The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1915-01-02
From the National Capitol
By Stanton Lawton


panies of engineers, two battalions O
Philippine scouts, six companies of In
fantry. one signal corps, etc.; AS an
the only chaplain or minister of re
ligion on the island have the spil
itual care Of them all. In addition t.
those l have to look after a Barri
Of natives (all Catholic), with a popu
lation Of 1900, and attend a stockad
of civil prisoners (mostly Filipinos)
1000 in all; my congregation, there
fore, numbers about 1000. Besides
this l have charge of the library an,
reading room, the enlisted men,
school, school for the children of thu
officers and men and the school il
the Barrio for native children. alst
attend the large hospital, guard house
etc.
1T takes one.half hour to go BY
street car from the bottom of the
island to the top, and the cars rur
every hour, therefore making it very
difficult to get around. On Sundays
say mass for the soldiers at a. m
(Which is the most convenient fol
them), hear confessions before mass
and preach during the mass. Follow
ing the mass we have Sunday schoo
for the Catholic children; then &C
down to the Barrio and hold mass fol
the natives every first and third Sun
days, and on the second and fourth
Sundays say mass in the stockade
for the prisoners 600 Catholics in
alb.
In the Barrio there is a little church
with beautiful marble altar. read
the epistle and gospel in English, the
Mexican soldier who is detailed to
help me then reads them i'm Tagalog
and Spanish. say the prayers at the
end Of the mass in English, but have
the people trained to answer in their
own language, so there follows a
babble of Spanish, Tagalog, Viscayan
Illacano, etc.
In the stockade there is no fit build
ing where can say mass, so l cele
brate out in the prison yard, where a
temporary altar is put up, and two
criminals serve my mass. The pris.
oners, numbering 900, gather around
this altar and have one of them with
powerful voice read sermon in
Tagalog to them whilst say the mass.
For one year have thus celebrated
mass for these prisoners out in the
i open, with the tropical sun shining
down upon us. Since coming to this
post l have had SIS funerals, Al bap-
tisms, % marriages, and most of this
work was among the prisoners and
natives in the Barrio. Last Sunday l
baptized a Moro in the prison, whom
| have instructed through an inter-
prefer and am now preparing an
other for baptism. This seems strange
as it is the Moro belief that they will
go straight to heaven II they kill a
Christian"
From the foregoing it is evident
what great work is being done by our
chaplains in spreading the gospel, even
on a foreign shore.
Miss DahIgren to Enter Convent.
Miss Lucy Dahlgren, member of a
socially prominent family of Washing
ton, New York and Philadelphia, will
forsake the life of society girl and
enter the Convent of the Sisters of
the Blessed Sacrament at Cornwells,
Bucks county, Pennsylvania.
Miss Dahlgren is relative of
Mother Katherine Drexel, who found
ed the convent, where is centered the
order that is committed to- work
among the colored race and Indians.
Mother Drexel took the veil in 1899
and she has contributed 81 100000 to
the work to which she has devoted
her life.
Miss Dahlgren is 81 years old and
made her debut at New York In. 1912.
She is at present studying i'm the con-
vent of St Leo's Church, New York,
and she will enter the mother house
at Cornwells on Jan. 2S.
Miss Dahlgren is granddaughter
of the late Rear Admiral Dahlgren,
who made fortune out of his in
vention of the Dahlgren gun, used in
the Civil War. She is a niece of Mrs,
Harry IIehr, of Baltimore and New.
port. and of Mrs. Charles B. Pemrose
Of Philadelphia. Her maternal grand
father was the late Joseph Drexel, who
was the brother OF Francis and An.
thony DreXel.