SISTERS OF PROVIDENCE
The Sisters of Providence who were engaged in the same work according to the Annuaire de Ville Marie of Huguet-Latour, in 1863, were thus active:
Thus the work was carried on by the early religious communities and their work is now supplemented by other new congregations, notably by the Sœurs del ’Esperance, on Sherbrooke Street, who make this work a specialty, and by the Tertiaries (lay) of St. François, and others. The work has also been carried on by groups of ladies connected with the Protestant churches and as well by nursing bodies organized of late years.
With regard to the modern organized nursing system, reference has been made to the training of nurses for hospital work. There are schools attached to each of the great hospitals. There are now, however, several bodies who aretrained to work in the homes of the people, such as the Canadian Order of Nurses, Phillip’s School for Nurses and the Victorian Order of Nurses. The latter movement being the latest development and one that has reached Dominion prominence, deserves especial historical recognition.
THE VICTORIAN ORDER OF NURSES
The Victorian Order of Nurses was inaugurated in 1897 as the Memorial of Queen Victoria’s Jubilee in Canada. The suggestion that this should be the Canadian Memorial came from the National Council of Women of Canada, of which Her Excellency, the Countess of Aberdeen, was then the presidential head. In 1896 the urgent need of medical aid and trained nursing in the northwest territories and outlying districts of Canada had been brought home to the council through its affiliated societies in the Canadian west. A scheme was thought out and laid before the prime minister and other members of the government and at a public meeting at Ottawa in 1897 a resolution in its favour was moved by the Hon. Wilfrid Laurier, seconded by the Hon. Clifford Sifton, minister of the interior, and carried unanimously.
After consultation with some of the leading doctors, public meetings were held in Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto, and representative committees were formed in these and other cities for the promotion of the scheme. On the advice of the friends of the movement in Montreal it was decided that only fully trained hospital nurses, holding a diploma from a recognized hospital school, after training in maternity and district work, should be admitted into the order. Very strict rules were made forbidding the nurses to go to cases where no doctor was in attendance, placing the nurse in all cases under the control of the doctor and limiting the nurse’s attendance on the patient to visits of short duration, thus safeguarding the interests of the ordinary professional nurse.
It was agreed to administer the order through a central board and local boards of management who would supervise the nurses’ work and be responsible for their salaries, board and lodging. It was hoped that enough money would be collected for the permanent endowment of the order for work in all parts of Canada, but, owing mainly to the strong opposition of the large majority of medical men who misunderstood the objects of the order and pronounced against it, public opinion was adversely affected and only a tithe of the money required was collected and that mainly for local purposes. So many new facts, however, had been brought to light emphasizing the great need for such a nursing order throughout Canada that it was decided to make a start with the money in hand and four training centres, namely, Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa and Halifax, were established under district superintendents with a New Brunswick lady, Miss Charlotte Macleod, of the Waltham Training School, as chief lady superintendent.
Meantime a constitution and by-laws had been drawn up and an application made to Her Majesty for a royal charter for the new order, which was duly granted in 1898. By the end of the following year there were eighteen Victorian Order districts throughout the country with thirty nurses. Today in Montreal alone we have ten districts, with seventy-one Victorian Order nurses, while in Canada generally there are two hundred and thirty-two. Cottage hospitals have been started all through the country districts and in addition to these there aresmall centres with two nurses who attend patients scattered over a wide area and also receive emergency cases at the homes.
As the aim and object of the order became better understood the opposition on the part of the doctors and nurses changed into cordial sympathy and co-operation and the Victorian Order have now no better friends than the medical and nursing professions. So happily inaugurated with Lady Aberdeen as its first president, the order has always enjoyed the warm support of the successive governors general of Canada and their consorts. Lady Minto’s exertions secured the money for the Cottage Hospital fund, Lady Grey raised the necessary funds for the country nursing centres, and it was owing to the interest and energy of H.R.H., the Duchess of Connaught, that a large sum of money was collected last year for the central fund. The Victorian Order has been fortunate in attracting to its service devoted women to whose singleness of purpose no less than to their highly trained intelligence must be ascribed its marvellous growth and success.
IV
MOVEMENTS FOR THE “UNFORTUNATES”
FALLEN WOMEN—LA MISERICORDE—THE SHELTERING HOME—GIRL DELINQUENTS—THE “GOOD SHEPHERD”—THE GIRLS’ COTTAGE INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL—BOY DELINQUENTS—ECOLE DE REFORME—SHAWBRIDGE BOYS’ FARM—THE JUVENILE COURT—THE CHILDREN’S AID SOCIETY—THE MONTREAL SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN—CANADIAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS. NOTE: COURT COMMITTALS.
The care of fallen women was early tentatively engaged in by Madame d’Youville before British rule. Doubtless this was also desultorily undertaken at a later period by her companions and other religious communities of women, but it was not specifically and regularly undertaken as a special work until Madame Jetté founded her work which is perpetuated in the Hôpital de la Miséricorde.
