The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1877-08-19
HOW THE SISTERS OF CHARITY CARE
FOR 1900 BIBLES.
IN. Y. sunI


be seen in the street cars throughout the
| city. The women who carry them are
| tidily dressed, and 80 are the babies A
| stranger arriving in the city on that day OF
| every month wonld be impressed with the
| notion that New York was 'soTely ipfested
| with children" of q very tender age. The
| women are respectable 10 appearance, and
| eeem for the moet part kind and caTefu! !;
but they don't have the look Of real moth
ers, aud they are not real mothers. lhey
| are the foster mothers of the babes, VINO
are the citys children, the children OF the
New York Founding Asyium OF the Sis
,ers of Charity.
These nurses are carefully selected oy
| the Sisters. A ply sicisn sees that they are
healthy, and the best of credentials are re-
| quired. Moreover, they are bound by very
| stringent printed rules, given TO each on
card at the time child IS intrusted to her
care and they are, besides, under the su-
pervision of a detective and special agent,
one of the city police, attached to the
Founding Asy lum, whose sole business lie
to visIt the houses Of the foster mothers
aud report to the Sisters. In this duty the
detective is aided by the confraternity of
st. Vincent de Paul, certain members Of
which are constantly visiting the houses of
the foster mothers, dropping in at all times
and when least expected. Reports of these
visits, giving the condition of the children,
and the reasons why the nurses should be
continued or discharged, are sent in month
ly to the asylum. The Information derived
from this source las led to needed reforms
from time to time in the outside nursing
of the foundlings, and marked d Improvement
in the condition and health of the children.
There are 100 of these foster mothers
outside of the ylum, csring for as many
babies. In the asylum are coo children,
M ost of them weaned, Who are cared for by
$50 nurses, ls or 90 Sisters OF Charity, and
a number of servants.
II on pay day you visit the asy um in
Lexington avenue, between Sixty eighth
ard Sixty ninth streets, at any time be
tween seven in the morning and noon, you
find stream of women and babies pour
ing in sS the rurses' entrance in Lexington
avenue. On Wednesday morning of last
week there were about three hundred wo.
men, with babies in their arms, seated in
the nurses waiting room in the basement.
Two policemen were stationed, one at each
end of the room. On platform at the up
per end, three sisteIs were seated. AT o
sgnal from the policeman nearest the plat
form, the nurses arose and passed up, two
and two, to the right of the platform the
sister seated there examined the condition
of the child and reported to the next, who
made au entry in book, the third sister
taking the card which Ia given to each
nurse when abe receives the child, and
without which she cannot receive pay s1ent.
The amount due is marked ON the card by
the sister; 1t is then returned to the nurse
with the money, and abe passes ous by the
Lexington avenue entrance, no ocmmunl
cation belng allowed between the found
fDgs within and those without tue asy ium.
Ten dollars are paid to each nurse. This
pays for the nourlsbment and care of the
baby. Eleven do!lers are allowed by the |
city for each child, but the extra dollar is
retained by the Sisters to pay for medicines |
and other necessities. TIE inevitable de |
felt Ia make up from the subscription funds
of the Rsylum. The outside nurses are |
paid, in the aggregate, Gil geo month.
The Sister Superior remarked that this |
ell 900 paid to the eleven hundred outside |
nurses enables them to pay their house or
room rents and going thus into the hands
of real estate owners, the landlords, il |
eventually reaches the city treasury in the |
form of tax money. The entire yearly
sum paid out of the sylum treasury is over
$3.50, 900, and great part of this sum re-
turns TO the city treasury in direct or indi
rect taxes.
1t is now nearly eight years since the
first child was left at the Founding Aey
lum door in West Washington place. Since
then there have been 7 7,9s7 babies found in
the ossket cradle. The Sister Superior
says that whenever the parents of a child
come forward and prove their ability to
take care of their child, it is 1t once re-
stored to them and this is q more frequent
occurrences bnAn II 8eneTAhy supposed.
A charming feature of the asylum is tho
Kindergarten School. lately introduced.
AS the reporter passed from tue basement
into the corridors of the first floor, the pat
ter of tiny feet was heard, mingled with
the murmur Of voices. Turning q corner q
procession of about 100 three and four
year old ctlrdren was seen, their faces
glowing with pleasure. All were neatly
dressed, most of them wearing striped
stockings, buttoned boots, and long ging-
ham sacks tidlly belted in. They were
marshslled by one of the black bOpneted
sisters, young member Of the community
who has made herself mistress of the Kin
dergarten syetem. They filed into one of
the adjoining rooms, and were soon occu-
pied with the play-work singing and the
calistEenics invented for baby hood by the
gentle Froebel. There is also a school for
larger children.
The dormitories, laundres, kitchens,
refectories, bathrooms, schools, plsyrooms,
aud rnnarouuds were visited, and the neat
ness, order, comfort and cheerfulness which
pervaded the whole building gave the clew