ce RIY
3
Thursday, March 30, 1939.
WHAT THE FRANCISCAN GROUP
WHO LEFT LORETTO TO SERVE
MISSIONS IN INDIA HAVE SEEN
A Letter from the Rev. Father Aquinas Lieb, T. O. R., Son, of De-
puty Register of Wills and Mrs, Louis Lieb, of Cresson, Who Is
One of the Small Band of Franciscan Fathers Who Left Loretto
Last Summer to Establish A Mission in the Far East—It Is In-
teresting and Well Worth Reading.
Bhagalpur, India, ger stations the platforms are level
January 2, 1939 with the floor of the carriages and
DEAR FRIENDS: no acrobatics are Foguirel rite 32
: ’ tablished, we chatted a bit, and then
There: are Very fw of you whe, unrolled our bedrolls, undressed, and
slept far into the next day.
At every station along the route we
encountered vendors of every sort:
some sold tea, others sandwiches,
| sweets, betel leaves for chewing, cigar-
ets. Besides the clamor of these, we
haa the cries of innumerable beggars.
These latter would stand with their
maimed hands outstreached, and cry,
; ; “Salaam Baba,” Hail Father. Begging
trace in but : line or so the course I a erent of the Hitdn reich
of ‘our Wave 5 put it is too indiscriminate, and con-
we hig iy Yn 3 sequently is hurtful to the country.
pn iby on the 30th of the We tried the dining ar. on the eos
month. After a stay of some few weeks ona day out and found very good
in Italy we again set sail on the 24th food ~ fhe price of the nen]. was
of November and landed in Bombay @Pout $1.25 (American money). We
on December 6. 1938. Now continue. enjoyed practically the same quality
I cannot give fany Impression of 2 000 3 we were accustomed to have
hough Jepded a, ; The countryside which we passed
a hectic round of baggage checking from Bombay to Patna was father
and last minute purchasing, We waited level, and devoid of anything which
for the Costoms Offices to open at 9:00, we could call forest-land: the whole
and made our declarations. The inspec- londscane Seemed fo bebe Shores
tion of our fourteen suitcases consu-' OB of small fields, each divided from
med no more than five minutes, but the next by boundary lines of small!
time had rushed by with winged feet, mounds of earth about a foot and al
for it wae eleven o'clock before we Pelt high. Benides bande Jines these
ai te 3 ridges serve also to keep water lying
had finished. We drove girecyy fo on “the field, water is necessary for
have not yet recieved a line or so
from us since we left our fatherland |
to come to India. On the other hand
those who have answered our letters
are few, and for this we are thank-
ful, for we have been busy about
many things and have had hardly a
moment for answering letters. For
those few who have not recieved word
of us since our departure, I shall re-
+HE UNION
— i
of the Hindus and the Santals woudid
not be uninteresting. Each person
person dresses slightly different from
his neighbor. The inroads of civiliza-
tion is found in their dress. Moham-
medans wear pajamas, exactly the
same as we sleep in but perhaps not
so loud. (Our word ‘pajama’ is from
their language.) The Anglo-Indians
wear European dress, but the rest of
the peopie wear shirt, chadar, dhoti,
and Pugri. The upper portion of the
males body is usually uncovered but
when it is covered he wears a shirt
—- with tails aflutter. The dhoti 1s a
plain piece of cloth about four feet
wide and nine or ten feet long. This
ley wrap about their waist once or
twice, bring the end from front to
back between their legs and tuck it
into the waist band at the back. The
dhoti drops to approximately four in-
ches above the ankles in front; behind,
the calves of the legs are visible to the
knee. The chudar is a blanket, usually
of light weight, which they carry over
the shoulders and in_which they sleep
at night, The natives eleep anywhere.
We have sen them on the station plat-
forms, hundreds of them, streached out
on the cold cement. A pugri is a tur-
ban.