THE HOPITAL DE LA MISERICORDE
The Hôpital La Miséricorde owes its origin to Mgr. Ignace Bourget, to whom so many of the Catholic works of charity and education of the city owe their inspiration and encouragement during his thirty-six years in the episcopate, from 1840 to 1876. His name is written in indelible characters in this city. In the year 1845, after having long thought of means of founding some establishment for fallen girls he called to his aid a pious widow, Madame Jetté, who had been engaged in much private charity in helping unfortunate girls, and invited her to found a community to perpetuate the good already commenced by her. The first home, opened with one “penitent,” was called the Hospice Ste. Pélagie, a garret reached by a ladder above a dilapidated wooden building on St. Simon Street, in the tenement now numbered 208 St. George Street. Her family thought her demented and said that she was disgracing them, and there were not wanting the criticisms and sarcasm of the cynics. Madame Jetté was joined on July 20th byanother devoted widow, Madame Raymond, who had worked towards the founding of the Good Shepherd Institution in Montreal. A more comfortable building was shortly secured on Wolfe Street (now numbered 207 and 209). More penitents were able to be received.
By 1846 there were five workers and in July, 1846, Bishop Bourget gave a “rule” to the Congregation de Sainte Pélagie. On April 26, 1847, they moved into another house at the corner of St. Catherine and St. André Street, today a common restaurant. On January 16, 1848, the little group of women was erected into a canonical body under the title of “Sœurs de Miséricorde” (Sisters of Mercy). Madame Jetté, the foundress, became Sister de la Nativité and Madame Galipeau, Sister St. Jeanne Chantal, was appointed superior. In 1848 the number of penitents reached eighty-seven and in 1851 it increased to ninety-seven. During the first six years the institution saved the lives of 390 new born infants. In 1851 the community moved to the corner of Campeau and Lagauchetière streets, the site where the present mother house now stands. New buildings were ready in October, 1854. By 1862 further ground had been purchased to extend to St. Hubert Street. On April 5, 1864, the foundress, Mother de la Nativité, died.
But the work progressed. At the end of 1872 there were fifty-six professed sister, ten novices, 323 penitents were received and there were 230 births in the hospital. In 1876 the west wing was completed. On April 26, 1887, the present maternity hospital, fronting St. Hubert Street, was dedicated. Up to 1889 the children born in the hospital had been transferred to the Grey Nuns. These Sisters now found themselves in this year unable to accept the children and the infant asylum in the rear of the Mother House was consequently built and entered into about 1898. At present the children born in the hospital are kept there until three months old, when they are sent to the country crèche at Sault au Récollet. At this establishment they are taken care of until six years of age, when they are placed, if possible, with responsible parties.
THE SHELTERING HOME
The next important development for fallen women was the founding of the Sheltering Home by Protestants.
Late in the ’50s, perhaps about 1858, work was instituted in Montreal by some of the officers of the regiments stationed here and by prominent men of the city, for fallen girls, mostly maternity cases, one of the leaders of this movement being T.M. Taylor. This home was called the “Magdalene” and continued for a number of years, disbanding, however, after the regiments left Montreal. On the 2d of March, 1868, the home on Seigneurs Street, a direct outgrowth of the previous disbanded Magdalene, was established for the reception of destitute and fallen girls. Major General Russell and Captain Malan were among the principal promoters and Mrs. T.M. Taylor and T.J. Claxton were trustees. This was called the “Female Home Society.” Mr. and Mrs. Taylor had general charge of the work, the former being president.
In 1878 Miss Barber, who had been closely connected with the work, was asked by the matron of the jail to visit a woman who, in company with her husband, had been imprisoned for theft. Miss Barber tried to find a home orplace of employment for the woman, but was not successful, and finally she took her to the “Female Home” which, though crowded at the time, made a place for her. This incident brought to Miss Barber’s notice the need of a shelter for released prisoners, and at once she began a department of work in connection with the Home to cover that need. In May, 1885, owing to lack of funds, the board of trustees believed it necessary to close the Home, but Miss Barber, knowing the value of the work being done, begged for its continuance, stating that if they would give her the house and one year in which to continue it, she would take full charge and raise the funds to carry on the work for that length of time. This was permitted, and during the year 1885 she was responsible for the money.
At the end of that time when a meeting was held and her report given, she stated that the Home was too far from the centre of the city, where most of her work lay, and she asked the board to sell the property on Seigneurs Street and with the money thus acquired purchase another nearer the centre of the city. In 1885 Mrs. Frost became secretary of the Society, with Miss Barber continuing as its manager. The old property was sold for $9,000 and after all outstanding debts were paid, there was given over about $800 to Miss Barber and invested $8,000, the interest from which was to be used in carrying on the work. Two adjoining houses, in order to classify the inmates, were taken on Dorchester Street. The advisory board, chosen by Miss Barber, consisted of Mrs. M.H. Gault, Mrs. A.F. Gault, Mrs. S. Finley, Mrs. Aiken, Mrs. H. Botterell and Mrs. E. Frost, secretary-treasurer. By 1891 it was proved that the Home was in a good locality for the furtherance of its work, but as the street was to be widened about that time, the buildings were to be sold and it was again necessary to search for a home. The present location on St. Urbain Street was found and as the house was for rent Miss Barber called the old original trustees together and, making her report, placed the matter before them. It was decided to turn over the $8,000 invested to Miss Barber, with which she purchased the permanent home on St. Urbain Street. The house was remodelled and work has been carried on ever since.
