Atlanta Georgian. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, December 28, 1912, HOME, Image 16

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*<Rp Ww / L t niu >< )i0 J&r K F; S\ <Sy fc? \.AWpMt, £t5 *AX/m ,^xt-1 - ~J I (*wßr, . \ a. Z5 s ' , ?k. 1 —x I. \ XII t Mr^®& r >p3Kaik ul£9 &7 ) - 'Xrvfe 1 i 1 ' S 'C' z bjM HEm '■ - s .Jj|HHaaik W-- E& WZ mg&>A MgrAafe. 'Or/ SLJt I- ■ jl-ir •wiw -■ WSwWI KS&wf l\ yC\ WWr |MI 9® ■• frwoJKJwM Mw ; IBHw wSw 9 £1 Ww tet# Ml ®Mr yJn zf^jOljiwMl |i|p®p MbBwHB Rjllblr '’o^^' i r‘-4' I • B-i jUB r Wr/' ® t W F FW vii Ii w wRk If?? HowOOOO ■ ■' Ffeople Mrs. Ife* Harriman for 261000,000 The Remarkable Efforts of the Financier’s Widow s < to Discover the Worthy Among Those Who Asked Her For Three Tinies Her Entire Fortune— j And the Surprising Things She Found Out FIND THEM ruU will never miss It," is y th.? favorite argument ■*■ of the begging letter writer. The fallacy of thia argument Is apparent, iu the authorized state ment that within two years after the death of E. 11. Harriman, the railway magnate, his widow re ceived 6,000 begging letters asking for nn aggregate of $267,000,000. What is the conscientious, philan throplcally inclined master or mis tress of millions to do In such a situation? Laboriously examine in to the merits of each application for nmioilal aid, submit to being im poverished. or throw all the begging letters into the waste basket? Mrs. Harriman chose the course first named. First, to the limit of her time and strength, she read and analyzed each of those 6,000 beg ging letters. Then, convinced that many of them contained legitimate requests, she submitted the whole correspondence for expert analysis to William H. Allen, Director of the Bureau of Municipal Research and National Training School for Pub lic Service. The extremely Inter esting, and often surprising, result is Mr. Alien's book, lately isseud by Dodo. Mead fc Co., N. Y., and called Modern Philanthropy; a Study of Efficient Appealing and Giving" In a foreword Mrs. Harriman Writes: "Gifts spiritual, gifts mental, and gifts material are the three greatest means of expressing human Inter est. They have been unequally be stowed upon men and unequally ob tained by men.” "Man’s Individual gifts must be used systematically as well as sym pathetically to be successful In their mission of benefiting himself. his country and his race." With the aid of a card index sys tem, Mr. Allen classified and anal yzed those 6,000 begging letters sent tc Mrs. Harriman. Two of his in teresting conclusions are: "Tim. those who give ‘without missing it' are sure to miss it in their giving.” "That there is need for a corre spondence school In the art of ap pealing and the art of giving.” For example as to the former, the emotionally metaphorical woman who wrote asking Mrs. Harriman for "Just one drop from your over flowing bucket for a sister in deep waters.” "Please do sit down nnd write a check for one million dollars," wrote another woman. "It will look so small that you will see you'll never miss the sum and make me famous and fortunate.” A man writing from California was so tactless as to convey a hint about the Biblical camel and needle's eye: "You could ■ never miss $1,700, and when a man goes t-» the home beyond he cannot take his riches with him.” Three thousand of these letters '.ere from men. women and chll ’ren In the United States, asking ■_2.00u.000 for themselves; 1,400 ■ersonal letters from Europe, Asia. Africa and Australia asked for 132,000.000: ijoo benevolent agen cies iu the United States wanted —< . ♦ $207,000,000, while various Institu tions in foreign countries asked for $6,000,000. Yet, writes the expert: "With few exceptions requests are prefaced with the assurance that writers want only what Mrs Harriman would never miss.” Two oat of three of these begging letters were from women; less than ten per cent asked aid for others-- the majority of these personal beg gars had "troubles of their own.” One letter in twenty-five. only, was from a minor: but tbpse were near ly always altruistic, often In the interest of "mamma, who is sick and worrying for the debts." Only about one in ten of the personal letters were from illiterate persons, while 338 were apparently from persons of far more than average education. “It is not merely thh slum-dwell er,” writes Mr. Allen, “or the slum worker In a great city who writes to the rich men and women adver tised in the press. On the con trary. 