The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-07-27
=RAMsEY COUNTY HAS A MODEL POOR FARM=

services she will render, but an old
man is too often not willing to work;
the unskilled Iaboring class furnish
the largest number to the poorhouse.
The day laborer who is past a hard
days work cannot or will not wash
dishes, nor take care of the baby, nor
usually does he care to stay alone in
the house, and thus few are found
willing to give him even house room.
Owing to age and other inf1rmities
there Is little these people can do in
the way of work and their days pass
principally in dreamless listless life
in-death existence, an apathetic wait
ing for the last call. A glance at the
records shows the ages to be eighty,
eighty-one, eighty-two, eighty three,
seventy Eight, seventy-seven, ETC., and
on eighty-seven. OF the men those
who are able work in the garden or
about the place or wait on those who
are crippled,and there are about six who
work little outside and about seven
or eight who help a little in the house.
Of the women none is able to work,
except save two who pick few veget-
ables, and this is not surprising when
it is remembered that of the whole
nine three are over eighty.
At one time the poorhouse had for an
inmate a public character who might
be said to have remarkable coach
ing record, yet she was not lady of
quality or person of fashion a far from
it but the police said she had taken
no less than 165 rides in the patrol
wagon. She has been dead now though
for some five years.
They inmates do not lack for visitors
the priest at ST. Johns Catholic church
and the Asbury Mission MethodiSt
society have been very regular in their
visits and attentions to those whose
fate is really sad viewed from the light
that these are those who have gone
down in the struggle of their unfor-
tunate careers.
A more pleasing side phase Of this
life is presented by the old gardener
Lawrence Fabjansky, q Pole over sew
enty-seven years of age, who works
hard in the garden all day long and
who takes an amusing pride in his
vines and vegetables and thinks the
trees should be cut down in order to
give sunlight to his plants.
Builds Sun Dial.
His English is of the most labored
and painful sort but he manages to
convey to the listener thSt he consid-
ers himself quite a conversat1onalist in
Polish. He has constructed a curious
and most ingenious sun dial. Made
with circular piece of wood mounted
on an old stump, nail in the CEN
ter throws the proper shadows on the
face of the circle, he has made a num-
Der of marks showing the hours and
he can tell the time most accurately
N&th this crude arrangement. II
o'clock, which is the dinner hour is
very heavy mark, and the 5 o'clock
mark when supper is served is also
heavy one. Not that Lawrence is a
shirk, no indeed, he is q hard worker,
and has even captured a wandering
swarm of bees and hived. them in the
hope of starting thus late in life as
an apiarist. AS for his sun dial it
takes quite an elaborate system Of
figuring to allow properly for the short
days and the long days but he man
ages to do it entirely successfully. He
is quaint and worthy character in
his way and has the virtue of indus
try, which is not common here.
There is only one negro here, an old
| man, and in all the history of the insti-
tuition there have been only two alto
| gether. The superintendent asserts that
] the colored people stand by each other
/ to the last and will share their last
| crust with one of their kind rather
than see him or her in the poorhouse.
And this is true also of the Jews There
/ has been but one Jew in this institu-
! ton, and he stayed for only two weeks
| while his brother got better place