The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1896-05-24
TO LIVING DEATH
co FOUR WOMEN.
Sisters Of Charity to Nurse
the Hapless LeperS of
Louisiana.
Daughters of St. Vincent de Paul
Go Smilingly to Their
Awful Duties.
Departure of the Brave Little Band
for the 0utcasts' Retreat at
Indian Camp.
Bound for the leper land !"

men gathered in hushed groups at the
flver bank, and every bat was DOTTED as
tour dark-robed women made their way
through the expectant throng to the land
ing of the Paul Tulane
Who were they2 All! who can tell the
Identity OF the Sisters of Charity-those
sweet, soft-voiced women who move along
the rough paths of the world making no
louder noise than the rustic of an angels
wings, with the light of heaven In their
eyes and the touch of the unseen world in
their gentle hands
And these four nuns? They were hero
ines every one of them, albeit they went
so quietly on their way, taking up with
wiling hands and of their own volition a
WORK at which the strongest man might
quail. 1t was the sunset hour; the last
rays ut up with an aureole of splendor the
Dig ships lying at their mornings as the
little group of nuns swiftly stepped over
the plankway of the Paul Tulane, and
again was heard in hushed whispers the
words which sealed their fate. "They are
bound for leper land
Presently the four nuns were Joined by
Sister Agnes, the veteran superioress of
the corps of charity hospital nurses, and
Sister Mary Jane, the equally heroic di-
rectress of the Louisiana retreat.
And this trio of forces was at once
represented the most exalted and self
sacrificing devotion of the Daughters of
st. Vincent de Paul-the care of the sick
and insane and the outcast ones of earth.
Since its organization the Sisters of Charity
have had the care of the New Orleans
charity hospital and the retreat for the in
sane; to these self-appointed duties thew
have now taken up the care of the lepers,
those unhappy God-forsaken people, whose
! p!tiab!e and unfortunate condition some
| four years ago reused the Indignation of
the entire community and brought forth
the reforms in the leper management
which have redounded so much TO the bet
! terment of the condition of those suffering
| outcast ones, and which have eliminated
in the fruition of cherished hope-the
| placing of the lepers under the kind and
watchful care of the Sisters of Charity.
! The history of the present board of di-
rectors OF the lepers' hospital, the removal
| of these helpless people to the pleasant re-
treat at Indian Camp. in the heart of one
of the most beautiful and salubrious sec
tions of Louisiana, the movement inaugu-
rated to place the home under the direct
supervision of the Sisters of Charity, to-
subject between the board of directors,
Archbishop Janssens and the superioress
of the order in Emmetsburg, Nd. have
been faithfully chronicled, and now comes
the last and most beautiful chapter in this
work of helping the most miserable and
outcast of Gods creation-the arrival in
New Orleans of the volunteer band of nuns
who had offered themselves for this iso-
lated work, and who, with one other that
had labored long and faithfully in our
midst, have departed for the scene of their
future life and labors.
One who will act as superioress of the
little band of Sisters of Charity in the
Lepers' Home comes from far off Massa-
chusetts. She is Sister Beatrice, and for
twenty-five years has been sister superior
ess in charge of the large charity hospital
in Lowell, Mass; Sister Agnes of the
New Orleans Hospital, than whom none is
more competent to judge, spoke of the
work accomplished in Lowell by Sister
Beatrice, the building up of the great hos
pital under her careful household manage
ment, the care given the sick, and the
willingness with which she laid down this
charge to which she had become devotedIy
attached through long association to de-
vote her life to the amelioration of the
condition of the people in the Ieper land
in the far South. Sister Beatrice was
joined on the way to New Orleans by
Sister Mary Thomas of La Sale, Ind, and
Sister Cyril. Arriving here, Sister Annie,
who for ten years, day in and day
out, has served in the charity hospital
wards, was ready to go on the humane
mission.
In the early morning the noble and
heroic band was visited by Archbishop
Janssens and received his blessing on
their work.
Then as the hour drew near for the de-
parture of the steamer, with a full con-
sciousness of the difficulties and pains, de-
privations and dangers of the life to
which they had pledged themselves, they
boarded the vessel, and here the reporter
met them, and almost the first words put
to their brave leader, Sister Beatrice, were
these:
us there no feeling of hestancy now
that the critical moment has arrived, and
you must leave all those associations
which time has made so dear to take up
your life among sad, desolate and out
cast people2 Do you feel no fear?"
"Hesitancy?' she inquired, with a he
roic challenge in her soft eyes. "Why
should a Sister of Charity hesitateP Are
we not pledged to life of self-sacrifice and
devotion to humanity? And associationsP
Bearer ties were broken long ago to follow
the voice that called from within to higher
things-and-" she faltered, you spoke of
the sad and desolateP An experience of
twenty-five years in charity hospital has
brought me face to face with so much sor-
row, so much suffering, that think even
in leper land no deeper chords of human
woe could be sounded. And fear?-fear,"
she smiled-"why should we fear9 Is not
God watching over the leper home and
will he not take care of his children-we
and they, for they are our brothersP We
are children of common father"
The dromedary parcel post service in
the German territories of Southwestern
Africa has given results better than were
expected. The dromedaries are adapted
to the climate, are not affected nv tha