Nuns as Farmers and Blacksmiths

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXV, Issue 46, 14 November 1907, Page 19

Nuns as Farmers and Blacksmiths

In the convent of . St. Dominic, King William's Town, Cape Colony (says the ' Sacred Heart Review '), is a community of nuns, .the Sisters of St. Dominic, whose work |s somewhat out of" the ordinary. These nuns work at occupations which are not usually yiewed as falling! within the lines of womanly effort. A writer in a South African paper thus describes the community, and tells how it came about that the nuns were compelled to do the work of men :—: —

' When the Sisters of St. Dominic first arrived in South Africa, eager to sow seeds of religion, they - purchased an extensive farm, with the object of employing laborers to cultivate it for the support of their convent. They soon discovered, however, that in such a country as South Africa then was, where every man had the gold or diamond fever rather badly, it was as easy to find agricultural laborers as it was to find the proverbial needle in a 'haystack; Nothing daunted 'by their inability to find men more willing to wield a spade in turning up" potatoes than to use it turning up gold, the Sisters quietly, but none the less determinedly, put their hands to the plough, and began to cultivate the farm themselves. As was to be expected when women begin an unaccustomed task they had to contend with many difficulties, such as blunted implerrients and broken ploughshares. ■

The Nuns' Problem.

' The p.rofolem that now faced the. plucky Sisters was the need of a blacksmith to put their implements into working order again, so they sent to Cape Town and secured the materials to build and the tools ■to stock, a smithy. When the smithiy -was- completed they found that procuring a smith was as difficult as the securing of farm laborers, so they were again compelled to fall back on Cape Town, and succeeded, after considerable delay and trouble, in securing a smith to act as a tutor to . the Sisters. The aptitude with which they picked un the tricks of the trade may be gauged by the fact that the tutor, doubtless not recognizing their equality with a man, went on a spree, and was speedily made aware of their superiority to himby being summarily dismissed for his lack of respect due to the noble women who hired him. ' From that time the Sisters have done their own blacksmith's work, and there are no more vexatious delays in the cultivation of their farm land, and they plod on from rrorn till night, attired in their brown habits, hoeing, ploughing, pruning, and grafting, or driving and herding strong-limbed oxen. ' One of the most striking effects in the appearance of the Sisters of St. Dominic in South Africa is their rosy, tanned faces, so different from the white faces of tne nuns under ordinary circurrstances This natural bronze is Well earned. Day after day, week after week, month after month, and year" after year the Sisters toil at the forge and in the field, exposed to the Heat of the fierce tropical sun, and the fiery heat of the forge.

Expert Blacksmiths.

It is, indeed, not too much, to say that the women blacksmiths of the Dominicans are experts. To watch them at work is, indeed, an education to man on the energy, courage, and adaptability of the so-called weaker sex. The strength and precision of the hammer swinging by these Sisters is a fascination, and many visitors go miles out- of their way to gaze in awe-struck wonder .and admiration at the hard-working women of the siniuiiy. "iv ' A visi ' tor to tfl e Sisters of St. Dominic who had the good fortune to bring with him a letter of introduction trom a Bishop gives the following description of a momentous event :—: —

with I!!Lm™ beS 7S7 S Of t ] le CcnTeilt was a woman endowed with uncommonly good sense. She was practical and her personal spirituality was aided and tempered with a knowledge of human nature and a sense of humor. Arter an inspection of the vineyards, orchards, and the fields of growing crops, the Abbess conducted him to the blacksmith's shop. The smithy was a long, narrow building, with a strong frame, the sides- boarded, and 2IL n? surm ? u n te i with a red cupola, with slatted sides, through which^the smoke from the smithy fires filtered. Withm were a well-built brick forge, a strong: capacious bellows of ox-hide, and all- the customaryparaphernalia incidental to the vocation of the votaries of Vulcan, such as hammers of various sizes, pincers, punches for making holes in horseshoes, etc., and monster anvils. • " Tied up to a strong rack in the centre of the shop was a draught horse. With . nail-btox beside her,

a nun bent over the near hind foot, and, with a pair of tongs, was fitting a, red-hot shoe to the scorching hoof. With the assistance of a Sister the* nailed the shoe, and patting the horse soothingly proceeded to lift up another hoof and repeat the performance with a second snoe, which she had hammered into a perfect lit at the anvil.

Once or twice she drove a nail in direction that did not satisfy her. She withdrew the nail in a workmanlike manner, and substituted another, and at' last tne big horse was shod as neatly and as well as the average blacksmith could do it. ' " Whilst the horse-shoeing was in progress another bister was busy making Mages, • hooks, staples, ringbolts, and other articles of builder's hardware outf of rod and bar iron. . &he hammered away in rather an experimental fashion, and frequently exhibited her work to the horse-shoeing nun, seeking her advice upon knotty points of the smith's art. Another nun was repairing farm machinery, and seemed to be an adept in the