The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1886-11-27


bleaUing of the sheep are occasionally
borne to the ears of the fair owners by
the cool breeze that even on the warm
est days of summer sweeps over the
gentle slopes from the slow-running
river a couple of miles away.
A large barn and stable built of wood
occupies place in the rear of the man
sion, while summer-house, in which
the young ladies are wont to chat sum-
mer evenings, is almost hidden by trees
which surround it. Off to the North
west, across rolling fields, may be seen
the farmhouse in which with his family
lives the farmer, James Brady, who
has entire charge of the details of the
farming, though always acting under
instructions from one or the other of
the Misses Drexel, all of whom have
made agriculture as well as charity
study, and who rather believe they can
give Bradley points" on how to in
crease the yield of wheat, how and,
when to plant corn, and how to secure
full crop of oats in spite of unfavor-
able meteorological conditions.
The only dissipation INDUCED in by the
young ladies, who never went much into
society and who have gone into it still
less since they lost their parents, is a
qualification of their love of horses. In
the stable, which is fitted up with all the
modern improvements, are kept, in adj
ditlon to the carriage horses and those
used for working the farm, three splen-
did Arabian steeds of rare beauty and
| speed These are called into use daily
| by their miStresses, who are all three
admirable horsewomen. Totally with
out fear while in the saddle, they dash
about the country. making visits to
their pensioners, of which they have
hundreds in the vicinity, going on err
rands to the village, and occasionally
making calls on intimate friends who
live within riding distance. 1t is no I'M
usual thing for all three to be out on
horseback together as early as six clock
in the morning, breathing new life and
vigor in the fresh air of the breaking
day and galloping along the ill-kept
roads and over the stubble of fields
newly harvested. Home they come at
length, their cheeks aglow with the ex-
element of the run, and their horses
covered with foam and dust. And they
are not only skilled riders, but they are
skilled grooms as well. Nothing they
enjoy more than rubbing down their
equine pets with their own fair hands
and currying them until they come clean
and sleek from under their vigorous
manipulation. Many a country horse
doctor knows less of veterinary science
than do these girls, each one of whom
is as fully able to bandage a strained
fetlock as the most capable of DR.. Hui
dekoper's pupils in the University Of
Pennsylvania horse hospital.
Brave girls they are, too, living here
in this great country house, mile from
any other dwelling save those of their
tenants, and with no man nearer than
the stable to afford them protection.
Six women servants sleep beneath the
roof of the old brick mansion and four
Spitz dogs and a great Newfoundland
keep guard without its time-furrowed
walls. They employ one coachman
only and an assistant They wear no
livery, and the carriages in which they
ride are as plain as the typical pipe
stem. No crest or coat of arms or even
monogram is upon the panels of any Of
their vehicles, and there is nothing
whatever, in the appearance of the
Drexel equipage of a Sunday morning
as it rolls over to Eden Hall, a convent
situated mile and three-quarters from
the homestead, to indicate that it be-
longs to other than modest country
family in ordinary circumstances.
In the convent grounds the girls have
erected beautiful brown-stone mauso,
leum and chapel of Grecian architec.
ture, and here rest the remains of theil
lamented father and mother. Here
each Sunday they come to worship and
to offer prayers for the success of theil
many charities.
TODD good with their wealth and to dc
good without publishing it to the world,
to avoid letting their left hand know
what their right hand doeth, was the
teaching of the estimable Mrs. Drexel
the extent of whose benefactions was
not dreamed of until after her death
This good woman, it was then learned
had for years paid the rent of over on'
hundred families in this city, had sup
piled many more with coal and provis
!, ions, and had never refused her gooC
offices to one of the deserving poor /
, is estimated that she spent $4,000 eael
! year in tightening the burdens of th'
Y needy, and when she passed away tear
fell in many home that she had dom
more to brighten than any one els
would ever have thought of doing. Mr.
J Drexel, too, was a charitable man il
every sense of the word. doing goo
, quietly and mostentatiously in many
: quarter where it was entirely unsus
pected, svy sL
) In Philadelphia, as well as at Torres
dale, the recipients of the benefits of tn
, Misses Drexels ever open purse are t
/ be found, and it is said that togethe
tthey expend in this way a sum ,rOught
estimated at upwards of 100000 pc
/ wear, while their list of pensioners con
tains no less than $50 names. Tn
| House of the Good Shepherd in thi