The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-08-17
HoW the Little Sisters Of the Poor Care for the Hged

Little Sisters of the Poor" is in
itself a pretty and attractive name,
and their work, as soon as known,
appeals to all sorts and conditions OF
men Other charities have devoteu
themselves to the care and education
of the young and the redemption OF
the fallen, but the Little Sisters OF the
Poor devote their lives, their strength
And their love to the care and Succor
Of the aged. and infirm, and beside
their VOW of poverty, obedience anu
chastity, is added one of hospitality.
Not outside relief is their particular
work but the caring for old In the
home of the sisters. Here in st. Paul
their abiding place is out at the end
of Wilkins street, just where the
street ends, and the building overlooks
the river, so that the garden for the
old people has a lovely view OF the
great silver ribbon of the Mississippi
as it flows along and the driveway
in front gives upon the same pank.
''Home for the Aged of the Little
Sisters of the Poor" is the official title
of the home. which is a large three
story red brick building with statue
of the Holy Mother set over the door
way. Humble, cheerful, and always
Industrious, the Little Sisters, in their
plain, dark dress and little, dght-ft-
ting white caps, receive all VISION
with a bright and pleasant cordla1ty
that is in itself the very essence OF hos
pitality. And what workers they are!
Here there are no SerVaTsS, no pald
employees, all the work is done by the
sisters themselves helped generally.
cheerfully and willingly by their old
people. The whole spirit of the instf-
tuition is one of good will and indus
try, the Little Sisters speak of the in
mates as "our good old people" and
they in turn have nothing but words
of love for our good Little Sisters"
Little Sisters Everywhere.
Everywhere throughout the institu-
tion wherever the visitor goes there
will be found the Little Sister inL the
kitchen, the laundry, or nursing the
sick, but always surrounded by their
people and working with them, not
merely supervising them, as is the
case in so many institutions.
Today the good mother, as she
is called, the Mother Superior Appel
inc de Marie, has under her care 140
old people, ninety men and fifty wom-
en- all old, and some very old. One old
woman, Wizened and dried up looking,
yet walking about briskly, tells any
one interested that she is LOG years
old, and she looks it, Another, an old
man, declares that he is 102. The old
woman is from Poland, and speaks no
English, but she is bright and cheer
full and her bright black eyes shine
with pleasure when a stranger comes
into the room. She bursts into stream
of quick language that is as fluent as
incomprehenSible to most of the Wis
itors. The old man is an Irishman, an
old, decrepit and hardly of this world.
He sits most of the time in his chair,
white-haired and White-faced, but not
melancholy; no one is melancholy
here.
Down stairs in the basement is a
smoking room for the men, where they
walk and talk and smoke to their
hearts content, and a door near it
opens onto their garden or walk. GRAY
elled and sunny and arranged with
seats, it has a beautiful view of the
river and the bluffs across it. In the
winter the children playing on the ice
are source of endless amusement to
the old people, who watch them play
Ing or skating for hours with the
greatest interest and pleasure. The
old women's garden is a grassy plot