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Show If SOCIETY IS UNIQUE Hjj FORMED FOR RELIEF OF DE- Bit, CAYED MILLIONAIRES. K -. R ' Philadelphia Association of Rich Men m ) Has a Fellow-Feeling for Those Once Bl Wealthy but Now In Distress. BBl i BB It is curious and, Indeed, startling, BB ( says tho Philadelphia North American, BB , to find that right lioro In this city BB t Uioro has oxlstod for nearly fifty years BB without tho knowledge) of moro than a BB few persons an association of mon do- BB voted to a uniquo and unostentatious BB i well-doing. Public Ignoranco of tholr l j enterprise is all tho moro rcmarkablo B 1 from tho fact that among theso men BB & are somo of tho wealthiest, most in- BB I fluentlal and best-known citizens In B I tho community. BB m Hut It Is tho unusual character of BB E their bcncflccnco that attracts inter- BB ffi est. All Uicso men tiro woaltby somo BB fi beyond tho dreams of avarice but Bm their purposo has nothing to do with BB fi tho amelioration of tho condition of BB j& tho pauper. On tho contrary, thero Is B'ff a society for tho rcscuo of tho do- H,k cayed millionaire. , They call It tho Merchants' Fund as- BB I'l ' soclatlon, and tho 49th nnnunl meeting BB a was held tho other day In a llttlo old BB 3 J room In South Fourth street, away BB from tho clamors of tho moro proton- BB j tlous virtues. BB i I In a ward, tho plan of theso kindly BB i old gentlemen Is to rollovo once BM n wealthy compnnlons of tholr early BB X , days, who have slnco lost their for- BB 1 tunes or In other ways sufforcd tho BB f vicissitudes of tlmo which como to so B many. BB 1 The net of Incorporation, dated 1854, BB says Hint tho object Is "to furnish ro- BB 1 lief to Indigent merchants of Phlladol- BB gj phla, and especially thoso who aro BB: I aged and Infirm," and thero is a com- BB I mentary on tho Ironic whims of clr- BB I cumstanco In tho fact that slnco that BB; 1 tlmo "(300,000 has been paid out in ben- BB- oflts. BBI In that first year soven merchants B: wcro aided, whllo In tho yoar just BBI past forty-thrco beneficiaries wcro on B't tho roll and $10,200 was disbursed. Br Comparison of theso figures might at- '. !j ford matter for interesting speculation. BB I Is tho merchant of to-day mora reck- H'j f less than ho of halt a contury ago, or K'-- Is it that tho number of merchants BBtj I has Increased, and, thcroforo, of BBT B courso, tho number of unsuccessful B8 B merchants. BB' Moro than $400,000 is now In tho In- BB . vested fund of tho organization, and It BB is almost constantly receiving nccro- BB tlons, so that thero Is plenty loft BB whorowlth to provide for tho unfortu- BB ( nato plutocrats of tho future, it tho BB supply of unfortunato plutocrats holds BB |