Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1890-12-12
THE GIFT OF ELISE.
A Strange Custom In the German City Of
. a. Hanover.

Welng&q many hundred years older
than thisSountry, Europe has mapy
strange customs whose origin is lost in
antiquity. One of the strangest pre-
walls in the city of Hanover, in Prussia
says Golden Days.
At certain street corners have been
placed iron figures in the similitude of
angels kneeling and holding out to the
passers-by box in which it is ex-
pected that the kindly disposed will
deposit a small sum of money for the
benefit of the poor.
There is no pathetic placard about
the neck of the efligy, nor is there any
legend whatsoever appealing for aims;
but, of course, one sees at glance
what the scheme is. and it seems to be
both poetical and successful way of
begging.
1t has come to be the custom in
Hanover for one when he answers the
appeal of the kneeling angel, to inclose
his bit of coin in an envelope and ac-
company it with little note or letter
conveying some sentiment or wish.
AT regular perlods-say once
month-these boxes are opened by
municipal officer and the moneys found
therein are turned over to the keeper
of the poor fund, while many of the
letters are given to tire local press for
publication. Some of these letters are
most interesting.
Dear angel" writes child, INV
papa has been gone many months, and
my mamma weeps because he does not
come. / give you 10 pfennigs which /
have earned, and pray you to bring
our papa to us again"
Another writes: II give the dear
angel l mark, and ask that my child
may be restored to health"
Sweetest angel" confesses a maid
EN-. II was foolish, and | quarreled
with my dearest one so that he has left
me. Make me happy by sending him
back again for am loath to tell him /
was wrong. STILL if he do but look
toward me. l shall open my arms to
him. Only incline him to be the first
one to speak. So here give to you a
bright silver mark that has crossed no
hand but mine"
Another love-lorn one contributes 25
pfennigs, and beseeches the angel to
make it possible for her to visit her
aunt in Berlin next summer, where last
year she met Heinrich.
One contributor asked for business
partner, another for health, third for
sympathy; this one prays for wife and
that one for the restoration of some
lost treasure; some utilize the charity
as if it were the PERSONAL column Of
newspaper, but most people hold it
in high veneration, and many regard
The kneeling angel with solemn super
,tition.
Considerable sums of money are by
this means obtained each month for
the support of the poor. In Hanover
one sees few signs of poverty, ana
there is no such thing rs squalor. Ones
in great while beggar is met with.
but he conducts his profession 10y pam
tomine. never importuning aims, for
fear of being detected and apprehend-
ed by the police.
For eight years 10 pfennigs have
been deposited anonymously every
month in each of the angel boxes in
Hanover. ITO the memory of the
child Elise" is the line that always ac-
companies each contribution, and it is
supposed (but not knowD that the
gift comes from one who has lost and
still mourns favoritc daughter. At
first an effort. impclled by curiosity,
was made to find out who the anony-
nous doner was, but it was fruitless.
Now the matter has become so noted
that when one wishes to imply mysti-
tication he says: las mysterious ae
the gift of Elise"