The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1897-12-22
PRAYING AND HUSTL|AG
The Volunteers Have Hit the
Proper Charitable Scheme.
TO HELP THE UNFORTUNATE
Will Rent Place Where the Penniless
Can Be Housed and Fed Until EN-
ployment Can Be Secured-An
Appeal for Funds.

The Volunteers of America in Butte
have hit upon a plan of charity which
they believe will not only relieve the
the needy butwill go far toward Kidding
city of crime and converting criminals
into law-abiding citizens. They have
started out to solicit food. clothing. bed
ding, funds, etc, with which they ex-
pect to rent a large room or hall. GEN.
traliy located, and fit ii up with cots
for the use of men and women who are
out of employment and in want. With
sufficient food to keep them from hum
ger and a bed to sleep in at night there
will be less temptation for this class to
commit crime.
mo one could ever talk religion to me
when / had an empty stomach, said
VIII j. Lee, who Is temporarily in
charge of the Volunteers in Butte. I'VE
aim to take from the streets the man
who is criminal and a menace TO soci-
ETY. and a dangerous element in the
city; the man who might push a gun
under the nose of some hardworking
laborer or other citizen and rob him of
his money. and at the slightest provo
cation take human life. Or a man who.
having no place to sleep these cold
nights, nothing to eat and no work,
breaks into the merchants safe and
takes his cash. or a man who after
having been driven to the commission
of crime by want, becomes burden on
taxpayers supported by them in the
county jail or penitentary, and drifts
at once down into the lowest strata OF
humanity. In the place of these men
our aim is to so utilize the aid we hope
to receive from the citizens of Butte
that we will place these unfortunates
beyond the necessity of resorting to
crime to keep from starvation and
freezing, and make them producers and
good citizens and workers who viii pat
ronize merchants, pay taxes, live clean
Christian lives, and in turn aid in this
good Samaritan work of love"
Mr.. Lee said that when sufficient
/ money is subscribed the Volunteers
propose to rent hall or basement more
| centrally located than their present
| quarters at Broadway and Arizona
| street and use all space. outside the
| audience room for placing cots to be
| used by deserving men out OF work.
/ but with the imperative understanding
! that they must accept work anywhere
| the Volunteers may be able to place
tnem permanently or temporarily.
"A free employment agency is one OF
our ambitions" said Mr.. Lee yester-
day. for we believe in helping only
men and women who are willing to help
/ themselves and become self-supporting
| and not a burden on us or the commn-
! nifty. What we need most, and ilnme-
| diately to carry on this work. is large
i room Ill the CGIlltI Dl TIE tltSt dipo
| cash enough to start the work properly,
and to do that we are trusting, pray
| ing and hustling. Our organization
draws no line at sect, creed, denomi-
| nation, color, nationality or former
lines. Our one aim Is to help fallen HUI
| manity and promote good citizenship.
Mr. Lee has just returned from Hell
ena, where he was successful in reor-
| ganizing the local post in that city,
| placing it in a more improved condition
| and inaugurating several aids to good
| citizenship features. in which, he says
he received substantial financial back
ing from the merchants and citizens
| generally.
THE citizens of Helena have become
satisfied of the practical utility and adj
| vantages of our work in the Capito
City, and in a ten days canvass of Hell
| ena / received sufficient cash and sig
natures to our six months promissory
cards to not only place our post there
beyond the necessity of mourning in.
debtedness, for at least six months tc
come but gifts of bedding cots, old
carpets, stoves, etc, to insure the sue
cess of our movement for the aid of in
| digent comrades, converts and honest
men out of work for the present winter
beyond doubt said Mr.. Lee.
No one but Mr.. Lee and Mrs Captain
Faulkner. connected with the Eolun-
teers. is authorized to solicit aid ano
contributions of bedding etc. in Butte