The San Juan County index. (Aztec, N.M.) 1890-19??, 1899-07-14

In a bare rear tenement, so small
that It's three rooms scarcely make one
good-sized apartment, and so damp
that the mold has invaded every sta
tionory object. Hllen stuYvesant
Granfeld Is facing abiect want in New
York city. One by one the trinkets
endeared to her from childhood have
found their way to the pawnshop, till
the very wedding ring has been torn
from her dnger to buy bread. In the
prime Of life. with a good husband and
good health to aid her, this descend
ant Of the brave old Knickerbocker
Peter S%tuyvesant has been compelled
to admit that she has fought her fight
with Fate-and lost, II is the old
story Of a young couple strong in
hope, both able and eager to work to
lay up a competency for the old age
which seemed so far om-an easy in
come for years, and then failure. The
pursuit Of employment till the search
became a nightmare, the ~dwindling Of
their savings till all was gone, and
now the prospects of eviction supply
the sequel. Ellen stuyvesant Ohm
stead was the pet Of the household till
the death Of their father threw the
three children on their own resources.
A natural aptitude for the care of the
sick led her to adopt nursing as her
calling, and 1t was in that capacity at
the old Chambers Street hospital that
she met her husband, Ernest Gran
held. He, too, was a nurse, and their
marriage only served to strength
en- their interest in their chosen work.
But Ellen Granfield is not considered
stuck up" by her n%eighbors. Sne
answers their greetings with a smile
and they regard her as a good, decent
woman" They care nothing about her
blue blood. She does not bother them
with her ancestry. That ancestry is
not troubling her either just now. The
question, Where will it all end?" is
n she puts to herself a hundred
times a day as she counts over the lit
tie bundle Of pawn tickets that lie in
her bureau drawer. That Is her
thought by day and her dream by
night. She sits and sews through the
long afternoon and greets her hus-
bands step when he returns at night
from his hopeless search for work and
kisses away the troubled frown that
clouds his forehead. They are kind to
each other In their poverty. Both are
patient. Ellen Granield Is a pleasant
faced woman of middle age. She has
a true patrician face and kindness
beams from her eyes, and her smile is
good to see. Mrs. Granheld is the
daughter of Phoebe Ann Stuyvesant,
whose father was David Stuyvesant, a
big land owner. Phoebe Ann Stuyves-
ant married James Olmstead, a civil
engineer Of great energy, who laid out
many great public works in Connecti-
cut. There were three children-El-
len, a brother, who died quite young
and one sister, now also deceased. FL
len was carefully educated, but when
her father died their fortune dwindled
and. left with the care Of her mother
she chose nursing as a profession. She
and her husband took charge OF the
Reception hospital, at the foot Of East
1ANeNAsa 9NA&RNr LII 01NoAAA IEAL0
Side by side they nursed and cared fol
the suffering. A change in the office o.
the commissioner of charities came
and the Granhelds we're relieved o.
their charge. Then came the chang,
In their fortunes. "Since that day
when We were forced from the Recep.
ton hospital" said Mrs. Granheld to-
day, I'VE have not known real ease. Il
has been n long struggle for exist.
nee. I have never attempted t
search for my relatives. My mother
is still alive. She Is a woman Of 20
and except for her / might make som,
attempt, but her pride is greater thar
mine. The Stuyvesants, you know
once owned a big slice Of Manhattan
island. But what is all that to m,
now? l only want enough to keep Err.
nest and myself from want, and tina
we are both willing to work for. w
have pawned almost everything. Wha
there is left-the bed, the bureau, ant
Ernest's old sea chest-will not brinl
enough to keep US long. My clotheI
are all gone, and but for the kindness
Of the landlord we should have beef
set IN the street long since"
The Granleld home is the picture o
neatness-a marked contrast to tn
wretched surroundings. On the bar
walls hang here and there a small
~picture-tokens too dear to par with
The floors are uncovered and the win
dows vacant Of hangings.