The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1867-06-06
EBENsBURG. Pa. THURsDAY. JUNE s, ls6z.

! grew IN years her attention was drawn
more and more to the deplorable condition
of the poor Ireland s,parms with the
poor; and the wonder is, not that Gather
! inc McAnley should have devoted her life
TO their relief, but that any wealthy per-
son inshe country should sit down to en-
/ joy life amid such scenes, content to Wit
ness misery without making an effort TO
relieve it.
Visiting one of the parish schools of
Dublin, she noticed with pain that many
of the pupils were insufficisntly clad In
stead of giving them clothes, which she
might easily have done, she rendered them
a better service by going to the school and
were soon able, not only to make and
mend their own clothing, but to do plain
and fancy knitting, tbs. sale ofwhich was
benefit to their parents. She establish
ed, also, repository in one of the school
rooms for the sale of the articles made by
girls, and induced her friends to come and
purchase them When she had estab-
lished this system in one school and saw
all lis pupils well clad, she introduced it
| into others, and was thus great bene-
factor to the p or of Dublin.
Her attention was also powerfully call
ed to the case of poor girls who need pro-
lection against the danger 10 which
poverty and beauty expose them and she
long cherished the project of establishing
a home for such-a kind of benevolent
intelligence Office, in which they could be
sheltered until respectable employm ent
could be obtained for them. Her adopted
father asked her one day what she in
tended 10 do after his death.
81 thiRk," said she, ssI shall take a
small house, and support a few poor
women, whom could instruct and teach
to work. =
How mnch do you think he asked,
"wonld support such an establishment T.
81 think, 2 she replied, after little re-
Election, ssthe interest of a thousand pounds
would hs cutie sufficient. =
sCatherine,v said he, ssyour desires are
very moderate but if ever you possess
wealth you will do good with it. p
Not long after this conversation her
adopted parents died, and she found her
self the sole heiress of all their wealth.
It consisted of an annuity Of six hundred
pounds year, thirty thousand pounds in
money, the mansion In which she lived.
several policies of life insurance, and a
considerable quantity of jewels and plate
a fortune equivalent to more than halfsa a
million dollars of our present currency
She was then thirty five years of age.
The sudden acquisition of wealth is one
of the severest trials to which poor human
virtue can be subjected. Catherine Nc
Auley bore this trial nobly. She dressed
more plainly than before, and was more
assiduous than ever in her labors for the
relief and instruction of the poor around
her. Unsatisfed with these comparative
~ desultory efforts, she now determined
to carry out her early dream of founding
an institution in which poor children could |
be taught to read and sew, and in which
servants and other women of good char
acter might, when out of employment.
find temporary home. Aided by the
ad7ice of an excellent priest, she purchased
the necessary ground for e., 900 sterling.
and employed an architect to con-
struct the desired edifice. She told the
= :. s,....s1, "ss,su 'iifee OF Iour
=. . 'oon.s 'ol pool schoois; iour large
s.ssf'ns ,a .oo,',s lof poor young women
and 2 few small rooms for any ladies who +
might wish to aid her in taking care of I
the poor In due time the building was
finished She sold her handsome abode.
went % :, res;da s.,e ssssan's' ana