New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-09-13
nv Az ALuSHOUSE. IS2i-fs9j.

r. ,,os = our,ous md in many ways an interest
Ing dispatch which The Tribune printed IL"
days ago from Portland, Me, teiiing Oh cei tam
Miss Nancy Bennett. Of that place. MISS Nancy
pa,ra,, hos M, lust broken q bicycle record, nor
is she the Oldest Mason. nor yet the hrst "olha"
IN port,a nd m wear boomers church. Her claim
to distinction lies in another direction ana Is
nothing loss than that she has just died after
spending seventy-one years In the CITY Aims
house She had for some time prded herself and
Justly. on being the Oldest living pauper IN the
State Of Maine II not in this country
And in the examination OF Nancy Bennetts
record in her claim to the title OK Oldest fauper
three points must be kept In mind nrst' tha' s"e
came honestly by pauperhood-that 49, she was
without parents or friends and only nve years Oh
age when taken to the almshouse; secono' 'ha'
her seventy-one years Of residence therein were
continuous and, third that she was always souho
mentally and physically. She would. We pre-
sumo have scorned to have entered into contest
with those who achieved pauperhood through
false nretences. or those whose almshouse term
was broken In upon by short periods OF call
ing any other place homo. with those who were
crIppled or mentally inirm or otherwise incapable
Of taking I'D any other life. AS pauper she con-
sdered herself an amateur in the strictest sense
OF the word: and we doubt not that before ner
dea she was we'll entitled to the distinction OF
Oldest Living Pauper. Indeed. when the career or
Nancy Bennett is examined in the light OF these
facts It Is seen to have been highly honorable
one She was not to blame for going to the poor
house Few people left utterly without friends az
the tender age Of i've years Id have done better
She was also 'contented with her lot" 1t was
good enough home for her. The surroundings were
comfortable II not luxurious, and the food nutri-
tious IL not satiatng. For those who wished TO
rush out into the world and labor and struggle
and build up a home Of their own, she had no
word Of censure: but personally she did not care
for It, Give me-" she said " a comfortable aims
house like this, with competent Overseer OF
Poor and a yearly inspection by an Intelligent
Grand Jury, and l will not ask for more Tnat
she had chances for marriage and home outside
we make no manner OF doubt We dare say that
in the 30's and early '40s her matrimonial offers
were numerous More than desirable and
well-to-do pauper laid his heart a her feet. with
perhaps an occasional outsider. a deputy sheriff,
we will say or an assistant overseer of the poor.
or even perhaps an ardent Commissioner Of
Charities and Correction We venture that Nancy
Bennett knew what 1t was to be warmly wooed;
but she was never won. She realized that mar
riage at the best is only lottery; but good
almshouse, once you are in. is a sure thing.
So at seventy-six, after threescore years and
ten and one more In the poorhouse. Nancy Ben
nett OF Portland. Is dead. Napoleon Bonaparte
cut a wider swath: he had more ambition; but did
he do more good in the world? And is too much
ambition desirable? Nancy Bennett might have
done worse. The dispatch says in closing: she
had been a useful help to the place" What more
could she have been elsewhere? There are good
many people rafting about this world, and get
ting in other folks way, who might better have
retired at an early age to some convenient aims
house and stayed there. and. II possible. been a
useful help to the place