SOPHIE LYONS AIDS EVICTED FAMILY

 REFORMED CONFIDENCE WOMAN TAKES IN WHEELERS, WHO LIVED IN TENT

 

VERSES IN JEWISH BIBLE INFLUENCE HER TO ACTION—WANTS TO SHOW CHARITY

 

Mrs. Sophie Lyons-Burke was reading a Jewish prayer book in her home at 42 Twenty-third Street yesterday afternoon. She had just completed the following, which is a prayer for joyful¹ occasions, when she had a visitor:

 

[Pg 266]

 

"Thou, O God, hast always been gracious unto me and hast often sent me joys even when I least deserved them. For all this abundance of Thy goodness I humbly² thank Thee, and for the new happiness that comes to me (and my household) my soul is filled with gratitude³. Let me not grow overbearing in prosperity nor arrogant⁴ because of my success, but let me enjoy Thy blessings⁵ with becoming gratitude and humility⁶. Nor let me ever forget that the most acceptable thank-offering is to bring light and joy to those that sit in darkness and affliction, and give heed⁷ to the hungry and comfort the broken-hearted. May I, by doing what is pleasing to Thee, continue to find grace and favor in Thy sight."

 

Everybody knows Sophie Lyons. They know about her past and about her present husband, who got into a Swedish prison through a little affair over diamonds, causing Sophie to cross the sea to cheer him up. They know of her utterance⁸ that a husband should be allowed an affinity⁹ now and then to add to the zest¹⁰ of his life, but in this instance she appears in a different light. Long ago she "squared it" with the police. Now she is evidently trying to "square it" with a higher authority. And this connects the prayer with the visitor.

 

The man who rapped on her door was A. H. Jones, inspector¹¹ for the city poor commission. He was weary and almost discouraged, having been out since early morning looking for a home for the Wheelers. The Wheelers, husband, wife and six children, had been evicted¹² from their residence at 92 Calahan Street Monday, the owner desiring to sell and not to rent the place. From then on they lived in a tent-like structure in a vacant lot alongside the house they had inhabited.

 

"You own a cottage at 51 Twenty-third Street?" asked Mr. Jones.

 

"Yes," was the reply; "but it is rented, I guess. Anyway, a man has agreed to take it."

 

Then followed the recital¹³ of the troubles of the Wheelers, the attempts of the city agent to find shelter, the offer of $10 a month for the barn and the failure because of the children.

 

[Pg 267]

 

Mrs. Burke thought for a moment. Then she smiled:

 

"See here what I was reading," she said. "'The most acceptable thank-offering is to bring light and joy to that sit in darkness.' You may put that family in that house. It has been remodeled, and is just about new. It has seven rooms and a bathroom, and will be all right, I guess. I will tell you why I am doing this.

 

"If I have all the world and have not charity I can never enter the gates of heaven."

 

The Wheelers moved to-day. Their furniture was all arranged about the tent, so there was no taking up of carpets or anything like that, loading into a van being all that was necessary. If it rains to-night, the man, incapacitated from work, won't lie awake and shiver and wonder how long it will take the downpour to soak through his shelter. He and his will be safe beneath a roof, a roof belonging to Sophie Lyons-Burke.

1 joyful   

adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的

参考例句：

• She was joyful of her good result of the scientific experiments.她为自己的科学实验取得好成果而高兴。
• They were singing and dancing to celebrate this joyful occasion.他们唱着、跳着庆祝这令人欢乐的时刻。

2 humbly   

adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地

参考例句：

• We humbly beg Your Majesty to show mercy. 我们恳请陛下发发慈悲。
• "You must be right, Sir,'said John humbly. “你一定是对的，先生，”约翰恭顺地说道。

3 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。

4 arrogant   

adj.傲慢的，自大的

参考例句：

• You've got to get rid of your arrogant ways.你这骄傲劲儿得好好改改。
• People are waking up that he is arrogant.人们开始认识到他很傲慢。

5 blessings   

n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福

参考例句：

• Afflictions are sometimes blessings in disguise. 塞翁失马，焉知非福。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We don't rely on blessings from Heaven. 我们不靠老天保佑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 humility   

n.谦逊，谦恭

参考例句：

• Humility often gains more than pride.谦逊往往比骄傲收益更多。
• His voice was still soft and filled with specious humility.他的声音还是那么温和，甚至有点谦卑。

7 heed   

v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心

参考例句：

• You must take heed of what he has told.你要注意他所告诉的事。
• For the first time he had to pay heed to his appearance.这是他第一次非得注意自己的外表不可了。

8 utterance   

n.用言语表达，话语，言语

参考例句：

• This utterance of his was greeted with bursts of uproarious laughter.他的讲话引起阵阵哄然大笑。
• My voice cleaves to my throat,and sob chokes my utterance.我的噪子哽咽，泣不成声。

9 affinity   

n.亲和力，密切关系

参考例句：

• I felt a great affinity with the people of the Highlands.我被苏格兰高地人民深深地吸引。
• It's important that you share an affinity with your husband.和丈夫有共同的爱好是十分重要的。

10 zest   

n.乐趣；滋味，风味；兴趣

参考例句：

• He dived into his new job with great zest.他充满热情地投入了新的工作。
• He wrote his novel about his trip to Asia with zest.他兴趣浓厚的写了一本关于他亚洲之行的小说。

11 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

12 evicted   

v.（依法从房屋里或土地上）驱逐，赶出( evict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A number of tenants have been evicted for not paying the rent. 许多房客因不付房租被赶了出来。
• They had evicted their tenants for non-payment of rent. 他们赶走了未交房租的房客。

13 recital   

n.朗诵，独奏会，独唱会

参考例句：

• She is going to give a piano recital.她即将举行钢琴独奏会。
• I had their total attention during the thirty-five minutes that my recital took.在我叙述的35分钟内，他们完全被我吸引了。