The Clarksburg telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1874-1926, 1900-10-05
Mrs. Rufner'S Plea
For The Homeless.
Address in Part Made Before the
Methodist Conference in Be-
half Of the lncurables.

Mrs. Mary Jackson Ruffner, of
Charleston, president Of the West Nir-
ginla asylum for Incurables, made the
following address at Conference
1T is, indeed, an honor to be intro
duced to one Of the largest end most
influential bodies in our beautiful
mountain state. i confess my unfit
ness to attempt to address such repre-
sentative men and women, but as
Calias was written in the heart OF
Mary Tudor, so is that Of Incurables
written in mine. Never since the
hour that your Heavenly Father and
mine called me to the leaderShipof the
most unfortunate suffering ones, have
l ever seen the time that have regret
ted the battles, the struggles, the dis
appointments, the criticisms, yea,
abuse that we're my portion for many
years, but out of which have sprung
the glorious results, which led to the
establishing of West yirgnia's great
est charity on yonder hill at Hunting
ton, the Home for Incurables.
"0h, my friends, do you know the
agony OF the meaning to be ever I'm
durable - Do you know what 1t
means never to be free from pain |?
Never tie liedown in comfort ? Never
to lift your hand to feed yourself /?
Never to be able to turn in your bed I?
And then to these physical infirmities,
hunger and neglect, lack Of all moral
training If you do, then you will see
what was the condition Of many who
have entered the West Virginia Asy-
lum for Incurables. Then as they en-
ter those doors, motherleSs, father
less, many of them, their condition
becomes changed. They are lifted
from want to plenty, from hunger to
food, from ignorance to schooling,
from heathendom to Christianity!
"Children have come to us, who
never heard of God. To-day through
the blessed influence of our dear in
durable Methodist, the Rev. L. C..
Scott, thcyare being trained to be
Jewels in the immortal crown
"Christian men and women, does
such work deserve your cooperation
or not i? lit does, and invite you
one and all to come to that home,
tmany here have been there and will
tell you what they have SEEM, will you
not give your influence? Will not
the voters in this body help those
helpless ones by seeing the members Of
the legislature from their different dis
tricts and have them to vote for a
liberal appropriation God gave us
our brains to think and our hearts to
feel, and our duty where it begins In
our own homes does not end there. What
have the mothers OF this state done
and what will they do for the incura-
bles of West Virginia? There is not a
woman within the sound of my voice,
but that can do something. If you
can't go into public and speak and
work, in the sanctity of your own
homes you can influenceyour husband,
your sweethearts, your brothers to see
that the members vote properly and
that fair proportion of the state
funds be gwen to the Home of Incur
ables. When your own happy children,
sound of mind and strong in limb,
gather around your tireslde, you can
train them to think and give to that
unfortunate little friend with no other
arms around him, save those of the
state. How many children, in this
state, have ever been told by their
mothers Of the children on yonder hill
with paralyzed limbs, broken backs,
weakened minds, suffering in every
form !? How many mothers, when the
Christmas bells are ringing, and the
story of the Child in the manager is
told, nave trained their children to
deny themselves and give some little
toy or book to brighten the lives OF
their unfortunate brothers and sisters!
These are the things, women of West
Virginia, that you can do.
Let me showyou some of the pic.
lures of our precious household and
briefly tell you their history. How
many mothers here know that in not a
single poor house in West Virginia is
any education being given, either re-
ligious or secular, that in one county
the women are horse-whipped and in
another the people are let by contract