For these men the Army
hotel is certainly a boon.[55] A man who has not lost ambition and who
can gather a few cents a day to sustain him, until some temporary
difficulty is past is glad to take advantage of such an institution.
Finally, regarding this class as a whole, something must be done with
them, and it is necessary for those who find fault with their
congregation in the Army hotels, to point out a better way of caring for
them. As long as they exist, they will tend to congregate somewhere, and
until some better solution is offered, we might as well take what is at
hand, and if it is the Army hotel, hold that institution to its best
efforts and its best environment.

To sum up, then, our conclusions of this part of the Army's work, we
find that the hotels are commercial enterprises, with, as a rule, an
environment superior to the regular cheap hotels of the same price, and
that although there is an objection to the congregation of the vicious
and vagrant along with the unfortunate, and although there may be a
tendency to lower the standard of living of these people, individually
considered, yet there is a justification for the existence of these
hotels, as something must be done with this class of people, and this is
the best solution offered, inasmuch as a certain percentage of this
class is really aided and tided over temporary difficulty. At the same
time, there remains the need of the segregation of the class concerned,
with a more scientific, practical, individual treatment. Better work can
be done along this line.

EXAMPLES OF SALVATION ARMY HOTEL LODGERS.

A collection of 76 cases made on seventeen different evenings during the
months of March and April, 1908, at two of the Salvation Army hotels,
both situated on the Bowery in New York City, one being a lower class
hotel and the other a combination of lower and higher class. These cases
were collected at first hand by the author and a friend of the author,
Mr. James Ward, both of whom mingled among the men in the disguise of
working men. In this way the facts were gained without much difficulty,
with the exception of information regarding the family of the man
concerned. Sometimes, therefore, this latter information is lacking.

No. 1.

Born in New York City of Irish parentage. Twenty-five years old. Single.
Had no home and did not know whether or not his people were living. Only
trade was that of hotel porter but had done other things. Had worke