The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1895-09-19
LEAKE BREAD DOLE.
a PRACTICAL CHARITY OVER ONE
HUNDRED YEARS OLD.

aries Are Given Loaves of Bread some
of the Recipients Once Wealthy.
One Of the most interesting charities
In operation in this city, and one which
Is probably kss known than any 9th
er, Is that which is designated in the
register Of Trinity church as the Leake
dole Of bread u
Since 1892 this practical benefaction
has been in constant operation, and it
would be exceedingly difficult to com
pute the great amount of good it has
done and the number of hungry persons
it has fed The dole is bequest by
John Leake, long forgotten million
aire and philanthropist, who, with John
Watts, founded the we'll known Leake
and Watts Orphan House, which is still
in existence in this city. The portion of
his will in which the bequest is made
reads as follows.
4 hereby give and bequeath unto the
rector and inhabitants Of the Protestant
Episcopal church of the state of New
York Il, 600, put out at interest, TO be
laid ont in the annual income in six
penny wheaton loayes of bread and dis
tributed On every Sabbath morning
after divine service, to such poor as
shall appear most deserving =
This wish has been faithfully carried
out with one exception. The regular
communicates of the church will no
doubt wonder, for not more perhaps
than 100 of them have ever noticed the
dispensation of "sixpenny wheaton
loaves of bread after the morning
service.
Nearly 40 years ago when the dis
trihuting station WAS transferred from
Trinity church To the shadow of old St
Johns at 4G VaIiek street. it was
deemed wise to change the weekly day
of distribution from Sunday to Satur-
day and thus obyiate the publicity and
lessen the pain to the pride of the recip
tents, for some of them We're, and even
now are, not only communicates of the
church, but people who at one time had
been among the most wealthy of the
congregation. Every Saturday morning
between and 9 o'clock there are deliv-
cred into a recess of the gaunt ecclesi
astical structure 81 loaves of wholesome
fresh bread of the kind known as 'home-
made, each loaf being worth about 10
cents. While not exactly "sixpenny
loaves," they are as near that price as
is possible to obtain, and no one has
yet yentured an attempt to break the
will owing to this slight divergency or
the fact of the change of date of distri-
button.
The loaves are piled upon a long set
tee in the vestibule where those lucky
enough to be considered as appearing
to be the most deserving" either call or
send for them. There are at present just
18 of these pensioners, and others are
constantly waiting to take the places of
those whom death has claimed. The
loaves are distributed in varying mum
bers, some persons being entitled to
four, while others receive only two,
this being regulated by the size of the
family The loaves are distributed
without ostentation, and although one
of the official representatives, of the
church is present he is lax in the amount
of vigilance displayed. allowing the
pensioners to enter the yestry and help
themselves to their allotted share, and
it is a matter of record that not once
has any one made the mistake of taking
an extra loaf
Shortly before O'Clock every Satur-
day the 19 chosen as deserving benef-
Charles or their messengers begin to APP
pear. The first one to call yesterday
morning was an impoverished looking
woman bowed with age, who, the sex
ton said, has been making the same
weekly trip for nearly 30 years. While
thin and emaciated she still bore the
impress of refinement, and her dress,
although threadbare, was remarkably
clean and neat
With a slight inclination of the head
she wished the sexton Good morning, "
and quietly dropped two loaves of bread
in the basket she carried, after first
carefully wrapping them in n piece of
newspaper. As she slowly walked down
the stone paved yard toward the gate
she staggered under her load, aud her
evident refinement led The Sun reporter
to ask who she WAS
'She is one Of our oldest pc customers, "
replied the sexton, md has for over 80
years never missed Saturday, rain or
shine She was once one of the wealth
lest of New York s women residents,
but an ungrateful son, after gambling
away her fortune, left her destitute, and
has never been heard from since. 1t is
one of the pathetic stories most of these
people could tell -
In direct opposition to this case was
that of Il gray haired pegress who al
though more than SO years old, is still
quite spry sld entered the vestibule
with Mornin, massa, - i'll manner
which indicated that she very probably
is n manumitted slave. After a slight
interchange If conversation she shuf1led
away, apparently happy.
One noticeable popularity was the
fact that there We're no men. The bread
WAS claimed either by very old and
deerepit women or by young children
who invariably staggered under the
load. OF the children who called, not
one Wore hat, and when the sexton
Was asked for an explanation of this he
replied that, although he had noticed it,
he WAS unable to give any reason "un-
less, . he added, they haven't any =
New York sun
The Spiritualstic societies of this
country number 334. They own 80