Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-01-12

he dreamed for three nights running that
his house was in flames. Being a prudent
as we'll as superstitious man. he moved:
Not long after bomb struck his deserted
house and plowed its way straight through
1t. Clay, grateful for his escape, arranged
that on March IL, the anniversary, neither
bread nor religious counsel should be want
ing in Newark. and this date Is still KNOWN
as Penny Loaf day..
Probably more people left doles Of bread
than of any other staple, but 'cauldrons
of coal run it close second. Beef was a
favorite bequest. Bibles a frequent one.
Cloaks, stockings and shoes caught the
fancy of many testators George w hicner
left "a gown once every two years to each
of six old men and five Shillings per quar-
ter to one of them who is able to read
prayers twice a day to the rest. Popular
fancy seemed to turn to green as a coior
for clothing in those days, for almost all
the benefactors have specified that the
cloaks or gowns left should be "of green
color"
Oddly Worded Requests.
One good old woman left $1,000 in per
cents, commanding that the interest should
be used in binding out an apprentice
the boy of certain school who should be
agreed upon by both his comrades and
teachers as of the most religious conduct,
mild department and industry among
them. She also limited that it would please
her to have her will reproduced in letters
of gold on slab in the school house.
pious citizen who departed this lift In l6l9
did much the same thing, and modestly re-
quested that the sum of money he bestowed
should thereafter be known as Iou
Gift"
OF course. nearly all these ancient be-
quests are worded oddly enough. One
philanthropist who bequeathed land wrote,
THE butting and bounding of the said TWO
acres Is as follows: At the north end OF
the aims houses doth stand stone, or
lardmarke, from which stone lyneth streight
downwards to the next dich; toward Shore-
dich is the north lymitt, the dich itseif is
the east bounds Of it." Most or these
| "doles' were for the benefit Of old women,
and the testator generally specified them
as "decayed housekeepers." One bequest
made provision for lone more poor Vir-
tllous maiden women another mad as us
object the assistance of nine poor lrlSh
women, during confinement In child bed.
Would Like to Abolish Them.
When 1 asked the chairman Of the chari-
ties commission the other day how many
of these ancient "doles'' there are, he SIM
ply threw up his hands and confessed that
he had never ventured to count them, and
didn't know. The distribution Of nearly all
of them Is in the hands of the Cnurch OF
England, and a lady who is a district
visitor told the writer a day or two ago
that among the sums she had in hand were
three doles left years ago to buy coal, re-
marking that the jump in the price OF TINS
necessity recently had made the sum that
the good folk left to buy ton of 1t barely
enough to lay in hundredweight.
Keeping track Of all the 'doles' falls to
the lot of the "vestry," or municipal au-
thorities Of the district In which the be-
quests flourish. and to the vestry they are
more or less Of a grand nuisance. Once
year the vestry clerk has to get up a re-
port of all of them, which makes rather
funny reading. They revenge themselves;
whenever they can. by wiping out the odd
old ceremonial that the donors planned so
carefully, and the chairman of the com
mission says they would like to abolish the
doles altogether and spend the money on
pensions. CURTIS BROW N.