The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1922-02-11
GOLDEN JUBILEE
T0BE0BSERYED
AT ST. ALEXIUS
Friends of Sister M. Boniface To
Pay Respects on Golden An
niversary of Service
GENERAL PUBLIC INVITED
Opportunity Given All To At
tend the Reception in Honor
of Her Long Service

Preparations were complete today
for the observance Of the Golden Jub-
,llee of the entrance of Sister NJ Bon
iface into the order Of the Benedictine
sisters. Citizens and friends general
'ly in Bismarck and many friends Of
Sister Boniface from other cities will
pay their respects to her for her long,
faithful service and her devotion in
the administration of St. Alexius hos
pital, of which she is superintendent
The Golden Jubilee observance will
open with pontifcal high mass for the
sisters conducted in the chapel of St.
,Alexius hospital by Bishop Vincent
Wehrle at $50 o'clock Monday morn
ing.
At noon there will be luncheon,
given by the sisters, alumni and nurs-
es Of st. Alexius hospital, in honor
of Sister Boniface. The luncheon will
be in the hospital dining room.
Public Reception.
The public reception will be from
2 to 5 o'clock Monday afternoon, at
st. Alexius hospital. A great number
of people are expected to call at the
hospital between those hours to greet
Sister Boniface 1t is emphasized by
friends of Sister Boniface that the
general public is invited at all times,
For the convenience of organizations
and to, avoid congestion certain times
lhave been allotted to organizations to
visit the hospital. These hours are
In in f.n1.
jumn Of The Tribune.
The reception will be simple and
under present plans confined to the
exchange of greetings.
At 7 o'clock in the evening there
will be banquet at the hospital CIV
en- by the sisters in honor of Sister
Boniface, the hospital staff, the clergy
and the relatives of Sister Boniface
who will be present for the Golden
Jubilee.
Has Helped City Grow.
In the days since she first arrived
here, Sister Boniface has seen most
of the building of the town, has wit
messed the growth of her own organ
ization from beginning to its pres
ent leadership, and today looks for
ward, not to the laying down Of cares
and the release from work but TO
continued and active leadership at the
head OF the institution to which she
has given an ordinary lifetime.
Sister Boniface assumed her name
and robes fifty years ago at Shakopee
MINI. Twenty of the years since then
were spent as a teacher of the order.
At the end of that time she was as.
signed to be head of the combined
school and the beginning of school
at Bismarck, and IN July, 1892, she
first came to the town where she has
since lived, coming from St. Joseph,
Mimi, the Mother House. She sue
ceeded Sister Regnia. ....,
Sister Boniface found more OF
boarding school than hospital, al
though the institution had taken care
of patients and had the beginning of
the hospital work when she became
head. In fact, the most noted patient,
although at that time unknown, had
already been an inmate when Sister
Boniface made her appearance. In
later visits, however, Theodore Roose-
welt, then a national leader, made her
acquaintance and one of the Incl
dents the quiet dignitied leader of the
hospital now holds in memory is the
incidents of one or two of his visits.
:. =. Thirty years ago the hospital and
school were in the building now oc-,
cupied by commercial college. Sis
ter Boniface found four sisters to
help her with the details of the insti-
tuition, Now she has thirty-five. At
that time the students largely were
the Younger students. These now are
at another institution and the hospl-
tai has a school for nurses with thir-
ty-eight enrolled. At that time, 1t
was the only hospital in North Da-
kota the nearest ones being at Brain
erd Mimi. and Miles City, Mont. To-
day there are many in the state. Pa
tients in the hospital that first year
were few, though needy. Last year
.2,7OO passed through it's doors and
this number completed a total since
Hthe hospital has kept its records Of
27,551 patients.
Heating Plant Installed.
installation of the first heating
nlant in Bismarck brought Sister
Roniface some of her first busl-
ness trials. 1t was necessary TO
send to St. Cloud, Mimi, for a
man to do the work and to start the
heating plant in operation. The most
exciting experience in her fifty years
of pioneering are also centered in that
same heaaing plant. At later date
it was necessary to replace the boiler
and through bungling work on the
mart of the mechanics and failure TO
properlv disconnect pipes, the boiler
exploded. The noise, confined within
the walls of the building, was terrific,
Aollowed by falling glass as the fron'
windows were shattered. The base.
ment was wrecked, but by some nl'
of good fortune, none was seriously
injured.
Sister Boniface's other exciting IN
cidents came with couple of cloud
bursts which visited Bismarck II
early days. Both occurred at night
and in the first the water came doWl
the hills in such a torrent, that SIS