The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1895-09-21
LEAKE BREAD DOLE.
A PRACTICAL CHARITY OVER ONE
HUNDRED YEARS OLD.

Millionaire-Once IA Week the Henefici-
aries Are Given Loaves of Brend-Somc
OF the Recipients Once Wealthy.
One Of tho most interesting charities
IN operation i'll this city, and one which
Is probably less known than any 9th
er, is that which is designated in the
registerpf Trinity church as ''thc Lcake
dole of bread. -
Since 1892 this practical benefaction
has been i'll constant operation, and it
would be exceedingly difficult to COM
puto the great amount of good il has
dono and the number Of hungry persons
it has fed. Tho dole is "a bcoucst by
John Lcalle, II long forgotten million
ARE and philanthropist, who, with John
Watts, founded the we'll known Lcakc
and Watts Orphan House, which is still
IN existence i'll this city. The portion Of
his will i'll which the bcqucst is made
reads us follows
II hereby give and bcqueath unto the
rector and inhabitants of the Protestant
Episcopal church of the state Of New
York 81 900, put out at interest, TO be
laid ont III the annual income in six
penny wheaton loaves 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
COMMITMENTS of the church will no
doubt wonder, for not more perhaps
than 100 of them have ever noticed tho
dispensation If ''sixpenny wheaton
loaves of bread after the morning
service.
Nearly 40 years ago, when the dis
tributing station was transferred from
Trinity church to the shadow of old st.
Johns ut AZ Vmick street, it was
deemed wise tGchangc the weekly day
of distribution fADm Sunday to Satur-
day and thus obviatc the publicity and
lessen the pain TO the pride of the rccip-
tents, for some Of them were, 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 S O'Clock there are dcliv-
cred into IL recess of the galnt ecclesi-
astlcal structure 81 lOavcS of wholesome
fresh bread Of the kind known us "home-
made, >" each loaf being worth about 10
cents. While not exactly "sixpenny
loaves, they arc as near that price as
is possible to obtain. and no one has
yet ventured an attempt to break the
will owing to this slight divergency or
the fact of tho change of date of diStri-
button
The loayes are piled upon IL long set
tee in the vestibule, where those lucky
enough to be considered as appearing
to be the most deserving either call O.,
send for them. There are at present just
1S of these pensioners, and others arc
constantly waiting 10 take the places of
those whom death has claimed The
loaves arc distributed in varying num-
bers, some persons being entitled to
four, while others receive only two,
this being regulated by the size of the
family. The loaycs are distributed
without ostentation, and although one
of the official representatives of the
church is present he is lax i'll the amount
Of vigilance displayed, allowing the
pensioners to enter the vestry and help
themselves TO their allotted share, and
it is matter of record that not once
has any ono made the mistake of taking
an extra loaf
Shortly before O'Clock every Satur-
day the IS chosen as deserving benefi-
Charles or their messengers begin to APP
pear The first one to call yesterday
morning was al Impoverished looking
woman bowed with age, who. the sex
ton said, has been making the same
weekly trip IL 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 slight inclination of the head
she wished the sexton Good morning"
and quietly dropped two loaves of bread
i'll the basket she carried, after first
carefully wrapping them in piece of
newspaper. As she slowly walked down
the stone paved yard toward tho gate
she staggered under her load, and her
evident refinement led The SIM reporter
to ask who she was.
She is one of our Oldest pc nsioncrs,."
replied tho sexton, "and has for over 80