The Irish standard., 1904-08-06

No woman doing a great public
work is less known to the world a
large than Miss Katharine Drexel, or
as she is properly now called, Mother
Mary Katherine Of the Order Of the
Blessed Sacrament, says the New
York Sun. This American heiress ex
pends an income, said to amount tt
$365,00O a year, entirely on charity
Since the government appropriation
was withdrawn from the Catholic In
dian schools Of the West she has sup.
ported those institutions almost en-,
tirely, besides maintaining six con-
vents and industrial schools Of her
own. Her father was the late Francis
"A. Drexel, Of Philadelphia.
One of the nuns of the order Of the
Sacred Heart, in one of the schools of
which order Mother Katharine and
her sisters were educated, tells many
interesting things about the girlhood
days and the remarkable bringing up
of the three sisters.
II suppose few poor girls are so
strictly raised today as were the
Drexel sisters" she said. ''There were
three Of them, Elizabeth and Katha-
rine and Louise, who is now the wife
of Col. e. de v. Morrell, of Philadel-
phia. The older two were the children
of Mr.. Drexel by his first wife, whose
maiden name was Longstreth, and
who died when they were very young.
Afterward Mr.. Drexel married Miss
Emma Bouvier, Of New York, and
Louise was her only child.
"The Bouviers were French, and the
second Mrs. Drexel had been educated
~ the French nuns who founded the
convent of our order out at Eden Hall,
near Philadelphia. From them as
we'll as from her own family she ac-
uuired ideas of thrift and economy
which are now little in favor in Amer
ica.
''Though her daughters were to in
herit incomes of $1,000 day each, she
had them thoroughly instructed in all
branches of household economy. They
were taught to cook, to trim their own
hats and to make their gowns. Later,
they relieved their mother of all
household cares, each taking her turn
in overseeing the management Of their
home.
'"The girls were sent to the school
where their mother had been educat-
ed, and Mr.. Drexel built home out
at Torresdale, near Eden Hall, where
the family lived almost all the year.
Every morning regularly the father,
mother and three daughters arose at
half past S and attended 6:30 o'clock
mass in the convent chapel.
''Mrs. Drexel was a very pious
woman. It was through her influence
that Mr.. Drexel was led to embrace
the Catholic faith, and, Of course, the
two eldest children were brought up
in that religion. The whole family
were very charitable. From early
childhood each Of the daughters re-
ceived an allowance to manage for
herself and was taught to put GER
tain amount of it aside for the poor.
'"Three rules of conduct were firmly
impressed upon the sisters: to be per-
fectly unaffected, perfectly straight
forward, and perfectly fearless. They
were taught also never to give way
to their feelings-a trait so firmly in.
stilled that even when their parents
died they did not shed tear or in
any way display their grief.
''They always dressed in the most
simple of fashions, even after they
came out in society. People have Of
ten seen the Drexel girls in church
and taken them for working girls, SO
plain We're their clothes.
"I do not want you to think that in
her care that they should be useful,
practical women, their mother allowed
the other side of their education to be
neglected. They were all very intel
lectual, fond of books and music.
Though they were sent to simple
convent school, they had masters and