A Newspaper Opens a Fund So Poor Men Can Afford the Keeley Cure
The Tribune sets a contribution box at Main and Fourth for Olympia residents too poor to pay for the Keeley Institute's addiction treatment, seeding the fund with $5 and naming a committee to vet applicants.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Realizing the continued good of the Keeley Institute and the marked relief it has afforded among the residents of Olympia, The Tribune desires to extend the institute's work, especially among that class of people who are unable to meet the expense themselves. In furtherance of this plan a contribution box has been prepared for the purpose of raising a fund which will be known as The Tribune fund for the Keeley Institute, which subscription The Tribune cheerfully heads with the sum of five dollars. The box will be placed at the corner of Main and Fourth streets for the reception of contributions, however small.
In order that the work may be carried on effectively and with discretion, a committee consisting of Judge Robinson, John F. Gowey and Rev. F. E. Drake will take charge of the fund. To those gentlemen, persons whose circumstances will not permit them to enjoy the benefits of the institute must apply. If the case is a worthy one, the committee will contribute as far as possible to its relief. The public are asked to contribute liberally.
“The box will be placed at the corner of Main and Fourth streets for the reception of contributions, however small.”
The Keeley Institute promised to cure alcoholism — with a secret formula that itself contained morphine — and Olympia's paper organized charity so the poor could afford it. Today's version of this argument is about who pays for addiction treatment at all, and whether care is a public right or a private favor. The contribution box at Main and Fourth is a reminder that the town has been arguing over that question for well over a century.
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