Nogales international., 1938-06-25
the Atlantic; they were enroute to
the wonderful New World.
To Arizona In 1904

the wonderful New World.
To Arizona In 1904
From New York they went to San
Antonio and in February 1904,
Bishop Granjon ordered Monsignor
Duval to report for duty at Pres
colt, Arizona. There he remained
for seven months, and in April
1905 was appointed pastor of the
Catholic Church of Nogales where
he has been continuously with the
exception of four years during the
World War when he took Monsig-
nor Timmerman's place as rector
of the cathedral of Tucson. Mon
signor had gone on vacation TO
Belgium, had been trapped by the
war and (virtually) held a prisoner
till the end of the hostilities. In
those days Nogales was not the
thriving city it is today. 1t was at
best the headquarters Of a vast
missionary district comprising the
whole County of Santa Cruz and
agood part of that of Cochise SO
the Padre was kept moving from
the very day of his arrival and
ever since his life has symbollzed
a successful experiment in the yet
unsolved problem of perpetual mo-
tion.
Unuuestionably the continual
wanderings of the missionary con-
stitute one of the hardest features
of his career. Perhaps to this hard
ship is due the extinction OF the
commercial drummer of other days
whose home was the train and ho-
tel lobby The missionary, infor-
mally of course, might be called
an ecclesiastical drummer for he
knows little rest in his home. He
is always travelling in the inter
est of his Heavenly Master. Father
Duval could tell us of many, many
experiences on the road. One, in
particular, he likes to relate because
of it's amusing character. When
still new in NOgaleS he had gone
to Mowry late of an afternoon in
answer to an urgent sick call. Be-
! fore he reached that small mining
camp, perched somewhere in the
surrounding mountains, it was al
most night. The trail was too dan
gerous to permit of his return in
the darkness so he had no option
but to wait until morning. Where
he would find some Accommodations
was the problem. An old miner, a
relative of the patient he had come
to see, offered an easy and unex-
pected solution. "Take my bunk"
he said to the Padre with that
ring in his voice of true Western
hospitality. "I'll be going on grave
yard shift and won't be back be-
fore breakfast tomorrow. This
| spontaneous offer was gratefully
accepted but while later, instead
of going to the bunk house, the
Padre CROPPED his way to the shell
ter of a neighboring tree. In the
morning the sun woke him up as
he lay wrapped in a blanket un-
der his leafy canopy.
From now on Father Duval must
be considered as fully initiated in
to the life of his choice; he will
be seen on the way to his missions
at regular and frequent intervals.
This week he will visit Patagonia,
Tubac, Amado; next week he will
go to Tombstone, Gleeson, Pierce,
etc., etc., ever rolling along roll
ing along as the song has it. His
physical constitution, made OF iron
it would appear, will enable him
to lead that strenuous existence for
years without any breakdown in
health. AS active today as he has
ever been he is an embodiment OF
strength, an object of envy to his
Junior confreres. In the meantime
the Catholic population Of Nogales
WGS increasing; the cn1loren III CIle
catechis1n classes numbered hun
dreds; the pastor could not along
do justice to the crowd. He formed
body of volunteer catechists to
help him but the volunteers had
home duties to perform and more
than once failed to be present when
most needed. This plan was not
satisfactory. He would build a par
ochial school and Sisters would
assist him in the all-important
work of instructing the little ones
in the Faith.
Builds School
The school was built and in time
paid for, but at the cost of what
sacrifice only the Good Lord knows