Villages by the thousand, each a
short distance irom its neighbor, dot
PRESS-COURIER,
my feet, rinsing them with water. Af-
ter they had been dried with a towel
I began replacing my socks and shoes,
but had only dressed one foot when
the woman grasped the other and held
on for dear life. I asked what sne
vanted now it was pay for the
service. I should have known enough
in the first place to pay for the res-
pect shown, for it certainly rejuven-
ated my overheated feet. When 1
dropped a half penny into the water
rot, she desisted, and I resumed my
dressing in peace. Every one got a
great “kick”
and for those who do not wear shoes
it is highly practical, for the dust is
like flour and is three inches or more
thick on all the roads.
At Godda in the Santal Paraganas
I was celebrant at Midnight Mass, on
Christmas Eve. Father Ernst is the
Mission Master there. He has just com-
pleted a new house which is hardly
big enough for three people. Father
Scott was there also as preacher and
deacon. There is only one room in
which the three of us ate, lived an
slept. Besides this room there is also
a chapel and sacristy. We set up an
altar on the front porch and had a
tent top erected before it. There were
no sides to the tent and the four hun-
dred people who came in from the sur-
the land. In some places along the
railroad track and along the Ganges,
there are fifteen or twenty villages in
a space of five miles. Now and then
besides the houses of mud there may
be one of brick or thatch-canes tied
together. There are no windaws in the
houses. If perchance the house was
; built with one, the resident shutterrs
or boards it up. The house is divided
rounding country settled down on
straw and wrapped themselves against
the chill of the night. Men, women
| children and babies were there. The
| latter cried when they were awakened
' at midnight. And you would too, if you
had as few cloths as those tiny things
had. A string around their middle was
the wardrobe of the most. We had our
Solemn Mass — the catechists sang
of managing a mission, and where Mr.
Frank Zopetti will shortly begin work
on our publication. The subscription
price for one year is $1.50. Subscrip-
tons may be purchased from Father
PAGE THREE
Sr —
they begin, you can count on them
arriving regularly, I hope that each
of you will find it possible to support
this cause. It is for the preaching of
Christ and Him Crucified -- and He
out of the ceremony — |
Bernard Cuskelley, Loretto, Pa. The has promised a great reward.
Magazine will be distributed directly May God bless you, my friends, and
from here, so if you buy a subscrip- may He answer wae prayers that we
tion don’t wonder why it is so long and the Indian Catholics offer for you.
appearing. It takes thirty days for Don’t forget us.
Your name to get here and thirty more
Yours In Christ,
for the magazine to get to you. Once
Father Aquinas Lieb, T. O. R.
rns |
Vy Ese
Ive
1939.
Values Galore
FOODS OF ESTABLISHED QUALITY AT EXTREMELY
LOW PRICES!
QQOOOOCOONOOONOC
FRESH SALTED SODA
10¢c
Fine
CRACKERS, . 2.
Fresh OLEO, on 25¢
| with ropes of greas. When the priest | They make quite a beautiful din dur-!
the Mellos Hotel for dinner. After | rice, their chief crip. The landscape
having dieted on mulligan stew, hard | Wis dotted with trees: date palms
rolls, and sour wine all across the fiame of the forest, toddy palms, man-
Mediterranean, through the Suez Can- 40 trees Jackiras Pall, and peipul
al, down the Red Sea and 307088 the (pronounced “people”, the sacred tree
Indian Ocean, we sat down with keen- ob the Hindus) There scored 1. bel
ly spprecintive appetifes fo « Hne'din- small ponds, streams, swamps, and mud
ner with such delicacies as fresh bread, Holos everywhere vel the folds were
urioinged ustel appetizing fish, ba | powder dry. Irrigation, though not un-
ana, Sugar, ang even pophel, none 0 known, is not extensive. When one con-
which had passed our lips while We ders thal Iain folls hore in oreat
were afloat on the good ship Conte aa el May Se and Lag
Eiancamano. | und very, very seldom durring the
After dinner we spent four hours other moaths, it is not hard to see why
trying to get our trunks from the the earth is dry and barrennow. Since
customs officers who did not seem we ‘arrived hore. we Have mot seen
happy to give them up. The trunks a single cloud or one drop of rain.
