The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-01-02

II tAAttN tA4& VI q ILL Vkit&
Of opinion about the necessity for a rec
tory and whereas 1t is for the future
Interests OF the society that all views
| then follows a Compromise to the effect
that the vestry shall have two-thirds of
all the money raised by the Acorns and
one-third shall go to the r~ector's house
"a little later the society told the
Vestry that II they would pay back with
interest that $500 which had been loaned
thenl-apparently having no other way or
| getting 1.-THE Acorns would give them
$500. This proposition the Vestry prompt
" accepted. but whether that can be
considered q Christian way Of settli Ing
William j.. Bryan. When about $50 had
been paid for house rent Mrs. Ruslon
resigned in the fall of 1876, and 1t was
resolved that henceforth that. one-third
should be used at the discretion OF the
society. 1t is needless to say that at the
discretion Of the Vestry the yestry got
"a letter written by the retiring rector
| says what we can well believe to be true,
that no fundamentally has so con-
tributed to the welfare of the parish dur
| as the Acorn Society The organization
continued it's work under the new, the
present rector, as under the former one.
In 1877 it was resolved by. the Vestry that
as the income of the church was then
sufficient for it's support. and the aid of
the Acorns not needed In that direction,
its moneys be devoted to the payment
of the principal of the mortgage DEBT
and for no other purpose whatever. 1t
will he observed that in spite OF the pros
| perity of the church both rectory and
| rent were forgotten.
Meanwhile other societies were started
in the parish. The Acorn ceased to be
the only or most prominent one. and as
other calls for money were made IT'S
| less than $500 a year. In aid Of it, in 1880.
mite boxes were distributed through the
parish and brought in that year $400 ex-
ira. In 1882 $4,000 was raised by, the
rector on the mortgage debt and no
| special effort was made by the Acorns.
The following winter, or possibly in 1881,
| subscription books were taken about by
different ladies n as $l,oS were raised r oy
| banks were introduced, into which each
| member of the parish was to put n
cent a day, no more, no less. Inese
| banks were opened once q month by
| collectors from the Holy Cross Guild, ana
| some of them. not only the banks, put
the ladies, are in service to this DAY.
a bank taker. The effect Of this small
but Systematic offering was wonderfui;
In two years $2,4O0 had been received
from these penny collections.
ment was introduced in the shape OF
the birthday box. Each Infant and each
man was on his birthday to put INTO
fhis D E W Une BEN BE- seem loa how how the society
lllCs IL VA W oS(AA
followed here Napoleon's method IN the
last r1iinous year of his campaign, anu
robbed the cradle and the grave; BuI
the congregation had evidently got tired
of pitching pennies for Acorns. The
birthday box was not popular.
ssThe infants of the parish had no
money and the old men a1 Ior ssam anae s anus
months as If the entire parish must nave
been born 0 N the 18th of February, IN
leap year.
debt was reduced from s per cent: to .
per cent, as it had been previously re-
duced from q to 6.
HIn the spring Of 1885 stiil anotner
Acorns. This was the discount book. =
will not take you time by describing II,
but will simply say. patheticaliy, that
nothing which the Acorns did to ex,,
tract money from your pockets seemed
to give you genuine pleasure. Anu
though these discount books really, drew
the money out Of the pockets OF ,Ine
suspicious and few took the books.
Those who did found the plan wonder,
fully successful. Several families turned
IN $40 10 $40 the first year, and a lady
whose heart is as large as her house,
has been able to give $500 IN less Inan
three years. This shows what might
have been done.
whole twenty-five years work OF the
Acorn Society was the gaining posses
sion of No. 95 Summit avenue for the
rector. For more than twenty years it
had tried in vain to build a rectory. Now
it proceeded to take one by. storm. Inc
house, as you know, had been, bougnl,
but possession could not be had, al u
seemed as if for the rector there was
to be eighteen months of hopeless ana
homeless waiting. Then came the
Acorns. There is no time and 1t would
diplomatic correspondence or tell the fas-
cinating story OF personal VISITS maue ~
accomplish the apparently impossible.
1T can only be said that the aking
the BastiIe by the populace OF Parls IN
the revolution of 1889, is the only his.
| tcrical event with which the capture OF
the present rectory by the Acorn society
can be properly ompare Anu n4m az 81
your moral be too clearly seen, either IN
a novel or sermon, suppose we draw q
moral, from this Acorn history w " 70
1.-THE chief thing we learn is the value
of steady. persistent, honest work at one
thing. The Acorns, with one or two ex-
81. 900 which they have raised, in little
sums. They have kept to the acorn
PRINCIPLES of smaN beginnings and large
BINDINGS. They hive not FILTERED away
Kids treasures, or pots of gold hidden
at the ends of rainbows, but onnne
themselves to getting dimes and quarters
lived right here in Jersey City. They
have not waited for people to give to
them, but have regularly each month
for twenty-five years gone AFTER nat
they wanted.
.aThey have not attempted to do many
things. but one thing. They have never
had a quarrel, but lave been in harmony
from the start. At the same time they
have proved themselves disinterested.
At the time of the enlargement, to en-
courage others who were giving, they
allowed their funds for eighteen months
to go toward this enlargement fund, a.
sort of subscription from the Accrns.
mo request made by the Rector and
vestry has ever been refused or grudg-
fngly granted, but the response has been
hearty and generous. At the same time
they were not subservient. They had
minds of their own and occasionally
made requests of the Rector and Vestry
which that body, l think, has been pru-
dent enough to grant. When the enlarge
ment was finished the ladies Of the Acorn
modestly felt that they should have q
little niche in the new structure ana
asked permission to insert a memorial
window. This is one of the most beau
tiful of the gifts to the new churcn ana
Te6resent.s most appropriately the virgin
Mary bearing her little Offering OF the
doves to the temple.
1.-THE best of ali hat we can say to-
night is that we are not preaching a rum
eral sermon, as is usually the case when
e~ulogistic remarks are made. me Acorn
Society Is not dead. Indeed It Is because
| it is very much alive that we arr. noid,
ing this Jubilee. Three of the original
| ounders and officers are still IN the
parish; still in the society and likely 70
he for twenty-five years more. Others are
here tonight like those names when l