£15,000 TO CHARITY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVIII, Issue 81916, 17 January 1907, Page 4

£15,000 TO CHARITY.

-MRS SAGE'S DECISION. •■'J'lllKl) (.IF PIvIiSI'XTTION." New York. November l:i. "Mrs Sage, widow of Sage, Ameii'ca's most "careful*' miHionanvi makes an authorised announcement to-day regarding her plans to L'iw sway the bulk of tin- i;l.-).()i)il.(ll)l)'ii'l'L by her husband. In hriel'. s'lie says She has not known two davs," n-<l since her husband died, and that she has been worried alnn si to death bv imm.y-seckci's ami I.'iter writers ol almost every e!a-s from all parts of the world. Vow she is determined to put u stop t„ Hie nTseeiitioii. which is proving lon imu-h'l'or her declining yc.is an.l >s,v will uivc nwav mo.-t of the late Inlander's carefully "to live on quietly and comfortably." She does not believe ill endowing churches and other institutions, but she will do her best, she says, to help young churches with poor' congregations struggling vo meet their pav mcnls. i'.cr desire is to lio'p individuals rather than institutions or associations, and she will ciioosc for preference ail those people who. through no fault of theb- own, are so unfortunate as to need assistance, and who are too proud to ask for it. She. gives no names', but says sire knows many such eases. she will not give a cent to the promicuous beggars.

For one thing. Mrs Sage intends making everyone who was faithful to Mr Sage comfortable, as she knows that is what he wished her to do. She will not forget the unfortunate man whom her husband used as a shield in defending himself against an anarchist's bomb. That man's bony is now maimed for life as the result of his act in protecting her husband from a premature death.

"I have had but two days' rest/ 7 says the widow, '•since my husband's death. On those days it'storined so hard that no one ventured here. 1 am not seeking advice as to the disposal of the money, but thousands have written telling me how ;o do so. One man, the president of a, college, wrote me that if 1 would give i>,im charge of my entire fortune he would invest it so that the income, would support his college fcfr ever without further aid, and he told me how thankful 1 shotlld be for being able to do 'such a splehdid work. More than 7000 letters have been taken away from my house in two mouths without being opened. My secretary opens them anil submits to me those she considers worthy of my attention. I have a great work to do. and but a hort time in which to do it."

Mr Sage's wealth was largely the resuMt of his life-long habits of 'execs sive economy. He was known as the most careful man in Wall street. As his fortune grew his expenditure for purely personal needs and comforts diminished. He lunched on a penny apple when his income was move than .UOO.OOO a year. Once he was seen buying a twopenny toothbrush at a forced 'sale, and he paid i'2 for bis suit of clothes. His one thought in business was to pile up money. This he did for more than ha.l' a century, and now, perhaps, within the next 12 months, Mrs Sage will give it practically all away.—London Daily Te.'ograpii.