had been lying there for almost a The days are all the same — sunlight
month, and the storage on them was "1 jis prilliance from 7 A. M. to
unhappily high. With the trunks fin- 5 P. M
ally taken care of, we set out to do | ’
a bit of shopping. Our black hats
and suits were not quite the thing for
India. We bought toppees. These are
helmets made of cork for protection
against the sun’s heat. Veterans say
that ten minutes in the sun at noon-
day, and that in the winter, will give
cne a headache. I can verify their
statement; I have one at the present
sitting. Our next purchases were bed
rells or carry-alls. The carry-all is
merely a canvas cover with pockets
We arrived in Patna on December
8th, the Feast of the Immaculate Con-
ception. We said Mass, for the first
tine in India, at St. Xavier's the
Jesuits’ home. Then we moved to the
Bishop's residence in Bankipore,
wehere we stayed until the 17th of
December. During these days we were
shown the sights of Patna and vici-
nity by the Jesuits. They were cer-
tainly solicitous for our comfort and
we appreciate it. During thse days also,
Our Father Provincial, Eugene George,
into two rooms. In one the members the Mass of the Angels and at the Oi-
of the household do all their living; fertory they had Christmas hymns to
the other is left for the spirits of their | the familiar tunes but with their own
dead ancestors. Generally the houses | Words. I might mention here that the |
are devoid of any furniture whatso- Santals sing all their prayers; they
ever. A select few have a palang or | don’t recite the Paters, Aves, etc., but
bed made of a low bedstead strung | sing them with tunes all their own.
pays a visit, if the family have one of i Ing the mass, for they pray aloud every
these beds, they rush it out for him | day. |
wo sit on. The Santal women bring a| These simple folk love color and |
loti (brass pot) of water and set it music. The tent and the surrounding |
before the visitor and then dedok ' grounds were decorated with colored |
{bow down, touching the ground with | paper bunting, flags, Chinese lanterns, |
the finger tips or the palm of the | and gaudy flowers. After Mass they |
hand.) As a form of salute the men | began to cook the rice and pigs pro- |
extend the right arm from the elbow | vided by the father in charge. This is
and raise it to their shoulder, mean- | the custom in all mission stations: the
while placing the left palm in the up- | Fathers give a “feed” for the parish- |
per side o fthe crook of the elbow. In| icners. They danced all morning to
the house one finds dried fruit, beans, | music provided by violins which play-
cte., suspended from the ceiling. Bas- ed a haunting tune, cymbals, and a pe-
kets of.rice and dahl are there too, culiar instrument made from a tin can.
ena also a small mud stove which is | This later instrument is made from a
hel fas large as a washtub. For fuel | gallon tin can one end of which is
the Hindus use cow-dung nd mud, mix- | entirely removed. A string, held on the
ed and baked in the sun. The Santals | outside by a tiny stick about two in-
use wood for they live in the wilds on | ches long, passes through a hole in
the Rajmahal hills. | the center of the remaining end, thro-
When Father wuilam ana i visited | ugh the can, and is held taunt by the
the Sisters and Santal girls at St. | left hand. The can itself is held under
Mary’s in Ghokla, the Santals wel- | the left arm, pressed against the body.
comed us in this fashion: The women | A small piece of wood in the right
set before us a brass pie pan and a, hand is used for plucking the string. |
loti of water. We asked Father Bohn | BY tightening and loosening the string, |
what the purpose of the pan could be, ; three sounds are produced, which |
for we had been presented with water sound like make one yourself andy
before but the presence of the add- try it.
itional pan puzzled us. He explained| We Franciscans are trying to get or-
that the women wanted to wash our K ganized. (And we are succeeding, I
teet after our long journey. We de- | think.) Father Gabriel and I are going |
murred for a long while but they cha-| to Ranchi for a few months. Father |
tteringly insisted, so we acquiesced. I| William and Brother Ivan are located |
removed my shoes and socks and so | indefinitely at Ghokla. Father Eugene |
here and there. In the cover are car-
ried a thin mattress, two blankets, and
a pillow. Tme carry-all is like a mat-
tress cover slit lengthwise down the
middle for one-third of its length;
then it is cut at right angles at either
end of the opening, so that both ends
of the mattress are covered, while the !