3,500 different localities are represented by these 6.000 appeals For Mrs. Harriman’s office and ou own we prepared two pin maps in dicating the localities in the United States after the first 3,000 letters had come. Little black pins mean individuals asking for themselves and families. Large red pins are used for colleges and universities, little red ones for industrial schools, etc.; white for churches, green for hospitals, yellow for boys' clubs; blue for homes and asylums, lav ender for scientific and civic bodies. In explaining why so much study was given to these letters, Mr. Al len, who seems to be speaking for Mrs Harriman, says. "The first twenty or fifty times one reads: 'You will _ _ _ ... i. ~ never miss such a trifle, while to mt one thous and dollars would look like Heaven itself,' the heart response is im mediate. It seems im perative to answer an appeal to save a tuber culosis fiance, rescue a paralyzed baby, rebuild a church that was struck by lightening, supply the last fifty thousand toward a col lege which will il lumine a State,’ or give an old couple the longed-for trip back home. “What right have I with an income of SSO or SSOO a day to hesi tate when I pass dis tress, or when it comes to me in my morning mall? "Is there any lesson in these hundreds of appeals for me, for others who want to give wisely, fo r tllo9e who ask and for those who are trying to un derstand, Interpret and direct social forces?" So even personal let ters were carefully an alyzed that contained excuses like these: reo-T. <g) B-r J Co N 'f -W ’ * ** A few simple pretty clothe.-", for a girl of 22. "Do you blame me for not wanting to marry him when he is wealthy unless I have them?” "Merely the gift of an auto mobile for my aged mother and myself, which would be nothing In your sight: S4OO in the Lord’s name." for a minister whose present auto mobile is worn out. "A tombstone so expensive that i am unable to do much, still it is a sacred duty.” Money to put an artificial leg on the market. Twenty-five dollars to pay for copyright of a drama Fifty dollars to carry out a plan to keep a family of twelve children from tormenting their neighbors. To pay debts contracted without hgr husband’s knowledge. "This letter will reach you on Saturday. Wil) you have the kind ness to send tue an answer by spe cial delivery, us on Sunday ordinary mail is not circulated. My time in limited in ,h in hotel." "One of the freakiest letters.' writes Mr. Allen, "fairly reeking with i insincerity, was from a man who | claimed to have spent ten years j demonstrating from first-hand con- 1 ta<t that ‘it is worth while to investigate the horrors, disgraces, malevolent and ignorant outrages, procedures intensely dangerous to health and life itself, now borne with equanimity and patience by all the generous nnd trustful public among ordinary cheap restaurants where the majority of our Americans are now getting their pot luck. ” The tactlessness of many of these mendicant letter writers was amaz ing. A wife whose busband was "in bad health and unable to work” ad- ill 'W I I \vc \ c AX -WwK 'J' ® I I »' \ ' S I J Hfc, “■ It II I i « ? I lib * I I Mfr * I ,iUk t W x'- y Wjv- .V-' x-. v' : .-V ■ <S: k z-J'* ..- IK' ’ . • 1* Above Is Mary Harri- man. Now Mrs. C. C. Rumsey; Below Miss Farol Harriman, Daugh %. tors Whose Financial Welfare the Late Mr. '< Harriman Left in H.s ". Wife’s Hands Together with Hi. Whole Fortune. « X i / What They Asked For l 'BOO Wanted Cutright Gifts of $8,000,000. 617 Wanted 216 Wanted to Sell Objects for $8,000,000. 238 Wanted Employment and Investment Tips. ■?3 O Wanted Business Capital of $5,000,000. 500 Wanted $1,500,000 tc Buy Homes. ' jffljllMWr 206 Wanted $120,000 for Medical Care. ■IOO American Benevolent Agencies Asked $207,000,000. Foreign Letters Asked for $32,000,000. ’ Z 150 Foreign Institutions Asked for $6,000 000 ~~ '' -irs. Harriman's Entire Fortune Is Only $75,000,002. - - —■ ' V; \ A-~4-—,.,i I 1 v x. i ’I » ■ f "■v a- -X y ■ x \ -t lentl !J C at,t, Civic Bodied The Colors of k p- ' z- l he.r D stnbut.cn Can Be. The lllu.tr.lin ‘.’’V"” ann< ’‘ Be Seen on ,hr °py. ’ the Remarkable Book Det WiU;am H ... hat De,I “ ! » ‘he Harriman Begging dressed Mrs. Harriman . as "Dear Sis in Christ." A business man In need of more capita! started bls letter to Mrs. Harriman with ‘he inquiry, "is your soul savedT’ fe, 3ft A woman who ndmltt- ihut she was only “the candlestick of Heaven's light" wanted the means of financing ' • tost art of letter writ- A man with a record of fifty-eight jail sen fences in one year de ■P 1 ' sires the means of plac- Ing on the market a ‘‘health remedy made , of celery water." A champion crank WWI W ended his letter I h BB "Yours for the Itntnedl- HB ate restoration of truth. justice and sexless pro gre«s as the sound basic principle of all things common iu ..... .as. uays." And signed, "Mizpah." Dread of the "waste basket” cropped out in many of the letters. This Is a favorite expression of that dread: "In the name of humanity do not throw this letter into the waste basket until you have read it." Hundreds “do protest too much" at the start, ns: "This is not a begging letter.” And, “If you knew how it hurts me to write.” And. "1 am not an impostor," and, "if you will ask tny minister.” etc. Many of the requests from charity nnd other benevolent institutions con tained phrases that were monuments of imbecility, bad taste and insincer ity. Here are a few examples: "I have set tny alarm clock for 2 a m. Each time it rings I will rise and ask God to ask you for $50,000.' "God lovcth a cheerful giver." “May the Holy Spirit do His work in your heart and lead you to give $1,500,000” (to a Western uulver- ‘ oJuJ ” We WOUlti a reply over your own signature.” ! kJ 1 !. Was a Vely great P’ensure ro f ' l , ,cp J 11 0"” »ud to know of i God s kindly dealings with vou P S ‘ fJ7 m.i 3, T a ? 0Ve ’ ls not true ro fact, but I trust you are to be a co- Jaborer and so I send this with a Photograph of myself." It is recognized that begging let ■ ters must be examined carefully as a basis for discriminate and helpful giving, fn Pome cases a beg ? ina letter furnishes evidence that the writer should have other attention at once that some one should -Ing for an ambulance" For in Heat That Makes Iron Boil Like Water FOR some years past scientific men have been striving to pro duce heat fiercer than any tem perature of which we have experi ence in ordinary life. The greatest heat ever developed by the agency of man was obtained by Sir Andrew Noble, who exploded cordite in closed vessels, so that a pressure of Huy tons to the square inch was registered, and a degree of heat never previously recorded. The highest temperature reached in fuel furnaces for practical pur poses is between 1,700 and 1,800 de grees centigrade, and at such a heat fireclay and porcelain are melted then we come to the flame fed with hydrogen and oxygen, or oxygen nda coal gas; by these means a temperature of 2.000 degrees centi grade may be obtained. ‘ A new industry solely dependent upon the employment of great heat is that of melting quartz. This min eral. fused by the oxy - hvdrogen flame, is converted into tubes and flasks and other vessels for chemi cal purposes. These vessels are ab solutely inert, and may be heated hundreds of degrees higher than is possible with glass; they mav also be plunged at such heat into cold water without, injury. " ■ [ ,1r«. Mary W. Harriman, Widow f the Lata Financier Mrs. Harriman’s Ber ’ ging Map—the Most Remarkable Map in tb* World, as the Beggi.-S Letters Came in tas Places They Were Sent f ron. Wer- Marked with Pins —Little Black Pins ’ for Individuals, Largs ; Red Pins for Colleges and Universities. Little Rod Pins for Industrial t Schools, etc., White for Churches. Green for Hospitals. Yellow for Boys’ Clubs, Blue for Homes. Lavender for this Reproduction, but Allen's "Modern Philan , Letlei Research. St '"A C man who leaves file wife children in an institution and ■ rows money from hotel clerks ' which to buy newspaper and 11 ■- quotations to further one of tne greatest constructive schemes to make $850,000,000' should be exam ined for his sanity. Otherwise, in stead of becoming one of the m >s’ ‘helpful, progressive and useful men of my time,' lie may easily become a homicide.” Accordingly—with Mrs. Harri man's encouragement —Mr Alien's bonk ends with a carefully thought out “Magna Chartn for It has been discovered that by whirling a centrifugal wheel .t lii'tb velocity in the combustion-chan, of a furnace the nitrogen is cast to one side, while the oxygen h: con centrated, and in this way a brier' er flame and greater heat . .? ■a tained. A similar appliaii' ■ us 1 during the combustion of coal !u a furnace enabled a firm of p makers to save twenty-seven per cent of theii co’al bill by the elimi nation of the hydrogen gas formed in combustion. But most remarkable of a phases of the utilization of extrer.n heat is th .; discovery of the welding material known as thermit. Ihe inventor discovered that aluminium is very much attached to oxygen, and holds it closer than a brother Therefore he mixed granulated a »• minium with oxide of iron, forth» lighter metal wants oxygen, and tin 1 oxide of iron has it to give. A small quantity of magnesium filings was placed on top of the mixture and a storm-match applied, and itmned. ately a mass of molten iron v. is seen boiling at a temperature 3,000 degrees centigrade —m ■' 1 higher than any temperature in or dinary use.