The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-09-27

rHilssiohs' IL Is tkemdeSire and plan~to
preserve every wall without exception
szyeyen those which were merely di-
Vlslonai. Only thus. can the original
scharacter of the(mission be preserved.
The missionsI sMere not merely
cnurenes, but little walled outposts Of
clylIlzation amid a wilderness then
more remote from 1.-The world" than
any corner of Africa is today. They
We're not only churches and church
SCHOOLS Tor the Indians, but Industrial
Irainlng schools, in which the savages
We're taught alb the crafts then ia
| miliar to civilizatfdn In these great
communities the Indians became skill
lea carpenters, masons, brickmakers.
placksmlths, tanners, soapmakers,
FARMERS, stock growers, Weayers, -vint-
nerS, fru1t growers, shoemakers, tailorS
and all the other trades needed in and
Tor self-supporting community 1900
miles from civilization and supplies.
They also learned to read and write
TO sing and to play on musical instru-
mentS. Under the supervision of one
or two priests at each place, they built
the missions. Some idea of the magnf-
tude of this task may be had from
the fact-verified by expert estimates
that the stone church alone at Capt.
strand could not be replaced today for
less than 100000. And this was only
a small part of the whole great estab-
hShment. In its prime Capistrano had
over. 1900 Indian neophytes.
AT the still larger mission of San
Fernando, the club has reroofed the
enormous monastery GAO by 80 feet)
with the original tiles; has reroofed
with shakes-as tiles could not be had
the church, 134 by 35 feet, and has
rebuilt some enormous breaches in the
walls and repaired the cloisters. As
az CQniStrQnn Cf
| neglect, would have put these buildings
beyond being saved. AS 1t Is, the work
has SO safeguarded and repaired the
two chief buildings that they will last
about as they are today for at least
another century. A great amount Of
work should still be done at this mis-
sion.
AT Pala, a branch chapel of San
Luis Rey, this club has reroofed the
chapel and monastery with the original
tiles, and is now making other improve
ments there. The mission lands had
been alienated by-one of the character
istic plumbers and injustices of the
government in dealing with matters so
remote, and had sbeen seized by
squatter. Some years ago he decided
the chapel and graveyard back to the
church, but retained the lands and
other buildings. The club has succeed
ed, after long and arSiuous negotiations,
In causing the entire array of buildings
and sufficient land to revert to the
rtghtful owner. The little church will
be rededicated as soon as repairs are
finished, the poor; crowded little grave
yard will be doubled in size, and hence
forth the Indians will have regular
church services. iif1ss
At San Luis Rey, founded in 1898,
the most splendid OF all the California
missions, where 1853 neophytes were
gathered in it's palnfiest days, little has
been done because the case was less
urgent than elsewhere. This magnif-
icent establishment is occupied by
little colony of the same order that
first made spiritual conquest of Cali
fornia, the Franciscans, and Father
O'Keefe, has saved the huge church
and put it in sound shape for worship.
The fallen cloisterS, which were the
glory of San Luis Rey, will be rebuilt.
AT San Diego, the Mother Mission"
founded in 1863, the ruin has gone fur
Their, and the buildings at best were
not SO elaborate as at some other
points. What little is left of the church
has been protected and the ruins of
the remaining walls will be preserved.
The work of the Landmarks club in
these repairs is absolutely expert and
in the hands of men who have studied
exhaustfyely the architecture involved.
There is no cheap and nasty restora-
tion;" everything that Is done Is done
precisely as 1t was originally, except
that timber is used instead of green
poles. The work done is open to In
spection, and has come to be recog-
nized as entirely competent and expert.
Besides the mission work the club
made a serious campaign which saved
the historic plaza of Los Angeles from
obliteration, and another which check
mated a Philistine attempt to destroy
several hundred historic street names
in Los Angeles, and fixed-through a
commission appointed solely on the
clubs urgency-a logical and historic
nomenclature for the streets Of the
cifv