middle third of one side is protected
by the loose flaps. (If you can pic- |
ture one of these bed rolls from this
digcription, you deserve a medal.) |
After we had made a few purchases |
—we ate supper and boarded the How- |
rah Express for Patna Junction. We
took all our luggage with us, and had |
the trunks shipped by goods-train. |
We reservea a second class com-
partment on the train. At the sugges-
tion o fa Jesuit who met us in Bom-
bay, we hired a man to assist us
through the difficulties which a stran-
ger encounters at the customs and at
the depot. He, unlike the many gyp-
artists that one must avoid in such |
places, was a real hustler, and trust- |
worthy fellow. Before the train left
the station we bought bananas, oran- |
ges, dates, and Indian sweets, for we |
were not scheduled to reash Patna
until Thursday, and this was only
Tuesday evening. Since we had heard
that food was bad, prices high, and
water scarce on Indian Trains, we had
seen to it that we would not starve.
Since the compartment will provide
sleeping space for only five, we reli-
gious, Fathers Eugene, William, Gab-
riel, Brother Ivan, and I occupied one
compartment, while Mr. Zopetti, our
journalist, shared his with some Bel-
gian fathers. Our compartment was a
bit over one third as a Pullman coach.
A green leather seat running around
three sides of the compartment, left
room at either end for doors. The
seats were about eight feet long and
about two feet wide. Suspended from
the ceiling by chains at the two free
corners, and with one side attached
the wall, were two bunks which could |
be swung up out of the way during |
the day. There were four windows, |
each provided with a screen and shut- |
ter, on either side of the car. The
glass, pane, screen, and shutter worked
after the fashion of automobile win-
dows, that is they could be dropped
into the lower portion of the wall
There is absolute privacy in the com-
partment; it opens only to the out-
side world and to a tiny lavoratory.
To go to another coach or to the di-
ning car one must descend to the
ground and walk along the door of
the compartment which he wishes to
enter, and escend again. The coaches
have very high wheels, and on t
ascend three high perpindi
to enter them. Fortunatel
| under the supervision of three sisters
went to Ranchi Seminary to arrange
did Father William.
A woman then ' will stay here at Bhagalpur, where he | J
for the coming of our clerics to India! Put oil on her hands and massaged! will learn the language and the method |
and for our course in fourth year theo-
logy, which Father Gabriel and I lack.
It would be impossible for Father Ga-
briel and I to study privately ir
the mission stations, for besides the
constant round of duties, we would
lack the help of experienced teachers.
Again we can do nothing with the
languages, Hindu and Santali, ch
we must learn. These we can master
more quickly with the aid of a teacher.
In Patna I went to Father Mil Vi-
car General of the Diocese on his daily
round of the hospital. The hospital
there is a very extensive institution
covering about three city bloc How-
ever, most of the buildings are only
one or two stories high. Evey building
is completely surrounded by an arched
veranda. From what I recall, there
seems to to have been no doors or
window panes or sashes. Even though
it is winter here now it is warm during
the day and at night thetemperature
does not go below 50 degrees.
There are fans everywhere. In the
house unequipped with electricity
there are large fans suspended from
the roof and they are suspended to
and fro by servants. The dining room
is always equipped with a fan for dur-
ing the hot weather the only time one
remains in the house is at meal time.
The rest of the day is spent on the
veranda if one is at home. We have
not experienced extreme heat as yet,
but from the tales that we are told
it must be frightful.
We arrived in Bhagavpur, our home,
December 17th, thre months to the day
from the date on which we set sail
from America. From there I visited St.
Mary’s Mission School in Gohkla.
Father Bohn S. J. is in charge of this
school and now has Father William
and Bro. Ivan helping him with his
160 boys. Across the road from the
boys school there is a school for girls
ne
of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin
Mary. For some reason these sisters
are commonly called “English Ladies,”
although they are all from Germany.
