In her scheme for the saving of criminals, Mrs. Burke said that she intends to pay particular attention to first offenders and will exert every effort to prevail upon them to return to a life of respectability. "You know how hard it is for a man or woman to secure permanent work after leaving prison? I am going to help some of these. They will find a friend in Sophie Lyons."
Mrs. Burke said that she was considering an offer from a vaudeville booking concern to give 20-minute talks from the stage. "Do you think this would be a good idea?" she inquired eagerly. "I have had the same proposition from a lyceum lecture bureau, but I believe I can better reach those I want to reach in the theaters. If I decide to go on the stage every cent of the money I get will go to carry out my plans for reformation and to charity."
That she has an ambition to accomplish much good and to die poor, was Mrs. Burke's declaration. "My children are grown and self-supporting, and all my money and real estate will go to save criminals and to other charities," she said. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children was mentioned by Mrs. Burke as being one of her favorite charities. "I am doing something for this organization right along," she said, "and I expect to leave it a substantial bequest."
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 joyful occasions, when she had a visitor:
"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 humbly thank Thee, and for the new happiness that comes to me (and my household) my soul is filled with gratitude. Let me not grow overbearing in prosperity nor arrogant because of my success, but let me enjoy Thy blessings with becoming gratitude and humility. 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 heed 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."