The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-03-06
A MARYLAND CBNTENARIAN
Inmate of the Church Home Cele-
brates Her Hundredth Birthday.
Mrs. Lfsh Recalls Qncen VIotorIa's
Visit to Glasgow When She Picked
Up the Roy Prince of Wales, Who
Had Fallen Down - Her History

Had Fallen Down Her History.
BALTIMORE, March 6.-Mrs. Maria Le-
titia Lish, an inmate of the Church Home
and Infirmary- Broadway and Fairmont
Avenue celebrated her one hundredth
birthday yesterday Until recently Mrs.
Lish had been in excellent health A few
weeks ago she had an attack of the grip
She is cOnvalescing now and promises to
be quite as strong as she was before her
illness. She was disappointed yesterday
at not being able to be up, and dressed in
her best cap and her best gown to receive
her birthday visitors, but she yielded
with very good grace when her careful
nurses told her it would be imprudent-
She received ner own intimate friends
IN the little private compartment allotted
to her in the ward in which she spends
her days. Everything about her was
snowy white The bed and its draperies
we're white. Her cap and the soft wool
en- shawl thar vas wrapped around her
shoulders were snowy white also
On the table near her bed were several
substantial evidences of the anniversary
Among them were flowers and fruit, and
a big birthday cake
Mrs. Lish Is a native of Lanarkshire,
near Glasgow. and she is very proud of
being a Scotchwoman. Her father was
the captain Of Highland regimen and
her early life was spent in the barracks
near Glasgow. Her husband. Dr. VIII
liam Lish, was a surgeon IN the English
Army.
In spite Of her advanced age Mrs. Lish' $
memory is wonderfully clear. She is very
deaf. as the result of an operation. but
with this exception retains the full use Of
her faculties.
one Of the strongest recolIections Of her
early life is Of visit paid by Queen Vic
toria to Glasgow and OF the reception Civ
en- by the Queens Scotch subjects. A
platform had been erected and from this
the Queen was to review the ceremonies
ARA Hged liz her honor. As they wer@
passing through the crowd and up the
steps to the platform, the little Prince Of
Wales. now King Edward VII. who was
with the Queen. stumbled Mrs LiSh
says she was standing in the crowd near
the steps. and starting forward she mad
the honor OF picking up the little Prince
and handing him 10 the Queen
Mrs Iish and her husband came to this
and all of her children-she was the moth
er of eighteen, eleven boys. and seven
girls-have died. with the exception Of
one son, who is living at the Soldiers
She has been living al the Church Zone
for four years. and during that time she
has only occasionally left the ward TO
which she was assigned She entertains
herself by reading and by sewing She
does all Of her own mending and darnlng,
and is very proud Of her work
In the little gatherings that are held on
her floor of the home she IS in great de
mand as an entertainer She has A num-
Der Of stories and poems which she re-
cites with much dramatic power The
Soldiers Tear" ''Ye Banks and BraeS o
BOnny Doom" and There's Nae Luck
About the House" are included in her rep
eTtoire.
She has n little store of treasures which
she brings out for favored visitors With
each of them belongs a story One Of the
treasures that WAS shown TO a reporter
yesterday was a watch-a big, round AT
fair, with very thick case and thick crys-
tai. The watch was originally the prop
erty of an ancestor of Mrs. Lish, Dr. An
derson. a Protestant minister. who lost
his life at Castle Hill. near Edinburgh. in
1852. for the sake of his religious belief
Other relics that she prizes very highly
are the cOat-of-arnls OF her mothers fam
lily. bearing the motto 'Divini gloria ru-
ris'' C'ReliEion is the glory of our coun-
try. and silver souvenir that was Civ
en- to one of her sons when a boy of four
teen by the Light Street Presbyterian
Church for learning and reciting selected
paSsa ges from the New Testament Mrs.
Iish is a Presbyterian and she stiU takes
a keen interest in the affairs Of that de-
nomination