The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-16
MISS HELEN GOULD
 SOON ID MARRY
Engagement to F. J. Shep- ard, Prominent Railroad
 Man, Announced

Lakewood, N. J., December 15.--An-
 nouncement of the engagement of Miss
 Helen Miller Gould of New York to Finley
 J. Shepard, a prominent railroad man of
 St. Louis. was made this afternoon at the
 residence of MT. and Mrs. George J.
 Gould here.
 It was said that announcement of the 1 time and place of the wedding would be
 withheld for the present, and this state-
 ment was confirmed upon inquiry at the
 residence of Miss Gould in New York. Mir. Gould made known his sisters en-
 gagement in formal statement, which
 read:
 MT. and Mrs George J Gould announce l the engagement of their sister, Miss Helen
 Miller Gould, to MT. Finley J. Shepard of St. Louis.
 Asked whether he desired to say any thing additional concerning the engage | ment, MT. Gould laughed and remarked
 that there Will be nothing more, except that this engagement is most pleasing to Mrs. Gould and myself.''
 MT. Shepard has long been prominently identified with railroad and financial af- fairs in the west. He is at present as- eistant to the president of the Missouri Pacific railroad, with headquarters in St. Louis.
 Finley J. Shepard met Miss Gould soon after entering the operating department Of the Missouri Pacific-Iron Mountain lines in June 1911. He accompanied Miss Gould and her party last March over the Denver and Rio Grande lines when she made a tour of inspection of the railroad Y. M. c. A. buildings. A close friendship sprang up from the trip. MT. Shepard is 45 years old and the son of a Connecticut minister. who died re- gently He has been in railroad work since 1889. Before entering the service of the Gould lines he was with the Northern
 Pacific and the Santa Fe. When B. F. Bush, president of the Mis- souri-Iron Mountain lines, was also chosen president of the Denver and Rio
 Grande in January. 1912, MT. Shepard was selected as his assistant, and recently his appointment as assistant to President
 Bush on the Missouri Pacific-Iron Noun tain with jurisdiction over all departments was announced
 Since coming to St. Louis IS months ago MT. Shepard has been active so- | cially and is known as lover of books, a musician of critical taste and an all around athlete.
 Upon the death of her father, Jay Gould, in 1892, Helen Gould, then 24 years old. inherited a fortune of about SIC, ,O00, ,000. It has been estimated that by investment she has trebeled this | fortune, and at the same time devoted | fully half of her time to benefactions which brought her into world prom l thence.
 She began her benefactions during I the Spanish American war when she gave time and several hundred thous- ands of dollars to the relief of sick and wounded soldiers, for which she | received the thanks of Congress. In I 1899 she led a woman's movement for i the unseating of Brigham H. Roberts, congressman from Utah, as a demon-
 stration against polygamy later she l became devoted to the interests of rail- l road employees and toward the estab- | lishment of the Railroad Young Mems ] Christian association she gave her per sonal attention and upward of mil l lion dollars Several railroad Y. M. c. l A. buildings, othePs for naval men, and several for the Young Womans S Chrls- l tian association have been erected in
 cities throughout the United States
 through her generosity.
 l One of the unique forms of her char | ity hast been the personal receptions she has given to hundreds of city waifs
 and self supporting women at her es- | tate near Tarrytown, N. r., which ln-
 cludes great playground especially | fitted up for these parties She has never been attracted by society only last July Miss Gould figured 1 in a controversy with the Rev. El-
 mer F. Huffner of Grand Junction, Col,
 when he dealt severely with "bachelor
 maids" in a sermon, declaring spinsters | should be isolated.
 Miss Could was quoted as replying l that he did a great injustice to the
 bachelor maids. particularly to those who devoted themselves to ideals for I the advancement of civilization. As to
 her own case she said:
 of I had found a suitable helpmate
 I might have spent my money in diff
 ferent way and way which might not I have done as much good as it has" 1 Since the death of her parents Miss Gould has been the intimate friend of
 Mrs. Russell Sage. who has been one
 of her advisers in business and phil
 anthropy,