Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1900-02-22
Nos


fections SO that love shall work dis
agreeable things by proxyf
All this the bishop asked as he plunged
deeper into the sin and sorrow Of that
bitter winter He was bearing his cro-'
with joy. but he burned and fought
within over the shifting of personal
love by the many npon the hearts Of the
few And still. silently. powerfully, re-
sistlessly, the Holy Spirit was moving
through the church upon even the aris-
tocratic. wealthy. ease loving members,
who stunned the terrors of the social
problem as they would shun q con-
tagious disease
This fact was impressed upon the
bishop and the settlement workers In q
startling way one morning Perhaps no
one incident that winter shows more
plainly how much of momentum had
already grown out of the movement of
Nazareth Avenue church and the action
of DR. Bruce and the bishop that fol-
lowed the pledge to do as Jesus would do
The breakfast hour at the settlemen&
was the one hour in the day when the
whole resident family found a little
breathing space to fellowship together
1t was an hour of relaxation There
was a great deal of good natured re-
partee and much real wit and enjoyable
fun at this hour The bishop told his
best stories DR.. Bruce was at his best
in anecdote This company of disciples
was healthily humorous in spite Of the
atmosphere of sorrow that constantly
surrounded them In fact, the bishop
often said that the faculty Of humor
was as God given. as any other, and in
his own case it was the only safety
valve he had for the tremendous press
ure put upon him
This particular morning the bishop
Eas reading extracts from a morning
paper for the benefit of the others: Sud
denly he paused. and his face instantly
grew stern and sad. The rest looked
up. and hush fell over the table
''Shot and killed while taking lump
of coal from a car. His family was
freezing. and he had had no work for
six months His six children and wife
all packed into a cabin with three
rooms on the west side. One child wrap
ped in rags in closet.
These were headlines that the bishop
read slowly He then went on and read
the detailed account of the shooting and
the visit of the reporter to the tenement
where the family lived.
He finished. and there was silence
around the table. The humor Of the
hour was swept out of existence by this
bit of human tragedy. The great city
roared about the settlement. The awful
current of human life was flowing in
great stream past the settlement house,
to it in a vast throng, but thousands
were going down in the midst Of that
current, clutching at last hopes, dying.
literally in land of plenty, because
the boon of physical toll was denied
them.
There were various comments on the
part of the residents One of the new
corners, young man preparing for the
ministry. said: "Why didn't the man
apply to one of the charity organiza-
tions for help or to the cityf 1t certain
ly is not true that, even at its worst
this city full of Christian people would
knowingly allow any one to go without
food or fuel "
"No; don't believe that it would,
replied DIR. Bruce "But we don't know
the history of that mans case He may
have asked for help so often before that
finally, in n moment Of desperation, he
determined to help himself. I have
known such cases this winter.
''That is not the terrible fact In this
case. said the bishop. "The awful
thing about 1t is the fact that the man
had not had any work for six months
"Why don't such people go out into
the country?" asked the divinity stu
dent
Some one at tho table who had made
a special study of the opportunities for
work in the country answered the ques-
ton According to the investigator, the
places that were possible for work In
the country were exceedingly few for
steady employment, and in almost ev-
cry case they were offered only to men
without families. Suppose mans wife
and children were i'll. How could he
move or get into the countryf How
could he pay even the meager sum nee
essary to move his few goodsP There
were n thousand reasons probably why
this particular man did not go else
where
"Meanwhile there are the wife and
children, said Mrs Bruce. "How aw-
full Where is the place. did you sayf'
The bishop took up tho paper.
"Why. it's only three blocks from
here This is the Penrose district. ] be-
lieve Penrose himself owns half Of the
houses in that block They are among
the worst houses in this part Of the
city, and Penrose is church member
"Yes; he belongs to the Nazareth Av-
enue church. replied DR.. Bruce in a
low voice
The bishop rose from the table the
very figure of divine wrath. He had
opened his lips to say what seldom
came from him in the way of denuncia-
tion when tho bell rang and one Of tho
residents went to the door.
"Tell DR.. Bruce and the bishop
want TO see them. Penrose Is the name
Clarence Penrose. DR. Bruce knows
me-"
The family at the breakfast table
heard every word. The bishop exchanged
a significant look with DR.. Bruce, and
the two men instantly left the table
and went out into tho hall
,,,
Bruce, and he and the bishop ushered
tho visitor into the reception room.
They closed the door and were alone.
Clarence Penrose was one OF the most
elegant looking men in Chicago. He
came from an aristocratic family OF
great wealth and social distinction. He
was exceedingly wealthy and had largo
property holdings in different parts OF
the city He had been a member OF DR..
Bruces church all his life.
This man faced tho bishop and his
former pastor with look Of agitation
on his countenance that showed plainly
the mark of some unusual experience.
He was very pale. and his lip trembled
as he spoke. When had Clarence Pen
rose ever before yielded to such strange
emotion of feelingH
"This affair of the shooting-you un-
derstand You have read it. The family
lived in one of my houses 1t is terri
BILE event But that is not the primary
cause of my visit. He stammered and
looked anxiously into the faces of the
other two men. The bishop still looked
stern He could not help feeling that
this elegant man OF leisure could have
done great deal to alleviate the hor-