Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1895-11-14
MONKS AS FARMERS.


ALSO AIhppIsGs Sdlu tu ne ina M1yE cua.
ceSsl"l 'ilier' OF tf y, Soil In Canada.
unuolo'''"' tho most successful farm.
~, HiS III " ,.nada are the TFappist monks. At
-acadie. in the east, at Okla, in Quebec,
and at st, Norbert, on the Red river, in
the west they have changed unpromising
| tracts Of land into fertile farms.
To tho latest of their scttlements--that
at ST. Norbert--I paid visit recently dur
| ing o brief holiday trip out west This
great farm is an object lesson that would
show to the dullest capacity what perse-
| rcrance and industry can do with vast re-
gions of untitled or semitilled loan lands
out there. Three years ago, learned, a
| little company of Trappist Brothers came
out to Canada from Franco and built a
monastery on q farm of 1900 acres that
had been presented to them by a priest
| named Father Ritchot, who had taken a
leading part in the efforts that have for
years been made to settle our great west.
Immediately upon their arrival they set to
work on the ground. They cleared it of its
scrub, laid out a garden and began what is
called "brenking." What progress has
been made since then may be judged from
the fact that this year they will harvest
1000 bushels of grain. And their garden
| is sight worth seeing, with the marvel
GUS abundance and variety of vegetables,
enough apparently, to support good
sized town. For cattle and for horses they
have put up stables of the most approved
modern type. They have creamery,
hennery with hundreds of fowls, piggery
of what is said to be the proper kind"
and they are building large granary.
The father superior, who is French gen.
tleman of distinguished family was work
ing in the garden. He saluted us politely,
and told us to make ourselves at home.
We were aftGrward told that he is the
hunblest and the hardest working of all
the brethren.
1t is we'll known that the rules of the
order Of La Trappo arc of the strictest
kind They are however, somewhat modi-
fed in Canada. Here the daily life of
clerical member of the order is regulated
us follows: Six hours, from $3.50 p. IN. to
$50 a. m, for sleep; six hours for devo-
tions: six hours for manual labor, and six
hours for the reading room and for private
work. The lay member of the order gives
from eight to ten hours to manual labor.
No Trappist, clerical or lay, Is permitted
to eat fish or flesh food. All are strict vege-
tarians. Yet they all appeared to be phys
ioally strong cloar eyed and clean limbod.
There are Is members in tho monastery
at present-12 French and Canadians.
The work of tho whole establishment is
done with military precision, without the
slightest appearance of stiffness or re-
straint. There is implicit obedience, but,
as it is based on religion, it has all the ap-
pearanoe Of freedom They sleep on plank
beds in narrow coils and never speak to
visitors, nor, for that matter, to each 9TH
or. Tho father superior and the guest
master do what talking there is to be done.
Their conversation is confined to saluta-
tion, which they exclaim when passing
each other and which is ''Mon frere, IL
faut mourir!" {" Brother, We must dier)
When II brother dies he is buried in the
orders graveyard and rude piece of
wood bearing his Christian name merely
is placed at the head of tho grave Tho
Trappist is truly tho man who, the world
forgetting, is "by tho world forgot. -
Montreal Letter in Providence journal.