Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1908-11-12
OPEN HANDED CHARITY
Chicago Man Takes Day off to
Aid the Unemployed.
THURSDAY HIS GIVING DAY.
j. w. Gossard, a Manufacturer, De-
votes That Part of Week to Charity,
the Rest to Business-Gave Men In
New York Cash to Start Anew.

the Rest to Business-Gave Men In
New York Cash to Start Anew.
Lending money upon promissory
notes which would not be regarded as
good collateral by any bank and Civ
ing away money without asking the
recipient of his bounty to tell either
why he needs it or what he intends to
do with 1t are two elements in plan
of relief recently put into effect in
New York city by ]. w. Gossard of
Chicago.
Mr.. Gossard is q manufacturer of
corsets in Chicago. Being in New
York to attend to business, he Incl
dentally put into practice his plan of
giving each of his Thursdays and a
large part of his income to the poor
Mr.. Gossard never works on Thurs
day. He says that he looks upon his
activities of that day as play.
I'm tell you what l did today" he
said a few days ago to n reporter Of
the New York Herald, 'and you can
see for yourself whether | didn't have
a good time. rode from West Eight
ieth street to the Battery on a street
car. There wasn't anybody on the
car that looked as If he needed help.
If there had been l would have buttcd
do anything.
There's many n good chap who is
pretty close TO the ropes, but who will
never whimper. Yet he needs help to
tide him over for a little while, and
it's part OF my plan when | see a man
l think is in this class to jump right
in and announce myself.
sitting on the benches at the Bat
terry looking out into the harbor were
more men than | could count. III bet
that ain st every one Of them was
broke. can tell that broke, down
and out look long way off. 1 didn't
have my sandwiches with me. | hapd-
ed out money instead. In Chicago |
go out into Grant park, on the lake
front, with sandwiches, and l always
find hungry men to give them to. |
let the men at the Battery buy their
own food. One of them told me he
meant to fill up on pie. l hope he got
an he wanted. It's no cinch to be
broke and have your whole being
longing for pie and no way to get it,
A man can get lot hungrier for pie
than he can for bread.
"I went down the line In Battery
park picking out the chaps that looked
more down on their luck than the 9th
ers. It's funny, but l didn't find amy
boozers. Every man that drops be.
hind the procession doesn't lose out
through booze. You'll find plenty of
reformers that will tell you that drink
drives almost everybody off the track
A lot of the men | talked TO Were
straight. clean. honest fellows that
either hadn't had the right opportuni
ty or that didn't have the ability to
take advantage of the opportunities
they had,
II went right up to them and asked
them how things were going and if
couldn't do something for them
asked them as IL meant what | said
too A kind word and a smile do a lot
more good than half dollar but
don't forget to give the half. One man
told me he had the promise of joh
in a week He told where he was
going to work, but he couldn't tell, be
cause he didn't know, where he was
going to eat till he and that job got
together. So | staked him to enough
to last him till his next pay day.
viii | get it back? | wish | was
as sure of everything in this world
as that | am that that fellow will
make good. l had him sign a promis-
sorry note-good ninety days after
date. l set the time myself. He want
ed TO promise to pay me out Of his
first wages. He needed clothes more
than l needed the money, so told him
I'd try to wait ninety days for my
money. | have loaned thousands OF
dollars just this way. and most of II
has come back to me. Some of 1t that
| haven't got yet is on It's way.
81 cleaned UP Battery park as well
as | could. and then l went over to
the Bowery. | know the Bowery bet
ter than a lot of New Workers know
IT. l know that plenty of their patrons
would have addresses on more fashion
able streets If they only had slap on
the back and little money handed TO
them at the right time | spent four
hours on the Bowery, and quit be-
cause my money ran out. found one
man who said he hadn't seen n whole
dollar In months. He had been living
along on nickels and dimes. What
kind of a real start in life do you
think man can get on nickel ana
a dime? | gave him enough to hep
him get on his feet. | didn't patronizr
him or any of the other unlucky chaps
l met. Condescension takes all the
sweetness out of what you do for
them
81 didn't preach either. | just talked
to the men | met in n common sense
fashion, and | found almost every one
of them had still some ambition left
There's no sense In letting n man get
to be bum. My way Is to stop him
before he gives up hope
''In Chicago | have n little office
especially for this Thursday work Of
mine. Some of my friends call it my
Thursday church. When you look at it
the right way charity Is the greatest
way In which man can help not only
Others, but himself. The right kind Of
charity means helping a man to help
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