The Irish standard., 1901-02-02
A PROGRESSIVE PRIEST.
Father O'Connell, Of Caledonia, MINI.
and His Flock.

and His Flock.
AS Is We'll known. when the present
pastor of St Johns Catholic church i'm
Caledonia, took charge of the congrr-
CATION about two Years ago, there WAS
no pastoral residence. properly so
called. and no church e,liticc worthy of
| the name. An old. shaky frame barn.
venerable only for its years. wherein
| the parishoncrs might freeze in win
| ter and SutfOratc in summer. was the
only building provided to accommodate
about 1868 Roman Catholic families be-
| longing to the parish. says Judge
james O'Brien in rhe Caledonia Jour
nal of Jan. %.
Money making for the rnchrstian
purpose of boarding is not the forte
II missionary spirit of Father O'Con-
lcll AS soon as installed as rector of
he parish he commenced and complct-
| I'd. in a few months, an elegant pas
roral residence on the church grounds,
'ulI'iiNN w lllt tllc llloltIll lIIlDIONt-
ntntS. This done, the old church rock
ny was tliSmantlcl and commodious
stone structure. the neatcst and most
ommodiOuS house of divine worship
II Southern Minnesota. was erected in
its stead. This building is not ONLY a
| rcdit to the missionary zeal and i'll
domitablc energy Of the pastor. but Il
! lasting monument to tile fidelity of the
! people and substantial ornament to
our beautiful little ,-lty. These I'M
provemcnts entai,cd great labor Sacri-
flee and expenditures. But by skillful
management and strict economy, the
debts contracted in building and equip
ping both structures are practically
liuuidated. In passing, it is but simple
justice to remark, That many of oul.
Liberal minded citizens. not of the
Catholic persuasion, aided. by substan-
! tial contributions. both pastor and pc0-
pie. in paying for the erection nf the
now church.
L" crown the enterprise and obtain
new proof of the devotion of the pco-
pie to so praiscwol'thy an undertaking,
| Father O'Conncll made preparations
for Il carnival and fair. us
Il fitting finale of tile work A..
romplished. II,1ndt's opera house was
engaged for the purpose. On Friday
and Saturday, the 18th and 10Th inst,
the carnival was celebrated in the
presence of crowded houses on both
occasions. The stage fairly hustled
! with all that is young fair. beautiful,
pleasant and useful i'm tilc village The
forty business houses. including MGR
chants. bankers. artisans and nlanuf;c-
tuners. were represented by as many
young ladies' married and single. car
rylng appropriate banners. represent
ing our various industries. The queen
OF the carnival, seated on !, beautifully
decorated PEDESTAL was the center of
attraction. After she had given Il sue
rlnct history of Caledonia and it's
growth during the last forty years,
the young ladies' marched and counter
marched in artistic evouiions on the
stage to Professor Yields stirring
strains on the piano. whilst the people
in the hall manifested their delight hy
continuous applause. After this exlli-
bitiOn, the Brownie band gave uniu,lc
specimens of fairy music. which was
we'll received. The convention of ovid
maids. or rather of young women inn
prrSolllting old maids. was as
remarkable for its pleasing cc-
ccntlirlt'icS as for the talent
displayed by the loquacio,ls and
iidgety members Before this convcn-
ton adjourned. Professor AIakc-Ovrr
appeared with Il wonderful machine,
the first notable invention of tho TWEEN
tieth century. 10y virtue Of which he
transformed. by the turning of a crank,
all of tho old girls into h,lxom lassics.
This was a lauglElblc performance, and
hu! ''o"'el 'il' carnival. During the
performance it would he unfair to omit
to mention the weird strains of vocal
music furnished by Il quartet of ladies':
there were also duets and solos of OK
ccptilonal feeling and power.
The bazaar opened. on the 18TH and
continued till last Friday night. The
hall was well supplied with booths.
wherein the artistic skill of our la,Nirs
in embroidery and fancy work of vari-
GUS kinds was properly displayed. The
days were especially devoted to partir-
ular objects. Tuesday was doll day:
Wednesday. gold watch day; Thursday.
voting contest day among the young
ladies. and Friday. reception day.
The hall was generously pntronized
during the day and evening by our
citizens. and by Il fair quota from the
country. Meals were served at inter
walls. All the fancy articles were either
sold during the celebration, or disposed
of at auction on Friday evening. The
whole affair was an unprecedented sue.
cess. Not an incident occurred to mar
the prolonged festivities. Catholics
and Professionals appeared to vie with