Norwich bulletin., 1916-08-11


 The Wheaton Building and Lumber company, awarded the contract for the construction of the building will this morning commence excavating for the foundations for the first of the new buildings to be erected on the Daughters of the Holy Ghost, the teaching Sisterhood which has select ed Putnam as the city for it's mother house in the United States.
 This first building is to be of brick with terra cotta trimmings, three stories and a basement, and is to be AS feet in width and 13Q feet in length. It is to be erected south of the Morse residence, facing Church street, and will be a fine substantial structure. 50 rooms and. including plumbing, will cost $65000. The building will be completed and ready for occupancy about June 1 of next year.
 The building that has now been contracted for is one of a number to be built in the development of the mother house. A duplicate of it is to be erected later, probably next year, north of the Morse residence, which is now the property of the Sisters, and parallel with Church street.
 During the present vacation season many of the Sisters of the order from towns and cities in Connecticut Mass aChuSettS and Rhode Island have been here for their retreats at St. Mary's convent and all have been much inter- ested in the splendid property that has been acquired by the order and in the plans for the erection of the buildings and other details incident to the es- tablishment of the Mother house here. Before the plans are complete the expenditure for the new buildings and equipment is expected to reach as high as S200, ,000. The Morse residence is to be remOdeled entirely for the use of the Sisters.
 In this city the novitiate of the or der will be established and the Mother house, the aged and infirm or inCapa- Citated Sisters of the order will find asylum.
 Aside from the beautiful buildings that the plans of the Sisters will give to the city, the making of the orders headquarters of the order here mean much to Putnam in other ways. In cidentaIIy it will mean the eXpendi- ture Of thousands of dollars a year with local tradesmen. for 1t Is re- garded as very probable that as many as 200 Sisters and novices will be To- cated here soon after the completion of the buildings
 The Daughters of the Holy Ghost are of a Sisterhood originating in France. Since coming to this COun- try they have taken charge of schools in number of towns and cities in southern New England and have taught with success. The parochial schools at Wauregan and at Moosup are under their direction, among oth- CTS in Connecticut, as. of course, is St. Mary's parochial school of this city.
 The Morse estate, for some time the property of the Sisters, is one of the finest in the city. The residence, To- cated on an elevated site overIooks the city from the west. It is a fine brick structure that can be readily adapted tho needs and TP0niTpT1 pT0tC Of the Sisters. The grounds surrounding 1t are extensive and beautiful Included in the property purchase made in the name of the order is also the field on the east side of Church street, for years known as Morse field, where baseball games have been played by generation of local followers of the national game. The use to which this part of the property is to be put never has been announced.