THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 1903. THE STOKE ORPHANAGE

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXI, Issue 18, 30 April 1903, Page 17

THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 1903. THE STOKE ORPHANAGE

The destruction of the Stoke Orphanage by fire wipes out, for the time being, one of the noblest, most necessary, and most deserving institutes of Catholic charity yet erected in New Zealand. The blow affects not alone the archdiocese of Wellington, but the whole Catholic body in the Colony. For the Stoke Orphanage was not of VN ellington alone, but of all New Zealand. It has rendered a long, arduous, and admirable service to the Church in this country by the manner in which it has sheltered our fatherless boys and our waifs and strays, given them a careful training in religion and virtue, and fitted them to take their place as citizens on equal terms with children more favorably circumstanced. We extend our cordial sympathy to the Archbishop, to the managers of the institute, to the homeless boys now left again temporarily without a home, and sincerely hope that the Stoke Orphanage will speedily rise out of its ashes and resume its beneficent work upon even a grander scale than before. When Archbishop Redwood received the evil tidings of its obstruction at Oamaiu, the edge of the blow must have been Igreatly blunted by the generous offers of practical assistance which he there received from the assembled clergy. Temporary accommodation will, no doubt, be provided for the homeless boys. But we feel sure that the Catholic body in New Zealand will not suffer this great charity to be hampered in its noble work, much less to lapse, for want of pence. And the prompt assistance is, especially in tin's pressing case, the best.