Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1900-09-20
EXPOSITION LETTER.
From our Regular Correspondent
PARIS, FRANCE, Aug. 20, 1900

I
ing so much Christian piety and
beneyolence that | cannot refrain
from telling il. The heroine Of it
is a Mademoiselle Noualhier, young,
goodlooking and rich, aud she has
a very peculiar hobby, for ] can call
it nothing else. Her hobby is to
bring carriage-loads of incurable
consum ptives from the Paris hog
pitfalls to die in her hospice at Linn
oges, because there she can be GER
tain that they will make a good
Christisn--that is to say Catholic
ending. They are dying in the
hospital, their lives are not pro.
longed by 800 mile train journey,
it may be in the depth OF winter.
and as q rule, to which there are
few or no exceptions, they do die
shortly after their arrival at Linn.
oges. To compensate them for
their journey and the added suffer
ing it entails, they are sure of re-
ceiying the last saoraments sur.
rounded by nuns and priests. With
in the last three years six hundred
consumptives have been Thus
brought from Paris to Mile. Noial-
HERS hospice. Not one of them is
now alive. This has been going on
for the last twelve or fifteen years.
Needless to say the Limourins
have long been shocked and scan
da!ized By this unique work Of
Chriatian charity, Crowds have
! gathered at the railway terminus
to sec the poor incurables come in,
and remonstrAte with her. The
only result Of his Intervention was
/ that Mile. Noualhior put on look
Of surprise and inquired the may
or's name and there the matter
dropped. AS time went on, how
ever, other circumstances began to
move the people II wac noticed
that in the quarter which contained
the amateur hospicc deaths from
consumption became alarmingly
frequent while the doath-rate from
consumption in other quarters OF
the town stood still, II was noticed
too, that houses in the hospico quar-.
ter were falling out Of occupation
aud that the region was gradually
turning into solitude only broken
by daily and sometimes hourly
procossion Of funerals from the
hospice door. The result was that
o week or two ago the townspeoplo
woke up, their patience at an ord.
They formed committee, organ
lied noisy meetings about tho hos.
/ pice doors, and stones thrown at the
windows and appealed to Peris.
The appeal has met with only
partial success and the matter will
probably have TO be fought out be-
fore the supreme court OF appeal.
The Minister Of The Interior said
he had no power himself to order
the hospice TO be closed, nor could
be forbid Mile. Noualhier entering
the Paris hospitals on certain dave
like anyone else. AN be could DO
be did, namely, recommend the
mayor TO issue a notice that any
institution proved to be ondaneer-
ing tho sanitary state Of the town
should be closed Nile. Noualhier.
however, seems TO have good ground
technically as long as she adopts
all the precautions prescribed 10y
the sanitary authorities, and this,
Of course, she takes good care to dc.
But what, il may be asked, ia
Mile. Noualhier's own justification
OF her conduct She came to Paris
the other day and published q state.
mont Of it. It is, as might be sup.
posed, a purely sentimental and pi.
Gus one-that as tho forms Of un.
happiness and illness are multilud
inous, tho forms OF bonovolonce to
cope with them must be multitude.
mons too. She alleges, moreover,
that in the last three years sixty
patients have been cured by her OF
sent much improved in health to
their homes. Against this there ID
the fact that before the hospital
let's the patient 90, the patient ia
declared incurable. Mile. Noual.
hier also asserts that the houses on
either side Of the hospice are par.
tiaIiv oocnpiad Inf - >pn -.