The Washington weekly post., 1899-06-13
WHERE NUNS SHOE HORSES.
Sisters of st. Dominic Have Blacksmith
Shop in South Africa.


From the New York Press
The Sisters of ST. Dominic. near King
Williams Town, Cape Colony, South Al
rica, have established a blacksmith 5
shop, and have adopted the role of the
new woman in a bTand-new character
The Sisters of ST. Dominic, eager to sow
the seeds of religion in Africa, turned
their backs on the time-honored converts
OF Europe and estab bished a settlement
in Cape Colony, where they purchased an
extensive farm. Finding that farm Ia
borers were scarce in land where most
of the digging was for gold and dla-
monds d far more profitable use of the
spade than digging for potatoes, the nuns
quietly put their hands TO the plow. But
accidents Will happen even in a convent,
and IN time the plOwshaTe was broken.
There being no blacksmithS in that re-
glOn, the nuns sent 10 Cape Town and
got the materials 10 build and the tools
and implements TO supply a smithy. A
blacksmith as a tutor was secured, and
now the nuns have learned how TO do
their own smith work. They have thus
far proved not only their equality with
man, but their superiority TO him, for,
when Jne blacksmith, disregarding his
religious environments and the respect
due TO the noble women who hired him,
went on a prolonged spree, they bounced
him out OF the settlement
In the new country where the nuns
have set up their habitation. the Boer
neighbors regard their work with suspl-
ciOn and resentment. the English stand
and wonder, and the natives look on with
awe and reverence. The visitor who
rides TO the convent from KING William
Town comes upon the nuns, brown clad
and busy hoeing, plowing, pruning and
grating, or perhaps driving strOng-limb-
ed oxen 10 the water. AT close range
the most striking effect in the appear
anCe Of Sister Of st. Dominic as seen
in South Africa is her rosy. tanned face,
so different from the bloodless, white
complexion OF the nun under ordinary
conditions This natural bronze is well
earued. Day after day, week after week,
month AFTER month. the nuns toll al the
forge and in the field, exposed to the rays
of the African sun and the fierce heat
Of the forge
The feminine blaCksmiths of the DOM
lnlcan convent are experts. The precision
o. the swinging nun seems 10
exercise "A sort of fascination over the
ont of their way on their daily tasks 10
gaze at their hard-Working sisters of the
smithy.
\ recent visitor to the Sisters of St.
Dominic, who had the good fortune 10
possess a letter Of introduction from a
Bishop 10 the Mother Superior, entered
the occasion in detail in his diary. The
abbess proved 10 be woman endowed
with uncOmmonly good sense. She was
practical and her personal spirituality
was so aided and tempered with a knoWl-
edge of human nature and a sense of
humor that she capuVated the visitor
After tour of inspection of vines. fruit
trees and growing crops, the abbess drove
him TO the blacksmith shop. The smithv
was a long, narrow building. with a
strong frame. the sides clapboarded and
the whole surmounted with d red cupola,
with Slated sides, through which the
smoke OF the forge drifted. Within were
a We.l-built brick forge, a strong cana
clouS bellows OF ONhiGe, and all the Gus
tomaTy paraphernalia incidental 10 the
vocation of vOtaries of Vulcan
TetheIed 10 a strong Caken rack in the
center Of the snop was a dTaught horse
whose big bones ard shaggy fetlocks pro
claimed the Flemish animal With nail
box beside her. nun bent over the nigh
hind foot. with the foot resting in her
lap, and with a Fair of tongs was fitting
a red-hot shoe TO the scorching hooE
With the assistance of sister, the nun
nailed the shoe, and, patting the SIDE OF
the horse, she proceeded to lift another
hoof and repeat the performance with :
second shoe.
once OF twice the nun drove a nail in n
direction that did not satisfy her Such
she withdrew, but at last the shoe was
firmly nailed, nails ClinChed, and sharp
corners All neatly psped down, and
big horse Was shod as neatly and as We'll
Is the average blacksmith could have
done H.
While the horseshoeing was In progress
another nun was busy making hinges.
hooks and staples TiHgbolts ana ofhpr
articles OF builders hardware out OF small
rod and bar iron. She hammered awav
In rather an experimental fashion. and
frequently exhibited her work 10 tSe nun
who had sh0d the horse, seekin. her a5
vice upon knotty points o. the smithy's
Frt Another nun was repairing farm,
machinery, and seemed 10 be an adept al
the work.