The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-21

made into twine at factory at AnnistOn
 and woven into hammocks by this Ala bama boy.
 1 All the girls are taught to sew, having ! regular hours for sewing classes under
 teachers supervision. The older girls
 are skilled enough to sew well and they
 do much of the sewing for the little 1 children, while the girls who have stud | jed at Montevallo did much of their own sewing last summer before returning to 1 school.
 There are many times for recreation, too, for the children. Mir. Can't, who has charge of a picture show in Ever green. invites them down in different parties to see the pictures; last summer the boys drove up on the lawn several times with wagon loads of watermelons. and again the wagons were packed with straw or hay for a ride in the summer evenings. ~
 One of the things the children look
 forward to and thoroughly enjoy is the
 monthly birthday celebration 1t is one of the things that is provided to give
 the pleasures that they would have in their own homes. Each month there is a party for all who have birthdays in that month. There are usually from 10 to 20, girls and boys and teachers. They have special birthday supper and all the honorees sit at one table, where each ones place is marked with birthday card bearing his name and the date of his birth Some of the older girls pre- pare the table and serve the supper Antheneum Orphans Home | The youngest orphanage of the state IS the Atheneum Orphans Home, or the Jefferson county home. It is at East Lake and occupies the building erected l for the Atheneum, a Baptist girls school. When the school was discontinued. the property was bought by Bishop Allen for the home and in July 1903, this orphan age was opened under the management of the Sisters of Charity. with the idea of being absolutely nonsectarian in it's service.
 The home has cared for $50 children during the F years of it's existence. and of this number half were Catholics. They are of different nationalities and creeds,
 Italians Austrians, Greeks, Hungarians, Poles, Syrians, Germans, Irish and Amer ioans-Methodists Episcopal, Catholic, Greek Catholic. Lutheran and Baptist.
 The religious sect is not a prime consider
 ation; the home is for any and all Who
 need the shelter and love and care IL ar
 lords. Most of the children have lost
 one or both parents, and others are neg
 lected children who are sent rom the
 juvenile court, the Boys club, the Bir-
 mingham Humane society and the vari-
 ous other institutions for child welfare.
 In several instances the sisters nave
 had entire families of children put Tn
 their care, where the fathers were Killed
 in accidents. The children are taken as
 young as two or three years and after
 they are F years of age the boys are
 sent to the brothers in Mobile and the
 girls to various industrial and technical
 institutions.
 The orphanage is in a grove of trees
 on the heights. not far from East Lake park The grounds include nine acres,
 and the home is a brick building, shaded
 in summer by the trees. Everything IS
 plain. simple and imrnaculately clean;
 and the visitor finds such gentleness and
 such kindness in the welcome that the
 sisters extend. There are elght or them,
 with Sister Josephine in the capacity or
 mother superior They do all the wash ing, cooking, sewing, mending, cleaning, nursing training and teaching Tor the loo or more children. and do 1t simply and solely for their love of God and man. There is perhaps no greater deliberate sacrifice made in the county nor for the Birmingham district than that or these eight women who are giving their very lives day by day, unseen, unknown. un- thanked for children who have been de- prived of the home and the parents care which it might seem is the right of every child They do it knowing the there IS no earthly recompense for them, ana that with them life will always be 10 give ana not to receive. Their influence seems sufficient to make anew the troubled lit He lives that are given into their care, for they are so thoroughly consecrated to the task of caring for these children. The hujlding is old fla ashioned, which means that it has high ceilings and Wlde entrance hall. The woodwork and the floors are clean and the furnishings are plain. At the end of almost every cor ridor is a statue of Mary, the draped figure slhouetted against the mountain view beyond. On the first floor are the chapel reception rooms, assembly room
 of the sisters, the children's dining room and the kitchen. This dining room IS one of the recent additions and IS de- lightfuI place, with it's windows opening out into the grove. It is one of the tasks of the children to help take care of their dining room.
 Climbing the stairs to the second noor one finds the boys dormitories baths. and the three class rooms. Three of 1 The sisters have charge of the schoolroom l work and teach from the primary grades | through the eighth grade.
 Up on the third floor of the girls dor l mitories is big sewing room and baths I With the clothes of 100 children to be l made and mended the sewing room is l rarely unused, some of the sisters be- ing busy there most of the time. l The baths are one of the brides of the
 
 plant were added not long ago. They l give adequate facilities for keeping the | 100 children clean and therefore healthy. Every single child in the home has a l daily bath. This Is big task in itself, but it is never slighted in this home. 1 There are modern bathrooms with show | CT baths and baths for the babies and not one of them Is neglected. All the | trouble of looking after these 100 baths l every day is repaid in the appearance 1 of the children. Instead of dead. stringy 1 hair and muddy complexions, there Is | soft. glossy hair and clear, healthy look ing skin Towels and soap and hair brushes and tooth brushes transform the l appearance of the children. and the reg uiar use of them teaches the children
 lessons that they carry with them all 1 their lives.
 The orphanage is supported by small ! stated sums from the county and from l the city, supplemented by funds raised
 outside. Principal among these is the pie
 mic given each summer under the aus l pices of the Jefferson County Orphans 1 Home association. The best efforts of a 1 large corps of workers are put forth to
 make each of these picnics a success
 in providing for the children, The or phanage is really maintained and kept 1 in repair through this association and l then the children are cared for through 1 the love and work of the sisters.
 The Catholic churches contribute gen erously to the home in their Christ mas offerings.
 Administration
 An orphanage has problems that con-
 front no other institution in exactly the
 same way. It has the great task of talk |