The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-08-11

house. By that is meant in this one room rectory is found the dining room, bedroom, sitting room and confessional all of which are quite servicable when being arranged to suit their particular purpose. The confessional is the simplest of all the devices that compose the priests living quarters. It is merely a square hole in the wall with cur tains about the stalls in which the priest and the person going to con. fession remain. This confessional is not used when on tours such as the present one. It is only put into use among the faithful in the South. The life in the chapel is oftentimes uncomfortable as we'll as cramped for in the summer time the heat of the brilliant sun upon the steel roof of the car has made the sleep ing quarters exceedingly hot while in the winter months the situation is just reversed.
 Daily services, while the chaped car is on it's mission tours in an ap- peal for funds, consist merely of Mass in the morning followed by a short talk to those attending the services with an appeal for any possible aid. The remainder of the day is spent in showing the inter- ested spectators the contents of the car and relating the life of the mis. sion priests. A small booklet called the North Carolina Apostalate may be obtained for ten cents and in this volume is found the story of the founding of this organization and the efforts which have been put forth in the attempt to bring faith into the souls of the noun tain people of the Carolinas. Blanks may be had for subscription to the North Carolina Apostalate which prints six issues year.
 In ordinary practice the "Steel Apostle, as the chapel car has been called, journeys to the towns in North Carolina which are clust- cred about the railroad tracks and there it remains for weeks at a time for the services among the faithful and in an endeavor to in- crease the number of the Catholics in those regions. Statistics show that the Catholic population of the Carolinas number 1 to every 400 people while in comparison in the New England states they number approximately 56 to every 100 non- Catholics. It is in these regionr that the chapel car stays for great lengths of time in it's effort to &C., quire new members for the faith.
 While on tours for the purpose of seeking more financial aid the "Steel Apostle" is only put in public display to show the people the means of transporting the faith in southern states, particularly North Carolina. Visitors to the car invarj- ably ask first how it feels to jour- ney all over the country in car such as that. Then the trend of conversation drifts to living condi- tions and when shown the modest abode of the priests they are so surprised at the compactness of 1t all that they forget that it might be the least bit uncomfortable. Life as rule on the tours is about the same every place for the priests have no duties to perform having only to act as guide about the tiny chapel and answer the same questions over and over until they know just what to expect for the next one. In every town or city reached on the tour the first few days are always crowded with boys seeking the position as acolyte for Father Murphy and Father Will jams. In this case it is simply first come. first "get" as long as cred entials are given as to his ability. Then there are countless people seeking to decorate the altar with flowers of every sort knowing that such gifts are favored and in the and there is always an amount quite superfluous. Needless to say such attention is received with gratitude by both Father Murphy and Father Williams and they take this chance to thank their friends here in Wat erbury who have in any way con- tributed to the success of their tour through the New England states.