The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-08-13
SIMON YANDES.


Boston Globe.
When the recording angel calls the roll
of those who have done good deeds in the
flesh, up near the name of Abou Ben
Adhem, who loved his fellow-men, will be
that of Simon Yandes. of Indiana.
Andrew Carnegie has given millions of
dollars to found free public Libraries. but
he continues to receive sufficient dividends
from steel stocks to pay for a irst-class
passage to his castle in Scotland. He has
millions left in his possession.
John d. Rockefeller has contributed mag
nifcently TO educational and religious in
stitutions, yet never has he reduced his
principal or his income to a point where
he would lose his power and prestige in
the financial world.
The indianapolis lawyer, however, has to
az intents and purposes stripped himself
of an entire fortune, which he might to-
day have counted in seven figures, and Is
content TO live among his books in a city
block on plain food and clothed in raiment
just fine enough 70 be respectable.
Simon Yandes is a Harvard man. He was
graduated from the law school in Cam
bridge in 1899. There he sat at the feet OF
such teachers as Judge Story and simon
Greenleaf, and among his classmates were
F.. lockwood HOar. William NJ. EEarts,
William w. Story, Charles Theodore Rus
sell, Nathaniel Holmes, James Russell
- l4alACo QtAGl IL AnaLGa2 NLCA va
and Richard Henry Dana.
Returning TO his home in the middle
West, admitted Immediately TO the bar, he
practiced his profession successfully Tor
half a century, and grew wealthy through
investments in real estate. never marry
ing. He IS now aged eighty-siX. In a
recent interview he said:
when l became seventy years old /
thought that l ought to be settling up my
estate. In the course of a few years l
have given $4,000 to Wabash College. AT
M tfp1a have / ha1 cQDO Oa0 In a bnnrh hnt
l have given away from time TO time
100000 to church and charities, and during
the period from 1886, when l was seventy
years old, TO the present moment, L nave
given to relatives that amount more.
Meanwhile / was accommodating what /
could and reducing my funds by the gifts,
Simon Yandes has followed both the let
ter and the spirit of the advice of Jesus
TO the rich young man TO go sell that he
had and give to the poor, thereby laying up
treasure i'm heaven. But he has acted in a
practical way. He has not reduced him
self to absolute want. He has not become
a pauper.
In connection with his latest known ben
e%taction, the recent gift of 10000 TO the
New York Board of Foreign Missions or
the Presbyterian Church, he has provided
that he is to receive an annuity of 3 per
cent. on the $4,000 for the remainder or his
life. Thus he has merely taken proper
care that he shall not be left in extreme
perjury in his last days.
The career of this Western attorney, in
Guiding the charity of his old age, not only
sets an example for other wifeless and chill
less men TO copy, but it should teach the
youth of the land a lesson of frugality and
strict honesty. Here is a little story 10
illustrate the point. The lawyer went into
a store a few weeks ago TO purchase a new
hat. He told the clerk that he wished for
a hat that would wear well, but not an ex-
pensive one. The salesman replied that he
had some cheap durable hats, but they
were last years style. Mr.. Yandes said
he wasn't particular about the fashions.
He made a selection and paid the price
asked. After he had gone to his room in
the block he noticed that the price mark
on the hat-band showed that ii sold for
$3.50. With the hat under his arm he hasten
ed back to the store and inquired of the
clerk If a mistake had not been made. Mr..
Yandes said he could not afford to pay 81. sc
for a hat, but if there had been a misun-
derstanding he would rather spend the
extra dollar than to cause the clerk any
trouble.
Would YOU young man, be willing to
wear a last summers straw or a last win
ter's derby?
Would you. sir. be as quick to detect and
try to correct a possible error in price or
change whether in a hat store or at a
theater ticket office?
The HOOsicr philanthropist practiced
economy as we'll as law. maintained his
integrity, and has thereby been enable to
help the poor, educate aspiring boys and
girls of parents who are strangers to him,
spreading the gospel at home and abroad,
and without forgetting his own worthy
relatives, making the world better and
brighter.