The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1901-09-27

paper full of touching stories o
humble people who. panied at tn
sight of suffering. have labored to re
heve 1t. These yearly reports, whicl
have been presented to the Frencl
Academy regularly since the fall o
Napoleon. form mass of illustra
lions Of st. Pauls great burst OF elo
luence in praise Of charity The or
iginator of the rewards Of virtue
was Baron de Montyon. In 1888. Since
then others have followed his exam
pie until, in 1S99 the income for these
prizes amounted TO seycnty-thre'
thousand two hundred and nifty
francs, and one hundred and thirty
eight persons were crowned" The
rewards are given for instances OF
beautiful unselfshness and self-sacri
fee on the part Of the poor.
In 1899 the annual report was read
by Pierre Lott, and one Of the most
touching instances was the following
as related in the Outlook:
It is the story OF the Michaud sis
ters. They have both been blind from
birth. Under their old thatch roof, on
n floor OF beaten earth. they began
from babyhood TO work like two good
little fairies. While their parents
titled the ground and tended the
orchard that gave them a bare living.
the two daughters managed, hard as
IL was, to keep the pans and dishes
clean, and even TO cook the meals
When the neighbors were amazed at
the beautiful order I'm the little house,
the little blind girls would say: why.
IL we were not careful to put the
things back i'm the same place, how
could we find them again, because we
cannot see|
The family lived thus almost happi-
ly until about ten years ago, the
father died, leaving the orchard to
take care OF itself; for the mother was
worn out with hard work and almost
decrepit.
At this iuncture the officials In the
mayors Office in the neighboring vii
lage thought that they were doing n
kind turn when they offered to place
the widow in an asylum; but the
thought OF parting with their mother
threw the two blind sisters into des-
pair. by and by" they said, "by
and by IL 1t must be. Let us first try
to live together; we will do all we
can"
And when / tell you what they did
you will believe that am drawing on
my imagination. They learned to spin
wool, and by dint of keeping up their
practice until midnight they succeed
ed in learning to sew well enough to
make money, for their kind-hearted
neigbbors gave them work. They
learned to wash their own linen, sit
ting I'm front OF the wash tub by the
side Of an obllglng neighbor, who told
them when the things were clean
enough, or when little more rubbing
was needed.
At first they had goat, whose milk
together with bread. was their only
food, and the old mother had strength
enough to take the goat out to browse
along the roads, while she herself
gathered deadwood for the evening
fire.
After n time the poor widow became
childish, but had the desire to wander
as before along the roads, to the
great anxiety of her daughters, who
no longer dared let 90 of her gown.
Suppose she were to get lost" they
would say, "or fall into the ditcn. How
could we 20 TO find her when we have
no eyesW
But now they are freed from this
anxiety, for the mother Is bedriddcn
and has gone blind. And the two sis
ters are twice as tender to her whom
never see them. They work twice as
hard to secure what may soften hcl
decline.
They rack their brains to amusc her
they strive to keep her neat. and what
seems to me an adorable touch. when
they change her linen they always
piously warm the poor. coarse gar
ments in front of the liame made by @
few dead branches, for which they
have groped in the woods.
Never have they asked an aims
never has murmur or lament beer
known TO pass their lips. Sunk Ia
this night that never ends. gropinl
and feeling about with their hands {,
aid this mother. who also spreads he
hands in equal darkness. they show
only sweetness of temper. one ma!
even say an invincible contentmcnt.