In addition to this provision which the state has made for the poor within its limits, there are numerous private institutions for the care and comfort of the adult poor. There is, for instance, in Reading, a “Home for Aged Widows and Single Women,” which, at present, contains eleven inmates, its full capacity. Many more seek the benefits of this institution than can be accommodated in the two story brick dwelling which has been built expressly for its purposes. In Philadelphia there is a “Home for Aged Couples,” containing twelve inmates; an “Old Man’s Home” in West Philadelphia, containing 65 inmates; the “Penn Asylum for Indigent Widows and Single Women;” the “Maypother Home for Women;” a “Home for Infirm Colored Men and Women;” and the “Edwin Forrest Home for Aged and Infirm Actors.” These are undenominational. They are supported, partly by admission fees, which are required of those receiving the benefits of the various homes; partly by the property conveyed to the homes by the inmates, but chiefly by contributions and bequests of benevolent individuals.
The Roman Catholic Church supports, through the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, “Saint Ann’s Widow’s Asylum,” to which widows over fifty years of age are admitted; they also have a “Home for the Aged Poor,” under the care of the Little Sisters of the Poor, which has at present some three hundred inmates. Christ Church, Philadelphia, has a “Home for Aged Women,” as have also Saint Luke’s Church, in Philadelphia, and Saint Luke’s Church, Germantown. There is also in Philadelphia, a “Home for Aged and Infirm Methodists,” with accommodations for one hundred men and women.
Under the Constitution of 1873, the legislature is forbidden to appropriate any monies to denominational or sectarian institutions, no matter how large their scope, or how unsectarian may be their benevolence. But there is nothing to forbid generous appropriations to such homes for the aged and infirm as are not under denominational control; yet the managers of such institutions should bear in mind that in order to secure any help from the state, they should make report of their workings to the State Board of Public Charities. Next to the institutions for the adult poor, it will be best to consider the large provision which has been made both by the state and by private individuals for the care of children; especially for the care of orphans. First of all stands that magnificent network of charities which covers the entire state—
THE SOLDIERS’ ORPHANS’ SCHOOLS.
For these the total appropriations have been, in round numbers, eight millions of dollars. They were begun in 1865, and have therefore been in operation nearly twenty years. These homes may be divided into two classes: first, the Soldiers’ Orphans’ Schools and homes, of which there are twelve—three in Philadelphia, and the remainder in other parts of the state; and secondly, homes which have undertaken the education of soldiers’ orphans, but which are not exclusively devoted to that work. There have been admitted to these schools since the establishment of the system, 13,011 children; and there were in school on the 31st of May, 1883, 4,630 children, of whom 1,931 were girls. In the report of John W. Sayers, special inspector and examiner of orphan schools, it is stated that “the schools are fully up to all reasonable expectations; splendid work has been done, and is still being accomplished for the best interests of the scholars.” By the Extension Act of 1883, these schools will be continued until June 1st, 1890, at which time Pennsylvania may rest satisfied that she has discharged some of her debt toward her deceased soldiers in no ungenerous fashion. The schools will, by that time, have cost the state nearly ten millions of dollars; a sum which no citizen of the Commonwealth will begrudge to the children of the men whose bones are scattered from Gettysburg to the Gulf of Mexico.
Next in order to the Soldiers’ Orphans’ Schools is the magnificent charity of Stephen Girard, known throughout Pennsylvania, and throughout America, as “Girard College.” This institution, in its buildings, in its general equipment, in its corps of teachers, is one of the most remarkable in the world. The buildings were erected at an expense of two millions of dollars; subsequent additions have largely increased this original outlay. But the property and funds now in the hands of the Girard Trust amounts to nearly ten millions of dollars, and is administered with great care and intelligence. The gross revenue of the Girard estate in 1883 amounted to $931,295. By the will of Mr. Girard this college is for the benefit of poor white male orphan children. The first preference being given to orphans born in the city of Philadelphia, the second to those born in other parts of Pennsylvania, the third to those born in the city of New York, and the fourth to those born in the city of New Orleans. No child can be admitted before the age of six, nor after the age of ten. At present the institution contains 1,104 pupils. Under the will of Mr. Girard no attempt can be made to give these boys what is sometimes spoken of as “higher education;” the shrewd old merchant thinking it much wiser that they should be apprenticed to trades than that they should be turned into the world without capital to make a living by their wits.
Mrs. Eliza Burd, of Philadelphia, in the year 1848 founded a home for girls, which was handsomely provided for in her last will and testament. This institution, which is under the care of Saint Stephen’s Episcopal Church, of which Mrs. Burd was a member, is situated in West Philadelphia, and is one of the finest charities of the city. The grounds are extensive, the buildings are very fine, and the results thus far achieved have been of a most satisfactory character. In addition to these orphan schools there are in Philadelphia nineteen asylums for orphans and abandoned children. Some of these, like the Northern Home and Southern Home for Friendless Children, are undenominational. Others of them, like the Methodist, Baptist, Lutheran, and Jewish orphanages, are sectarian, and thus excluded from state aid. Perhaps the Roman Catholic Church has more homes of this character in different parts of Pennsylvania, than all other denominations taken together. In Philadelphia alone they have “Saint Joseph’s Female Orphan Asylum,” in charge of the Sisters of Charity, “Saint John’s Orphan Asylum,” in charge of the Sisters of Saint Joseph, “St. Vincent’s Orphan Asylum,” at Tacony, an “Asylum for Italian Orphan Children,” “The Catholic Home for Destitute Orphan Girls,” “St. Vincent’s Home,” which cares for children who are under five years of age, and two magnificent orphanages in West Philadelphia. Indeed, it is difficult to know the exact extent of Roman Catholic charities of this kind in our state. Excluded by law, as are all sectarian institutions, from any participation in the public funds, they make no reports to the public authorities, and not accustomed to appealing to the general public for aid, their workings are known only to the members of their own communion. In the city of Pittsburgh the Roman Catholic Church has four Orphan Asylums, the United Presbyterian Church has an Orphan Home, the Episcopal Church has a Home for Orphan Children and Aged Women.
There is also a Protestant Orphan Asylum, and a Colored Orphan Asylum in the same city. There are homes for orphans in Beaver, in Berks, in Huntingdon, in Lancaster, in Perry, in Schuylkill, in Susquehanna, in Luzerne, and in York counties, other than those which are maintained by the Roman Catholics. A third kind of provision for the poor is
THE TEMPORARY HOME.
Some of these are for friendless girls, for the time without occupation and without roof to shelter them; some of them are for those who have strayed from the paths of virtue, and who require the special care of those who have the courage and the Christian faith to deal with this phase of human wretchedness.