The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1911-10-25
FOR THE LONESOME
WHAT JOHN ARBUCKLE, COFFEE
KING, HAS DONE TO RELIEVE
THEIR DISTRESS.
PHILANTHROPY THAT'S UNIQUE

Another's Society. All of the Pro
prieties RigidIy Observed.
NEW YORK; desert overflow
ing with frigid humanity is the way
New York appears to thousands Of
young men and women, who become
filled with a loneliness that has been
called the worst disease in the city
These unfortunates are clerks and
office workers whose salaries or wag-
es are barely enough to keep them
alive and who have absolutely no
home life Little or mediocre sue
cess has been their lot, and they
have found themselves stranded in
a vast desert of humanity, fighting
hard to keep above the surface and
buoyed only with the pitiful hope
that maybe the next or the next
month or the next year will bring
good fortune. But it is always the
indeterminate future, growing dark
er and darker each day, with few mo-
ments of cheer to make them for
get.
In all their multitudinous discour-
agements and setbacks nothing
brushes hope, ambition and the heart
itself like a six by eight hall bed
room, restaurant fare and a staring
crowd of strange faces, such as these
young people are forced to endure.
The desert, with it's whirling and
suffocating sand storms; the turbu-
lent and desolate far north; the roar
ing, battering seas of gale-swept
Cape Horn, hold no such terrors as
these cherries cubbyholes of habi-
tation, with their one-ring gas stove,
spotted white enameled chair and
forlorn looking wash pitcher, nicked
and broken-mouthed.
The happy ones with many friends
may be a trife skeptical concerning
the severity of an attack of nostalgia,
which is the medical term for home
sickness, but for proof of its dire eff
fects they have only to turn to the
civil war records where it is shown
that 100000 men died from this
cause alone during that regrettable
struggle. All praise, then, to those
who strive to relieve those in such
distress. Among those most noted
for their efforts along this line is
John Arbuckle, the coffee king, who
has brought cheer to thousands of
lonely hearts.
Mr.. Arbuckle, whose philanthro-
pies have spread in all directions, got
the idea eight years ago, when re-
turning from a trip to Europe, that
a large ship turned into a floating
hotel, aboard which young women
and young men could take a regular
ocean voyage for the cost of a river
excursion, would be a charitable
thing. He purchased the Jacob A.
Stamler, fitted her up throughout
and anchored the craft off the Statue
Of Liberty. He planned the first trip
over a Sunday, and Saturday evening
the young folk crowded the vessel,
every room being taken almost be-
fore the rush began. The Stamler
went out past Sandy Hook and down
along the coast over night, through
Sunday and returned early Monday
morning so that her passengers,
most of whom were employed in
stores and factories, could be at their
business on time. The first trip the
boat was damned, but during the
week no one went out, and Mr.. Ar
buckle gave it up.
Then he turned the vessel over to
the air-staryed mothers and children.
He filled the vessel, and sometimes
had as many as 1000 persons
aboard, He sent them out to sea
with plenty of good things to eat
and luxuries like candy, lemonade
and ice cream, and a lively band.
Then Came the Slocum disaster, and
Mr.. Arbuckle, fearing that similar
fire might start on his recreation
ship, abandoned this charity.
Knowing that the ship could be put
to some very good use he decided to
make home for working people
with good, substantial, healthful
food, home-like cooking and com.
Portable, well-ventilated rooms, al
prices that would make it attractive
to those of small means. He had
formed this plan after visit to g
home for wo king girls, but in the
latter place he had found one great
fault. He declared the men and wo.
men should be brought together and
announced that he intended to have
home for women and mes His
ideas were opposed by the profes.
al