Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1888-09-06

/ have been thinking, Osgood, among your
many benevolent projects, why You never
devised some means OF relieving people who
are supposed TO be in good circumstances
society for ameIiorating the condition of the
rich.r
aBless mel the poor are quite numerous
enough, and are in unusual straits just
now
"Yes, but / see some forms of distress that
seem to me far more painful than utter pow
erty. | won't expatiate, but state a case. /
know a man Of good sense and culture, able
and willing TO do his part in the world. His
employer has failed, so that his salary will
stop. He is unmarried, but has a mother, an
invalid, who never stirs out of doors; and
besides has some poor relation or other to
support. He has a house, it is true; so they
needn't sleep in the street; but how are the
mouths to be fed, the backs to be clotheda''
aLet him sell his house and wait tall better
times for employment"
ait is easy to say sell; but who win buy?
A house won't fetch half it's value, and there
isn't any money to be la BesiGes-and
this is the hardship-the pride and the feel
ing of association cling round a house that
has been consecrated by years Of affection
and by the memory Of the dead believe |
am making an Grafton; but | despair of ex-
pressing myself"
81 understand you perfectly; it is sad, in
deed.n
"Excuse me, you don't understand me-.
Some men put Off old houses and put on new
ones, like their clothes, without a thought.
Others grow into their habitations and be-
come a part of them. You might as we'll say
to a lobster, "Geto out of your shell, " when
| YOU know that the poor wretch will die when
his naked, quivering members are exposed to
the sharp-edged stones. A delicate nature,
proud. bat gentle, too sensitive to accept
| charity, and doubtful of a friendly service,
even, suffers more anguish in one hour, under
| such circumstances, than your brazen beggar
feels from his dirty cradle to his nameless
grave"
Mr.. Osgood unused.
ale has nothing to do them"
~Nothing, but to suck his thumbs"
ais he willing to work. even if the task
| should appear irksomef"
al haven't a doubt. He has no false
pride. Anything honorable would be vel
come"
"Perhaps l can find something for him to
| do; it will be temporary, but its continuance
will depend upon himself"
aAnd what is its'
ain visiting tile district which has been
| allotted to me, | have found an unusual
number of ignorant, vicious boys, cared for
by no one. have thought of making some
effort to gather them together and start a
| ragged school. Some friends nave agreed to
provide the means. But the pay would ne
cessarily be small, and the labor aud difi
Guilty great"
"A teacher of tatterdemalionsl 1t isn't an
inviting field OF labor"
"No; 10 "a refined man it must be repulsive.
Nothing but the idea of doing good would
make it a pleasure or even endurable."
Il confess myself utterly without any such
motive. l hate poor people, and ragged
children, and sick women, the forlorn wives
q drunken brutes. l shut my eyes to all
such od.ous sights"
II hope the gentleman you speak Of is not
SO much afraid of contact with what is dis
agreeable as you arep
HPerhaps not he has an artistic tempera.
ment, and therefore loves what is comedy i;
bnt be would so through fire to do what he
thought his duty"
"Aad wouldn't youF
HWhat a question: Go through firel No.
should 5awl for the engine"
SITS plain, then, that he will answer better
than you for the place"
sNo doubt. ! shouldn't answer mt all. /
tell you / never talk with these creatures. |
can't. II an old woman stops me, with her
dried apple face and whining voice, | give
her a sixpence and tell her TO hush up and go
about her business. l fling coppers to the
boys with slit breeches before they ask me,
for | know they viii tell mo OF mothers sicl;
with consumption. Their dsgilisl telrs are
.nnfoas,... .,.l L - n~u. - .4tcEae mo
So | buy apples and oranges from the inn
ploring-looking girls; it's the easiest way OF
getting rid of them. The little change don't
aIuount to much in a day, and | save my
nerves and my digestion at a cheap rate"
Mr.. Osgood smiled at PaIetto's notion Of
his own hard heartedness, and said, hesitate
ingly,-
II am afraid that some professedly charit-
able persons don't do so much"
"Of course they don't. l don't mean that
/ do anything. It's pure selfishnes5 on my
part, as | told you. But you may feel pretty
sure that if a mans name is always in tie
papers as our estimable fellow-citizan, Presi-
dent This, Director That, and Treasurer
T'other,' he does not give indiscg inmate
aims II believe that is the phrase. Per-
haps he won't rob, like my friend Norcross;
but his misunderstood labors' are an economi-
cal substitute for substantial charity, and
his desire for a place in the public eye is
the handspring of all his actlons.n
"Most of the distress in the community is
relieved by organized effort; individual
charities, however wei meant, would be
entirely inadequate. Besides, you should
not be severe upon all because one promi-
nent person has proved unworthy
"Norcross is a type Of the class. IL there
| (. or-I.11xx 4 I,to ..1w,, flan "a gfply harfro1~
it is a man who makes a trade of philan-
thropy."
"And yet you are consenting to your
friends earning a living by teaching a ragged
school"
"True, one may stop at any place in a
storm, just for shelter"
"And you can console yourself further with
the assurance that your friend won't make
enough in this place to induce him to take up
the trade as you call it,"
II hope not. Starve him iudiciously. ri
he should come out, after a year or SO, with
a white neckcloth, spectacles, and a sancti-
fed face, soliciting all for his school, in
Pecksnifiian tones, / should regret that l
hadn't furnished him with a cord and bag of
stones to drop himself int the dock with"
II don't know why a teacher or a street
missionary may not be a gentleman"
"Sure enough, why not; Whatever Rob
ert Jameson is, he will always be a gentle
man."
Suppose you bring him TO sec me o-mor
row or next day; we will talk about this"
II will. Now, good byel My regrets TO
the children that we couldn't finish our
romp."
"Good-bye," said Osgood. "Come again;
the children will be glad to see you"
rrr ApTrp vxrTI