Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1868-03-06

Slack little! Slack little.
| Death. o Deathi
Vain thy strife and painting haste,
| All out Of BREATH
| see! she fears not thy approaching
| Thou hast no sting.
Clasp her in thy cold embracing -
She will aingi
Thou vast conquered on the Crossi "a. i.
-Hmper's Monkhiy
Soldiers Orphans Home.
From the Dubuque Times.
CEDAR FALLS, Feb. 20, 1868.
BY special invitation remained owe,
one day at this place to visit the ''Sol
diers' Orphans Home" with the Legis
lative Committee. If there is one
thing of more Importance, ~ a public
charity, than another Ii would seem
that this Home stood first among
the demands upon us. With all had
heard and read of it, was not pre-.
pared to see 80 extensive an institution.
In the first place will describe it ma.
tcrially, and second present 1t i'm q
moral point of view.
There were two members of the House
and one member of the Senate ap.
pointed to investigate, not only the
management but the requirements %,
the insfitution. Only one member oi
the committee, however, reached the
place at the designated time. Hon. w.
Il. Donnan, Senator from Buchanan
county, and his wife, arrived. and. I'm
company with Senator Powers. oi
Cedar Falls. Representative Ordway. oI
Waterloo and Hon. Peter Melendy. we
proceeded at nine o'clock, A. M, to the
institution or Home and were cor.
daily received by the new Superipten.
dent, Mr.. \. w. Cole, aud his excellent
wife. After short and very pleasan,
interview In the family parlor. we com.
menced circuit of the premises, As
: shall nothing extenuatc. and nouehi
set down in maiace," the truth, and as
near the whole truth rs possible shall
he told. We found the number i'm at.
tendance, as dependants, two hundred
and seventy-eight. They are of all
ages between three and sixteen years.
Their general appearance il quite AT.
tractive, being clean, well clothed, and
presenting the appearance of health,
there being only three out of the whole
number unable to attend their classes,
two OF these being convalescant, and
the other suffering froni chronic af-
lection OF the lungs, and is better of
here than anywhere else. These chill
dren are divided into three depas tnlents
In their educational training. The
primary school has 97 i'm attendance.
under the tuition of Miss Briggs, an
asiduous and able teacher, who tries 10
do all she can for them, and to whom
they are all very much attached. This
department will compare favorably
with any like number Of such children
IN any of our public schools. Their
hair was neatly combed, their hands
and faces clean, and their conduct,
while we remained, was unexceptiona-
ble. The second or middle depart
ment, is under the care of Miss Wight
man aud numbers 80. Among the pu-
pills We noticed u number much above
the mediocre, not only i'm their general
appearances, but intellectual acquire
ments. One little girl recited for US
poem, by request, which would have
done no discredit to any stage. Half u
dozen little girls followed i'm dialogue.
displaying fine discrimination. perceiv-
ing very clearly the sense OF their vari.
GUS parts. The most advanced room
contains about eighty pupils, and is
under the instruction of Miss Mary j !.
Sweeney. This department fully main
tains the high standard of the Others.
and the ladies who teach in these differ.
ent rooms seem perfectly and conscien-
tlously devoted to their work. They
do not seem to think of themselves,
but are absorbed i'm their calling. Ii is
well, indeed, they are; for, If woman.
with natural feelings could not be per-
fectly enlisted in their behalf, Il know
Of no situation ON earth that could in
terest her. Here are young minds and
hearts thrown entirely upon them for
protection and development. and IL il
not woman's nature To stand indiffar-
emily by when such work is to lie done.
Wenext went to the library. Itcon-
tains three hundred aud sixty volumes,
all told. from Primer to works on
History. 1t docs not amount TO much,
and no one could do better service for
these children than to contribute useful
books and magazines. Send anything
you can spare, from common new
spaper to the Great American Con-
fiict.n All will he accepted and taken
care OF for the use of the Home. some
day, when other things are provided,
the State may furnish suitable libra
~.
Next we visited the kitchen. This is
necessarily an important part Of the
institution. The principal thing the
little ones think OF IL how they shall
be fed. They have a clear idea they
must eat, and they look as though their
stomachs were not neglected. The
kitchen would do credit to any private
family, so far as neatness and CLEAN IL
ness 90. There ARE two large cookii x
ranges, and an immense kettle t0 make
SOUP, set on an arch by itself. When
we reached the kitchen this large ket-
tie, holding shout u barrel, was full of
rich and tempting beef soup. tasted
Ii. and gave Il as my professional opin
ion thatit was first rate.x The amount
of bread used requires the cofisuinp-
tion OF barrel of flour each day.
They keep one baker and an assistant
employed, who make all the bread
they use. The bread Is of q very supe.
rior quality, and Is excellently baked.
We took y look in ut the Office or sup
DIV room, and found shoemaker hard
at work mending shoes. Tile room
was well stored, and gave'a cheerful AS
pect to the prospective provision for ac-
cumulating wants. Noon had now
arrived, and We stepped into the large
dining hall to witness the dinner exer-
cises, The whole school. little and big,
came i'm in good order, and were seated
at the tables. When all was still Dir.
Van NordeD invoked the blessings Of
the Father on the repast aud the chill
dren. when they laid hold nothing 10th
to iii their st0mschs. This accom-
plisned, Senator Donnan addressed
them at some length, very aNy tore-
-. - NSat ~ r. III