All the boys and girls in these schools
are Santals —members of an aboriginal
race who differ from the Hindus in |
features, religion and customs. The
buildings are mud at Gnokli; church, |
fathers quarters, school house, child- |
rens quarters, cow sheds and all. They
look as though they were made of
brown cement, for they are smooth
surfaced. This surface is mixture of
cow-dung and mud that is peculiar to
the Santals. It makes a very smooth
rubbery surface.
Perhaps a few words about the dress
When You're Hungry at The Fair-
NEW YORK -—More than 80 restau-
rants at the New York World's Fair
1939 will serve its millions of visitors.
Their combined seating capacity at
once will exceed 42,000. At top is the
Turf Trylon Cafe with searchlights
in full play. In center is the Rhein-
gold Inn and Terrace where patrons
will witness an ice carnival. Below
is the Casino of Nations which will
have a corps of waiters able to take
orders ina dozen languages.
- CORN FLAKES »::2™: 13¢
Nola Peanut Butter, «= 12¢
GRAPE OR APPLE JELLY, 21b. jar 19c
FRESH CRISP POST TOASTIES, pkg. 6¢
PIE CHERRIES, RED PITTED, No.2 can ]2¢
PURE PREPARED MUSTARD, 22 oz jar 1Qc
FANCY WET PACK SHRIMP, Tall can ]1Qc
Qual. Fruit Cocktail, ev 10c
QAOOOCOKONOAOOO DOOOOOOCONOOOONQ
Pineapple or LB
PRESERVES Raspberry Jar 25¢
VOOV0VVVVOVVOVVOTOVVVOV J
. Iso Pear all
Apricot Nectar ores 3 25¢
Campbell's Soups xu 3c 25¢€
CAMPBELLS TOMATO SOUP, 3 tall cans 20c
LIGHTHOUSE SCOURING CLEANSER, 2 cans for Se
KUTOL WALL PAPER CLEANER, can 5c
ARGO OR ELASTIC STARCH, package 8c
LIFEBUOY TOILET SOAP, 3 cakes 7c
FINE QUALITY WASHING SODA, 2 one half lb. pkgs. g¢
Jell-O, Six Flavors 4 ™“.. 19¢
DOOOOOO DOOOOONCOOOOOOOOOOONN x D
a
8 24 1b. g
PILLSBURY “. 77¢}
a IP
§ 0 u Pastry Brand ~ 8
§ 24 1b. sack 49¢:
& 3
0OCOOOCONNNAANNNANNNNBANAENNANOALANOGHGHANNNOHOA
Fancy Quality Stewing
CHICKENS,
19¢
Young, Tender Quality Beef
CHUCK ROAST “es 16¢ coi. 22¢
'WILSON'S CERTIFIED LAMB
| LEGS Bins. Ib. 25¢
RIB CHOPS, 1b. ......29c
LOIN CHOPS, Ib... 32¢
LEAN, SMOKED PICNIC SHOULDERS, Pound 1]6¢
FRESH JUMBO BOLO GN A (Piece) 2 Ibs. 29¢
0. & H. SUGAR CURED BA CON, pound 19c
LAKEVIEW SLICED BACON, 2 one-half ib. ' pkgs. 25¢
Approximately 21%
Average. LB.
Small, Large,
whole or 2 1 C whole or 25¢
J Sk. half, 1b. sk. half, Ib.
FOVVVVVVVVK
Crisp, Solid Heads of
ICEBERG LETTUCE -:. 5c
Fresh Green Spinach. == 5¢
Freshly Pulled Carrots == 5¢
| POTATOES,
Grapefruit,
0OOOOONOOONE DOO)
GC
Well graded, large. PER S
27¢ §
Cc
GC
mealy cookers, PK.
0OOOOOKONOOOOOOONG HOOOOO
Large size, heavy
with sparkling juice a Ji 25¢
Swt.Potatoes, wim. 68> 25¢
JUICY JUMBO FLORIDA ORANGES, do
FRESH, SWEET, RIPE PINEAPPLES, at ea 10¢
CRISP, FRESH PASCAL CELERY, 2 stalks 15¢
LARGE RIPE SLICING TOMATOES, 2 pounds