Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1893-12-13
A MARRIAGE LOTTERY.

A MARRIAGE LOTTERY.
lsn6,a's Ques+ Mlxturc 81 YSswry. >gasri.
naoay md Hebrew philanthropy.
'sN.chael Harris and Nancy Jacobs
having po,ied the highest number Of
votes were duly elected to receive .
dowry Of f25 and marriage fees, and q
vacancy wis again declared for a couple"
So ran paragraph in Jewish paper
recently, and reporter was fired with
an ambition 10 learn more about these
folks who give couples dowries. and
moro about the conditions under which
sncb dowries arc wen. The benevol; nee,
| Il appeared, emanated from the Society
for Allowing Marriage Fees and Por-
ton to Young Men and virtuoua Girls
| Of the Jewish Faith. The president Of
this society one would imagine would
be a patriarchal sage with grandchil-
dren in scores about his knees. But Mr..
4. Swaab, who is the head Of the So
cicty, is n young man with slight black
mustache, q clean shaven chin and Ger
tainly no grandchildren. When not
hymencally occupied he is engaged in his
business rs diamond merchant in Hat
ton Garden.
1.-THE society" he said, in reply to the
interviewer, ''has been in existence near
ly 30 years, and has done no small
amount Of good. It was started among
u few friends in quite small way, and q
dOwry of elO only was all that could be
afforded at first But $40, If not exactly
! drop in the ocean, was not quite suffi.
cient to answer the purpose in view, and
rs the fund grew the dowry was increasetl
to c21."
. care the operations Of the society con-
fined to London
"No. They extend all over England.
The funds are recruited by subscriptions
of all amounts, from penny week up
ward, and by donations"
ut gives them prior claim on tho
dOwry perhaps
mo, il doesn't. will make that clear
in = moment. We assist about dozen
couples every year, the dowries and mar
riage fees coming to over $500. The OBJ
ject in giving the dowry is to enable the
young couples to start n little business
together. Before becoming candidates
for the dowry-toward which they need
not have subscribed farthing-thcy
have to he possessed Of ell home neces-
saries and furniture. and the man has to
prove to the satisfaction of the commit
tee that he is in a position to maintain
his wife"
'Only virtuors girls are to be befriend-
ed Ivy the society, I gather from its title.
Does it not become rather a delicate mat
ter to adjudicate upon the qualifications
of young lady applicants:'
Every case is investigated by two
members of the committee, appointed
annually for that purpose. They make
their inquiries with proper tact and dis
erection, and they also investigate the
character Of the man. Let us so through
the entire procedure. Say a vacancy has
been declared. which means that we have
sufficient in hand to put another dowry
up for competition. We send ont notices
to that effect and supply forms of appli.
cation. We get four, five, six, perhaps
dozen couples contestinS for the prize.
They all come before the committee in
couples, ::nd are asked questions con.
corning the money they have saved, the
nature Of the mans, work, and SO on.
y Once, I suppose. must have been press.
ing the prospective bridegroom pretty
hard, for the young lady spoke up sor.
rowfully, Well, sir, you got married
once. and We want to toor"
well, as soon as they have been adj.
mitted as candidates, what follows
I'VE give them book of members
and tell them to go and canvass for votes,
the members possessing votes in proper.
ton to the amount of their subscrip.
tons"
Have you yourself many votess"
Eyes. hold something like 80 votes. '
'Then you are the target of plenty OF
beseeching brown eyes and persuasive
glances!'
mo, nothing out of the way, because
as president take no part in choosing
the recipients Of the DOVER"
''Can you give me a specific instance
Of the good the society has done:"
II can, and a striking one, I think
There are three members Of the commit
tee Of the society, now men of position
and well to do, who were embarked up
on life with dowries from tine society.
| Dali Nall Cc.ne<o