Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-03-23

and at other times when the weather is
| bad. Their play usually consists in
taking hold of hands and jumping
around i'll a ring in time to their own
singing, and one always sees the black
figure of nun in each circle dancing and
singing as merrily as any. Some of the
| sisters are very young; many of them
/ took the vows of their own free will when
fifteen or sixteen years old and one even
ran away from home to join the sister
| hood.
If / had to be French girl and be de-
prived of liberty for eight years I should
choose a convent, and-well, L am not
sure that 1 should mind it much, for 1
| feel inclined to stay here eight years now.
The discipline is excellent, everything IS
! we'll managed. One must be better for
coming under the circle of Notre Mere s
beautiful influence, and the nuns them
selves are most charming people, Guilt
waited, refined and humble, with hearts
MERRY AS A CHILD's
and loving as a womau's. They are not
the only teachers, for professors of his
tory science mathematics and music
come out from Paris every week to give
lessons and lecture to the first and second
classes.
And how pleasant 1t is to be served by
these calm faced lay-sisters, who are
serving the ''Bon Dleu'' through you!
You find yourself thinking involuntarily
how to save them work. You do not
drop candle grease on the polished floors
when you think of good SRur Blasieuse,
who makes your fire with a loving heart
mess that warns you more than the
stove is cabable of dong. You even try
to tread lightly on your stockings, that
Tosy-cheeked S9ur Zephvrin may not
have holes to darn. When those stock
ings come in from the wash they are
darned and dry, with the feet turned in
at the exact angle that enables them to
slip on the most easily.
The French system of meals strikes me
as rather absurd-breakfast at y and
dinner at Z; but to support one till
breakfast time is the ''petit dejeuner'
at 'clCck of bread and soup, or bread
and chocolate for those who can afford it;
Coffee supplaces soup two or three times
a week and once a week there is ohoco-
late for ALL then to stave off the appe-
title till dinner there is 'goutter, -
which is simply a large roll of white
bread with which the children eat jam or
sweet chocolate brought from home.
French school. The tables are covered
with oil-cloth in place of table-cIoths,
and there is little drawer under each
plate where the pupil keeps her spoons,
knife, fork, silver cup, napkin and any
fruit or bonbons she may happen to have
on hand. The children come in by
classes, cross themselves in q desperate
hurry sometimes with soup-spoon in
hand) crawl over the wooden benches
and pull their things out of their draw
ers; the sister at the head of the table
pours out the sour wine and then they all
EAT IN ABSOLUTE SILENCE
and with violent energy for ten or fifteen
minutes. A jug of hot water was then
put on the table, in which the children
wash their silver. This process is also
hurried through as If they were in q rail-
way restaurant and the whistle had
sounded, and it is rather an interesting
one to wetch. Sometimes the spoons are
washed in the mouth, as being more ac-
cessible 10 short arms than the Jug, and
one 'petite'f was caught Frightening
her silver cup rs pussy cat cleans his |
shirt front; everything is wiped on the |
napkin, which is always as large as a |
good sized towel, then tumbled into the |
saying grace TO the Virgin Mary while |
the other tables are rushing through with |
their dishwashing in order to catch IN.
could not understand why the chill
dren were not allowed 70 talk at table, |
till one Sunday evening permission was /
given. at the word, every child opened /