New-York tribune., 1905-11-19
AN OLD FOLKS HOME.
Mr. and Mrs. Bagranof to Found
One an Bulgaria.

IT, ra+rrn to Bulgaria and establish there an
old folks home American lnes-this Is the
dream the ambition. of young Bulgarian oride
and bridegroom who have come ID newborn on
their ,onevunoon for the purpose of studying So
cial problems in this big, roaring Babel OF a to"h
..Nothing that have yet seen in this coun-
trv" said the Rev. Tzvetko s. BagranoH, as ne
and his pretty young WIFE Nevenka, sat IN the
recent,on room of the Bible Training School, mas
tn7nrcssed us so forcibly so favorahly as
home for aged people that we visited In Philip
nonous tbcre ia a so-called home for old people.
the only institution of its kind, so far as know,
in Bulgaria. 1t is government institution anu
synonyme for misery. Not only is it housed
IN n rtcxe+v old building with poor beds. but the
inmates who have to pay 10 cents day Tor tfe
privilege of staying there, have little CONSIDERATION
maid TO their comfort. 1t is all as unlike your
sn1andid we'll equipped old folks homes as pos
sible"
ives indeed" put in Mrs Bagranoff. DO you
remember that poor old woman 1 used to go TO
see? She was paralyzed, and from crying hao De-
come blind and her sufferings had aftecteo Hei
brain so that she partly insane She was
nearly starved to death in the home Ihen tholo
was an old German civil engineer, who came from
a good family and suffered terribly from having 10
enter the home at ALL In Bulgaria there IS
social stigma attached to going into home' as
we'll as to entering a hospital. This old German
objected to associating with the others because
they were not of his social class. so they put MIN
off by himself, and he quite neglected ana tor-
saken."
During the one or two years the Bagranons plan
to remain this country they hope to raise money
enough to realize their pet project
Between $1,000 and 5000 would start it, con-
tinued Mrs Bagranoff, eagerly, for althougn i, II
T0ud I'D be rum as for having backing
The government would PROBABLY give us the use 1I
annual grant of money or we could rent ars oI
house capable of aecommodating 9S twen1yshve W. Would
thirty persons, for about $500 year we #ou,d and
not expect to erect building. but would rent ato
Amegrican system Of consderation and generosity
toward inmates. Two thousand dollars Wouio sup
pGTrh This hf IS nHG M Bagrano aeT this
try After H Peag he spent two
| years in the office of the Minister OF FINANCE az
said in speaking of his saresr Iefacnr M Va. Fs:
not happy & or t sase Il Tened and came to
America where took four years course & at the the
| turn to Bulgaria, whatever 1 do, l must preach
am preacher To that work was called @ ,atIa ana
oR1rc is sns aatine aks for m me in
e R baSn poson sa Of 2 Protesant oea minister IS
eratye in Bulgaria Hatjys o seG m ks
year which even in that land of low prices and mo
Living he VfFy a amg 4
Philippopolis city of 800 inhabitants mi the Prot
College for Girls at constantinop1e, and ac-
sides her native Bulgarian; English. French AZ. Ar.
n Rusa end she tans music and
| in the Methodist School for Girls at Lovetch, in
| Bulgaria. 49,.
Another idea which the Bagranoffs hope to trans
plant in Bulgarian soil besides the old folks home
Is that of open air religious meetings. as conducted
| committee. 1t has been suggested that they oper
| a Bible training school, 'but there are too many
| dificuties in the way commented Mr.. Bagran-
! off 1T would be feasible only for the two sum,
| mer months of the year at most, as the people
| who would wish to would be attending
| schools colleges elsewhere during the rest Of
the year, and we should have great dit Difficulty y n
inducing women Of twenty years OF age e,.; or mar.
| overcome, our prospective students would find II
| hard to pay the tuition fees at a Bible training
school. ,, -I +,
| he added "It is day Of chanEe and progress
and Social problems. we have not yet organized
| trades unions in Bulgaria, and hope we never
| shall unless they can be governed by reason and
| the love of God While the mass OF Bulgarans are
not rich. none who possess the physical strength
! ing to compare with your awful tenement houses
and in fact the social needs Of Bulgaria are not sc
great as those of NewYork City at the present mo-
|