The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-10-14

| Children Now at the Institution-- Visit There Entertainingly Described Public Invited to the Exercises Next Thursday Afternoon.
 October 2Oth will be Donation day, when all the good people of New Ha- ven bring their peace offerings and their thank offerings and lay them at the feet of those poor children who have no other home but the orphan asylum. That, metaphorically speak ing. is what Donation day means. In reality we fill our arms full of what ever we can find, or what we think we can afford and hand them over to the tender mercies of those genial-faced men who come around with the dona- tion-cart. We all give something, even though it be no more than bag of peanuts or a last Christmas Jackin- the-box, for Donation day is as much an annual feature of New Haven life as
 
 ans, and we should feel lost without it.
 What Is the real of it? The ideal of it Is that while we are putting our hands down as deep as we can reach into our trousers pocket, or delving in the depths Of our last winters ward- robe for half-worn clothing, our hearts are all the time laying their choicest gifts of compassion and tenderness and love at the feet of lonely, desolate, de- pendent childhood And remembering that "the gift without the giver is bare," and thinking of our own happy firesides and the bright faces that cluster around them, Hike rosebuds clinging to the parent stem" we send with our gifts little heartfelt prayer for the children who have known so little of mothers love- fathers pro- tecting tenderness or the natural joys of home.
 I called at the orphan asylum yester- day Wednesday,. Walking up Chapel street for good many blocks, I at length reached Beers street, and turn ing to my right down this street, I soon came to Edgewood avenue, on the cor ner of which is located the asylum grounds. Entering and passing through sandy yard, rang the bell of big wooden house, the central part of which was three and a half stories high, and the side additions two sto- ries in height
 A woman answered the bell. Was the matron in? Might I go through the house?" queried.
 Yes, would be seated and she would call the matron
 l took a seat in the broad hall and caught a glimpse through the further door of a smooth lawn and tall hy- drangea bushes, which the rays of the October sun had painted dull, strange rusty red. A stronger odor than any the hydrangea's knew was waited to me on the balmy air. It was decidedly the odor of new paint! Evi- dently some renovating process was in order.
 A few moments and the matron de- scended the stairs; a trim, neat, order ly, conscientious woman, who appeared a trife put out to think newspaper woman should choose such an inoppor- tune time to call, just when those painters were turning everything top sy-turvy! She didn't say it of course, but she felt it. Any woman would feel the same under similar circumstances. However, she put a brave face on it, and l. following my leader" as the children do in play, held my skirts tight to elude, If possible, that paint. For you know how fresh paint is; once 1t touches your gown and all is over. IL. z1~ LIu The matron took me first to the chill dren's dining room, a large room with three long tables and thirty four plates at each. Three times 34-102 children. ''Was that the full number of children in the house?"
 "No; one hundred and thirty in all; that includes the house nursery and the baby cottage" There were besides sixteen employees, the matron, Mrs. John Hunt, the baby-house ma tron, Mrs. Annie Vaughn, the teachers, the nurses and the helpers.
 We went through the kitchen to the ''house nursery where the children be- tween the baby-age and the school age, or from two to five years, are kept This is situated in the main building. Here were lot of low-sea ed chairs and short-legged tables, and two dormitories to accommodate the twenty-one wee lads and lasses who belong in this department.
 In the bathrooms I noticed that the tubs and all the accessories were strikingly neat.
 My guide opened the door on to a small piazza where these toddlers were enjoying the balmy air and the sum- shine with their guardian, Miss Gerry. As the door opened they rushed to- ward us, their faces glowing with play, to show us their bright -colored build ing blocks and their rag dolls.
 They looked well. Their faces were not only clean, but round, plump and cear-skinned. Some of them had complexions that belle might envy. Their lively play showed that they felt well. too. I did not inquire concern ing the menu, but 1t would seem that it must be a healthful one to produce such results
 The second floor is floor of dormito- ries I noted in the boys bathroom a