Morning journal and courier., 1883-02-27

one Wno naQ Dobn 70 glV0, ana Gn9 cOusee1at-
 ed will to give them-Miss H. s. Foster.
 More truly Sister of Charity than many
 who bear that name, she has given her life
 to this asylum work, and verify it hath pros
 pered in her hands,
 It is interesting to glance over the list of
 occasional donations, starting from the time
 of this removal to Oak street with one of
 $495 from a young ladies' fair. Such fairs
 occur often in it, interspersed with such
 items as 'tAvails of two little girls, needle
 work, !" From some members of the frs de-
 pertinent, D stProf. Olmstead's lecture, 1" Sale
 of flowers" |" Here comes in legacy from
 MT. Davenport, a toy dealer. of property at
 that time worth $8,O0O, subject to the life
 interest of his wife. He said his
 money came mostly from children,
 and it was right it should go back to them Then follow, Benefit of Pano-
 that twice '.Fair held by little girls of St.
 Paul's church, D "Concerts of Ancient Har-
 mony," sSTableaux Vivants at Miss Dutton's," i"
 "Chapel Street Sewing Circle" until VIC
 come to the startling item, '' Orphans Fair
 at Alumni HaIl.' SC, ,2S4" in 1864, and in
 1866, ssPromenade Concert, $4,o23." But
 long before this another great donation had
 been made by MT. James Brewster, who, with
 his friend Mir. Heaton, had been much inter ested in this charity from the first. At the managers meeting of March, 1854, letter from Mr. Brewster was read offering to build an edifice for the use of the asylum, on con- dition that the town provide the ground, and that the comparatively small building then in use should be transferred to him. These easy conditions were of course complied with. Abram Heaton and E. K. Foster were ap- pointed to solicit lot from the town, which they did speedily and effectively, for within a month the deed of gift of the present asy | lum site was executed. MT. Sidney M. Stone gave his services as ar chitect and supervisor, 8 gift of | $2, 900. Mir. Austin generously offered his assistance, and the work of building went on rapidly. The asylum had not hitherto been I a beloved and we'll l-known charity in the town. It had received three or four legacies, but no I large gifts from living men. MT. Brewster was a man who felt it his duty all his life to \ devote certain portion of his income to charity, and had conscientiously carried out his convictions. While still 8 young man, from 1925 to 1882, he was associated with the Rev. Claudius Herrick in maintaining Sun- \ day service at the (old) almshouse, which stood on the lot adjoining the present asylum premises. He then saw the crying need or some provision for orphan children, and made covenant with God" to do some thing in the future, as circumstances might warrant He was led to move in the matter at this special time by visit made in com pany with his wife, in 1854, to the crowded Oak street asylum. He never regretted the step. It was 8 constant source of pleasure and thanksgiving.
 His offer was to erect such building as the managers deemed necessary and conven- tent. He gave them $2OO to use in visiting other institutions, that they might the better know what they wanted. One can see how his heart grew into the work. In eight years he wanted to build a new wing, and did so and we find him setting aside $2, 900 as re- pair fund, making his gifts amount to $20,- 900. His friend MT. Heaton took pleasure
 in supplementing these gifts; to him the
 asylum owes the laying out, grading and
 fencing of it's grounds, she introduction of
 water, an additional $2, GOO of repair fund,
 lot in the cemetery, and other things. Mayer Skinner presented the 100 evergreen trees which now adorn and distinguish the asylum
 enclosure.
 While the walls of the new building were
 rising, the treasury is reported as empty, debt of $2SO and family of forty eight The needs of the asylum at this time made so deep an impression upon Mir. Joseph E. Sheffield that he presented it with fifty New Haven and Northampton railroad shares, from which he intended that it should have some little regular income, and he took care,- during many years of depression of the stock, to pay over to the asylum, from his own purse, k the income he had planned it should receive. The present asylum was occupied in 1855, but it was hard 50 get the money for living in it. Measles searlatina and smallpox in- ! vaded the new airy building and brought
 
 \ given, witness the one death. This is, per | haps, the best place to acknowledge the great and continued indebtedness of the asylum to ! the physicians of the city for their gratuit- | ous services, beginning with Drs. Knight and Tomlinson, and including Dr. Eli Ives, pr. Worthington Hooker, Dr. Austin, Drs \ Charles Ives and Buddington, who visited during the prevalence of smallpox, Dr. Bish- \ op, pr. Henry Pierpont, Drs. Foster, Brad | ley and Hotchkiss. Dr. Pierpont, our regu- | lar physician for the last twenty years, gave his services for eight years, and would no doubt have done so longer had not the ladies felt it right to vote to him some small &C., \ knowledgment yearly.
 The historical address, of which the above are selected portions, is very valuable pa- per for the asylum archives. Some of the \ special features of the address further are \ reference to dark hours experienced in 1861- A2, when the country was in its peril and the heads of so many families were in the war. In 1864 the grand Orphans fair was held in Alumni Hall-receipts $6, ,384. 52 ! Besides the ladies important aid was furnish ed to the result by Messrs Wm Fitch, R. S. ! Fellowes and H. O. Hotchkiss Two years
 after $4, 900 was realized from a promenade concert. In 1864-5, through Mir. Ezra c. ! Reads exertions, 8 permanent fund was ! started which now amounts to $35, ,000. The t plan of having the annual Donation day was | inaugurated, a plan so richly useful to the ' | chief ones in starting this project. The re- ! port now speaks of the institution as it is, it's work, it's wards and it's benefactors.
 Singing by the congregation was followed ! by the reading by Dr. Hawes of poem com ! posed for the occasion by lady friend of | the orphan asylum.
 Rev. Dr. Todd of the Church of the Re- deemer'then addressed the audience, con- | trasting very vividly the murderous mothers | on the banks of the Ganges, who slaughter l their own infants, with the noble hearted souls in our country and city who care for the homeless and the orphan. The doctor l touched briefly upon the influence direct and indirect of such an institution on the welfare of society; direct in that it takes little home l less ones and provides for them home and I fits them for the duties of life. Thus it saves | for the State the burden and care of 8 great
 many and gives to the people industrious citizens to add to the welfare and wealth of ! the community. Such an institution finds op- portunity to confer an incidental influence 1 for good upon the whole State as illustrated in the State appropriation, referred to in the historical sketch, for the support of indigent ! children of deceased soldiers, an appropria- | ton secured by the efforts of the New Haven 1 Orphan asylum in 1866, but the benefit of which has been shared by the children of 1 soldiers all over the State. Then an indirect ! influence is exerted on society by such an in stitution. An orphan asylum in communi- | ty is much like what the nuFsery is to the | home. It creates benevolence and en- l courages ambition by assuring the poorest ! man that if taken away his children will not be homeless.
 At the conclusion of Dr. Todd's remarks Prof. Cyrus Northrop, of Yale College made short but impressive address. There is no institution "whose wants are so universally recognized. nor whose calls for aid are so generously responded to. Gas the orphan asy- lum." We have all been children; many of
 us have children of our own. We all know how much there is in childhood that appeals to all that is good in human nature. The medium that opens the door of 8 real home
 to these orphan children cultivates habits of
 cleanliness and order, trains their minds and
 fits them for life, comments itself to every
 one conscious of instincts of humanity or de-
 mands of religion. It should be source of
 satisfaction to the supporters of the New Ha-
 ven Orphan asylum that testimonials of
 gratitude from old members of the institu-
 tion, now doing their part in life, are daily
 multiplying evidences of love and respect
 still cherished for those who have cared for
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