The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1904-12-20

The rapidly growing millionaire
class in New York is as e~xtravapan
in its charities as in its cotflIions and
It's jewels. All the gear round al
moner of the very rich distribute
gratuities, but Christmas time .siIken
and golden purses open even wider
than usual and there is a prodigality
about these gifts which insures a
Christmas dinner if not a merry
Christmas to all the poor of a CITY
whose poverty has unquestionably
been oVerestimated.
All of the Christmas givers do not
belong to the same class. There are
those who give because they love the
Christmas season, and they really
sympathize with the poor who benefit
by their charities, and there are wom-
en-, notably those who are ANXIOUS
for social recognition, who rack their
brains for original ways to benefit the
poor and the sick, and incidentally to
get their names in the newspapers.
NAN AAAo-I III ~ "OIlI-
en- give so quietly that news of their
bounty eve finds its way into public
print Other women send typewrit
ten accounts OF their donations to city
editors. Many women famed for their
generosity. have pet charities and real
ly weary their friends by asking for
donations for The Home for Tired
Shop Girls" or The Settlement for
World Weary Seamstresses."
The simplest solution of the prob
lem is to contribute toward the public
dinners. Scores of millionaires give
gladly to hose Christmas dinners, and
the East Side halls are always rented
for this day. Admission is by ticket.
and a few days in advance the poor
of the ~neighborhood are invited to
make application. No questions are
asked, and often a youth with a
boundless appetite collects three
Christmas dinners in one day. These
dinners are usually under private aus
piceS and the names OF the donors
are never Known.
Of all the wives of millionafres the
women of the house of Gould do the
greatest amount of charity, and Miss
Helen Gould is known all over the
land as a thoroughly philanthropic
oma Miss Gould has under her
especial charge the Robins Nest
Home in TarrytoWn, where hundreds
of crippled children are yearly nursed
bach 10 health. Christmas day is a
gaia event for these little sufferers,
and IN the coy parlor q huge tree
stands laden with toys and books and
goodies" for Miss Gould's p~roteges.
Mrs. Edwin Gould and Mrs. Frank
Goul assist at these Christmas fes-
Invites. To mention all the proteges
of Miss Gould would be impossible.
She visits the Y. NJ. c. a. houses reg
ularly, and always provides some sort
of entertainment for the friendfess
members on Christmas.
Mrs. George Jay Gould believes
that charity begins at home.'' and
her regiment of servants at Georgian
Court. in Lakewood, have the most
delightful Christmas parties. The
Goulds have a dozen or more house
guests, and the friends and the ser
wants mingle at a grand ball, which
Mrs. Gould usually leads with the but
tier. Then come games of snap dra-
gon" and hide and seek" and for one
day absolute equality is maintained.
Mrs. Gould gives munificiently TO the
poor of Lakewood. and at the little
hospital there is usually an especial
dinner for the patients.
Hampstead, Westbury and Roslyn,
IN Long Island, are blessed by a
charitable group of millionaires, and
Christmas is observed by dinners and
entertainments for the poor. The fol-
lowing women always arrange =
Christmas entertainment for the pa
tents in the Nassau hospital, in Min
cola: Mrs. Foxhall Keene, Mrs Will
liam K. Vanderbilt. Jr., Mrs. Van Rem
seieaer Kennedy, Mrs A. Butler Dun
can and Mrs. Clarence II. Machay-
Only recently Mrs. Mackay opened her
splendid estate Harbcr HILL" for the
benefit of this hospital, and cleared up
$4,000. She and her friends waited
on the rustic oh of Long Island and
served them with tea and less tenn
perate drinks at extortionate prices.
Mrs. Oliver e. p. Belmont is espec-
tally interested in poor children, ana