in which he was skilled.  Then, about nine years ago, his wife began to drink, and while he was absent in hospital, neglected his business so that it became worthless.  Finally she deserted him, and he had heard nothing of her since.  After that he took to drink himself.  He came to this Shelter intermittently, and supported himself by an occasional job of window-dressing.  The Salvation Army was trying to cure this man of his drinking habits.

A fourth man, a Eurasian, was a schoolmaster in India, who drifted to this country, and had been for four years in the Colney Hatch Asylum.  He was sent to the Salvation Army by the After Care Society.  He had been two years in the Shelter, and was engaged in saving up money to go to America.  He was employed in the Shelter as a scrubber, and also as a seller of food tickets, by which means he had saved some money.  Also he had a L5 note, which his sister sent to him.  This note he was keeping to return to her as a present on her birthday!  His story was long and miserable, and his case a sad one.  Still, he was capable of doing work of a sort.

Another very smart and useful man had been a nurse in the Army Medical Corps, which he left some years ago with a good character.  Occasionally he found a job at nursing, and stayed at the Shelter, where he was given employment between engagements.

Yet another, quite a young person, was a carman who had been discharged through slackness of work in the firm of which he was a servant.  He had been ten weeks in the Institution, to which he came from the workhouse, and hoped to find employment at his trade.