St. Vincent de Paul Orphanage

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXIII, Issue 40, 5 October 1905, Page 20

St. Vincent de Paul Orphanage

On Sumday afternoon a number* of priominent citizens attended by invitation at Ihe St. Vincent de Paul Orphanage, South Dunedin, for the purpose of seeing how the woTlt of the institution is carried out, and judging for themselves regarding the care and attention bestowed upon the children by the Sisters of Mercy. The visitors were shown over the spotlessly clean and well-kept institution by the Rev. Father Cofiey, Adm. ami the Mother Superior. Those of our readers who aro in any w-ay acquainted with institutions conducted by the Slis'ters of Mercy, need not be told that dormiitofries, lavatories, etc., were the pink of perfection. Among those present were his Londship the Bishop, Rev. 'Father Coffey, Rev. Father Howard, Rev. Father Listen, Rev. Father Corcoran, Right Hon. the Premier, Mr.. Braithwaite (Mayior of Dumedin), Mr. C. C. Graham, S.M., Mr. Widxtowson, S.M., Dr. O'Neill, Messrs. G-allaway, M. Cohen, etc. After the visitors had made a thorough inspection of the institution they assembled in the refectory, which hiad been tastefully decorated, and here they were entertained with on address of welcome, admirably delivered by one of the girls ; several nicely rendered choruses ; and an exhibition of club-swinging. At the conclusion of the programme the Rev. Father Ooffey said they had all seen some of the work carried out in the institution, and although the Government pave a certain amount of assistance they did not) (do all, iand it was neoessaiy to have recourse to private chanty, and that meeting was for the purpose of giving those ladies and gentlemen who had taken part in the entertainment in aid of the funds an opportunity of seeing the good work that was being dome. The success of that entertainment toad exceeded the most sanguine expectations. That result wasi idjuie to the generous patronage of the friends of the institution, and he was pleased to say that these included persons of all denominations in Dumedin (applause). The buuldiwg where they Avere ass^em'blQd was used only For the housing accommodation of the children, as they received their education at the parish school, and mixed freely with the other children in the playground. This practice of allowing the in males to mix with the outside children was productive of the best results, 'and helped to do away with the feeling that they were in any sense a body apart. On "behalf of the Rev. Mother and the orphans he heart ilyi thanked the ladies and gentlemen, and especially Mr and Mrs. Fuller, for their great kindness in getting up the entertainment, and also Mr. Mar low, the hon. secretary, who sipared' neither time nor trouble in connection therewith ; their thumbs were also due to the Right Hon. the Premier for honoring them with his presence, to his Worship the Mayor of Dunedin, the other ladies and gentlemen presont, and to the many kind benefactors and supporters of the institution (applause). The Right Hon. R. J. Seddon, in the course of 'a bTief aiddrefcs,, expressed his appreciation of the very crodit&lbllei entertainment which the little ones had provided, and the address of welcome delivered by one of them. The work carried on fay the orphanage was a good and. necessary one. He Hvas pleased to hear that the entertainment was a success, and that pleasure was enhanced by the knowledge that in Dunedin Christian' charity and good work knew no religious differences. It was a great pleasure to 'him to hear that the little ones wore allowed to mix freely with the children of the parish school, and he would like to see this practice more generally followed. Addrcssiing the inmates, he trustedthey would prove themselves ig(ood children, and implicitly obey the Mother Superior and the good Sisters In conclusion, on behalf of the visitors, he thanked the Rev. Mother Superior and' the Sisters for the excellent work they were doing (applause). The Mayor of Dunedin said that the work carried on at the "orphanage was one which appealed to every rigjht-minded man and woman. Should his services be required at any time he would gladly place them at the disposal of the institution. Mr. J'oihn Fuller, jun., thanked Fattier CofTey for his kind remarks regarding; those, who had taken parti in I'ho tnlay, and promised that next year's entertainment would "be 'a> still greater success ('applause). At the conclusion of the proceedings afternoon tea was dispensed to the visitors.