The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-28

The announcement of Miss Helen Gould's engag gement to MT Shepard has been the occasion Of interest among people throughout the world, for the benevolence of this splendid woman is known everywhere; her personality has created comment and her benefactions while performed without ostentation, have been so public that she is one of the worlds most widely known phil
 anthropists. Her engagement continues to be a subject for paragraphers on both sides of the Atlantic. As to the details of the approaching wedding but little has been made known A so- ciety journal of the week, published in New York. has, however, this informa tion:
 owing to the recent death of his father, the Rev. Peter L. Shepard, the wedding will be quiet. Mrs. Peter L. Shepard, his mother, is at New Haven, Conn, where she has been patient in the New Haven hospital. Five years ago she lost her sight from the re- suit of a fall in her home in Clinton. Conn, and she is S5 years of age. MT. Shepard is 45. An interview held with him in St. Louis credits him with tho following statement: q was a mem- Der of the party that accompanied Miss Gould over the Gould lines and where before l had admired her in an imper- sonal way, for the wonderful human ity and beauty of her nature, l was then charmed by her remarkable per sonality and her acceptance of me has flattered me highly and made me thor oughly happy" In religion Miss Gould has been a devout Presbyterian and the Goulds were members of the West Side Presbyterian church for years. Miss Gould's largest gifts have been for the extension of the work of the Young Mems Christian association. especially among the men of the army and navy and among employees of railroads. Be- sides these she has donated $100,000 to Vassar college, an equal sum to the United States government at the open ing of the war with Spain; s3S0,000 to the New York university; $100, 900 to establish the Hall of Fame at the uni- yersity; $50,000 to endow the navy branch at the Y. NJ. c. A. in Sands
 
 the army and navy Y. M. c. A. at Old Point Comfort and to the r. M. c. A. at Richmond, Va. In addition to these gifts Miss Gould has made many do- nations to private charities and has built the Gould Memorial church at Roxbury, her fathers birthplace, where she has country house. Although Miss Gould was introduced at a large recep- Fashionable life as have the other mem bers of her family. She resides at 1rvington- -on- Hudson for part of the year and comes to town in winter, when she occupies No. 579 Fifth avenue, her fathers house, which was given to her at his death. Here she has one or two receptions during the season, but she sends out cards to her many friends, quite exclusive of social caste.
 Town and Country magazine in to- days issue notes that:
 Last week at the opera. Miss Helen Gould's engagement to MT. F1nlay J. Shepard was one of the topics of chief interest during the intermissions and there were men in the parterre who re- called her in the days when she sat beside her father, the late Jay Gould. in the first box at the right. She had simple gowns with ribbon crossing from her right shoulder in a diagonal line to her waist at the left. With so many self assumed duties of a noble ing and has no inclination to join the