The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-12-27

tached to- The place. government
inspectors little more than her aide
de-camp. and. as for the great officials
who pay her flying visits from time to
time. they are more inclined 10 seek
advice then to give IL
The convent itself is q fine old build
ing. which cnce upon q time was .
castle, and seems to have been strongly
fortified The religious community 70
which il now belongs received 10 rs =
present from its owner, who cared
more for the church than for his heir.
There is nothing in the appearance OF
the place TO show that il Is . prison.
the courtyard stands open the whole
day long, and there is mover . guard
within sight. the doorkeepc- IS q pretty
little nun. whom a strong woman
could easily seize up in her arras and
run away with She welcomes all
corners with the brightest Of smiles.
and leads them into the parlor without
making n single inquiry. Although
we went provided with all sorts OF
iutroductions, Official aud otherwise, is
was only after much heart-scarching
that the superior allowed US 70 pass
through the great iron door which
separates the part of the convent where
the prisoners live from the rest OF the
building.
Even here there Is nothing gloomy
nor prison-like about the place; aud.
beyond the fact OF the door being kept
locked, nothing to indicate that they
who lived there arr subject 10 any
u =
stone staircase was flooded with sun
Anime that morning. and there was
smile on the faces of half the women
we passed there. The superior led the
way into large. cheerful-lookizg
room, In which some fifty women wers
sitting working. Perhaps half dozen
were making match boxes or buttonss
and the others were doing tine needle
work, beautiful embroidery. lace, and
wool work. under the guidance Of
sister, who looked for AL the world as
IL she had stepped out OF one Of Fra
Angelico'S pictures She passes her
life going about among these women.
distributing 10 each in turn directions.
encouragement, or refroof. rs the case
may be. always with a smile on her lips
One. though, n which there Is mora
patient endurance than gladncsS An
other sister, n woman with a strong.
sphinx-like face, WIS sitting n the
further end OF the room on raised
platform. She is there 20 maintain
discipline and guard against those
outb ursts OF temper which. from time
to time, disturb tie harmony OF life
in this convent As we enter the
room all the women rose and greeted
US, in the most CHEEKY fashion, with
what sounded like a couplet from an
old chant They speedily took up their
work again, however, at n sign from
the superior.
IL would be hard 20 find more pros
perous-looiSing set OF women than thes'
convent prisoners; they were suppose'
to be undergoing punishment The.
are perfect models af cleanliness ans
order; their hair is carefully dressed.
their cotton gowns are quite SpotlesS,
and so are the bright-colored ichrs
I they all wear. Physically they seem
/ TO be just about up 10 the avers Se; bat
I intellectually, SO far rs an outsider can
| Judge, they are considerably either
/ above or below the great mass OF their
| fellows. Some Of the aaces arc almost
/ idiotic in their stupidity; others ara
quite startlingly clever keen, sharp.
] and sagacious Although few OF the
| prisoners looked de pressed or suilen. the
! great ma jority seem not only contenied
but happy-happier by far than half
/ the workiugwomen one comes across
/ In the outside world There was touch
of something quite pathetic ia the "a
/ preston OF more than one who was
\ there: il was "a If they had at length
/ found rest and peace after much sore
| tossing. and were grateful -CorphjiI