The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1906-09-13

Gould were c-onies. They had similar
ileas, and the. wills We're remarkably
alike. Their intimacy was shared by
their families, and Mrs. Gould and
MIS- Sage were also chums. After
Mrs. Gould's death Mrs. Sage became
a second mother to Helen. On Russell
'Sage's casket the largest floral wreaths
We're left by George, Helen and How
ard Could
| 1t is known that Mrs. Sage is wait
| ing for Helen Gould's return from Eu-
rope before deciding what form her
benefactions are to take The great
public that has come to appreciate
Helen Gould at her true worth rather
than at her moneys worth will be re-
assured by this fact. They will feel
along lines of common sense and gen
uine kindness. The benefactions will
be helpful rather than hurtful to their
objects. The motive of their giving
will not be selfish, but altruistic. That
one fact determines everything.
A Life of Self Denial.
However much we may oppose sys-
TENS, institutions and public wrongs,
we can be kindly and just to indi-
viduals. Mrs. Russell Sage is as much
a victim of capitalism as is the poorest
laborer in a factory or mine. She had
nothing to do with creating it and
little or no part in accommodating the
| mill hot n. in, ho,.
is not even certain that she sym
pathizes with the system that gave
them to her. Probably she does not
even understand it. All her life has
been one of repression and self denial
She has had few if any luxuries, has
never travelled abroad and but little i'll
her own country, has had little outlet
for her natural kindness except char
table work, and the means for that
were often denied, and she has been
without children. that browning glory
and dearest solace of any woman's life.
4 Now in her old age she is left alone
with heritage Of cold dollars that can
be nothing less than responsibility
and burden. Yet she is brave
through it all, with that old Puritan
bravery that never makes cutlery. A
pathetic figure, is she not? She is poor
in the very poverty of riches.
The writer does not believe in inor-
dinate wealth. Rather he believes in
the law Of recompense, that only those
are entitled to wealth who create it or
who render equivalent service therefor
Yet he can find in his heart for wo-
man like Mrs. Russell Sage, whom all
the world envies. nothing but a spirit
of compassion. What has she after all I?
Loneliness. old age. responsibility; law
yers and heirs quarreling over the dol
lars with whose stewardship she is
charged; millions of hands reaching to
her, millions of voices crying to her to
give; many eyes looking at her in envy
or avarice, few, so few, in love; many
hearts filled with resentment that she
has what they want SO much and are
denied. The richest woman in the
world. How hollow it sounds! Love
only maketh full, love and truth and
trust. The bereaved heart cannot feed
upon dollars, the inward yearning is
not satisfied with treasure and bank
rolls. The loneliness is not peopled by
check books and credits
The jingling of coin does not drown
out the memory of the clods falling
upon a coffin lid, neither does the vel
low CLEAN of gold Danish the image OF
a white, still face.
Somebody ought to write book Oh
the pathos of riches, not of the vul.
.3, in, toll;
sensation, but of the finer natures who
are isolated by their wealth, who have
tired of its hired pleasures and who
feel the lack of all else. Why cannot
the world come to look at things as
they are?
An Opportunity to Do Good.
Yet Mrs. Sage's millions give her