The classes of inmates who are assisted are as follows:
1. Discharged prisoners and those whom the Recorder wishes to be placed in a home rather than imprisoned.
2. Inebriates, many of whom apply for shelter while others are placed by friends.
3. Girls from the streets and houses of infamy.
4. Maternity cases, many of whom are more sinned against than sinning.
5. What is called the “floating” class—patients discharged from hospitals before strong enough to work; the weak in body and mind; incompetent, idle girls, who, not vicious, would, however, if allowed, sink to the abandoned class.
The Sheltering Home was incorporated on the 29th of September, 1898, the incorporators being Mrs. Sarah Hibbard, Mrs. Enoch Frost, Mrs. John Murray Smith, Mrs. Ebenezer E. Shelton, Mrs. Matthew Hamilton Gault, Mrs. Robert Ward Shepherd, Mrs. George B. Burland, Mrs. James Day, Mrs. Joseph Savage, John Dillon, Herbert B. Ames, Seth P. Leet, Walter Drake, Samuel Finley, Hugh McLennan, Albert A. Ayer, Charles Alexander and George Hague.
GIRL DELINQUENTS
The work for girl delinquents was taken up by the Good Shepherd Nuns in 1870.
The Community of the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd in Montreal is an offshoot of the original body founded in Caen, Normandy, in 1641, by Jean Eudes, founder of the Eudistes Fathers. June 11, 1844, marks the arrival of the four first sisters in Montreal from Angers, Mesdames Marie Fisson, Eliza Chaffaux, Alice Ward and Andrews. Their first home was on Brock Street in the Quebec suburbs. On July 25th they took possession of a fine stone convent of four stories built on ground given by Madame D. B. Viger. Their work was: (1) receive women penitents, (2) Magdalens from the first class, who, however, may never join the order itself, and (3) the education of young girls. The work of the Magdalens began in 1864 and that of the preservation of the “penitents” began in 1847.
The work of the reformation of young Catholic girl delinquents was inaugurated on May 3, 1870, with twenty subjects. These now are sent by the court or placed by their parents under a useful training in industrial works. In 1893 the industrial school was transferred to Laval des Rapids, near Montreal. In addition to the above work these Sisters have the direction of the female jail on Fullum Street.
THE GIRLS’ COTTAGE INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL
A recent effort by Montreal ladies to supply the need for the special treatment of young girl delinquents between the ages of twelve and sixteen, otherwise than in the Female Jail, hitherto their only harbour, was crystalized in the opening, in September, 1911, of a Girls’ “Cottage” Industrial School at Outremont, which, however, was shortly removed to Front Street, St. Lambert’s, in healthy and pleasant surroundings. It was incorporated by government in 1913. The work is carried on in connection with the juvenile court, but it is also open to friendless and destitute girls, being supported by voluntary subscriptions, and some government assistance. It has been placed under government inspection. Very useful lessons have been the outcome of this experiment. It has been shown that most of those “committed” by the law are the victims of themorontype of mental defectiveness and retarded intelligence and that others are the victims of a carelessly trained childhood and vicious environment. It has been found that the best method to rehabilitate these cases is by building up their health and by concentrating at present the educational part of their training upon domestic lines, to make them good housewives and able to support themselves hereafter. The “Cottage” system with its possibilities of homelike and industrial training is claimed to effect better cures than the cold and formal methods of the usual government reformatory. The presidents of the school have been: 1911, Mrs. F.H. Waycott; 1912, Mrs. J. Macnaughton; 1913-14, Miss Beatrice Hickson.
BOY DELINQUENTS
Modern reformatory work for boys began in Montreal in 1865. In 1858 a reformatory school for juvenile criminals was established at Isle aux Noix, nearthe frontier and at the head of the Richelieu river. Being an old military post it was again deemed necessary to occupy it and the reformatory was removed to St. Vincent de Paul, near Montreal, in 1861. In 1863 there were about fifty inmates in the institution.
The name of M. Berthelet and the Brothers of St. Vincent de Paul now became connected with this work. The latter Congregation was founded in Belgium, in 1807, by Rev. P. Priest, a Canon of the Diocese of Ghent, shortly after the French revolution, to care for the sick and poor, the aged and orphans left destitute through the expulsion of the religious orders.
Canada heard of their eminent services abroad. At the time, there was in Montreal a gentleman, named Berthelet, and relief of the poor seemed to be the goal of his ambition. In fact, M. Berthelet’s happiness consisted in relieving their wants. He, too, heard of the Brothers’ good work, and he begged Bishop Bourget to invite them out to Canada. They accepted the kind invitation and accepted the charge of a home for old people and neglected children of the city, at the Asile St. Antoine provided by M. Berthelet on Labelle Street. Four Brothers of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul arrived on February 22, 1865, but moved to a larger home on Dorchester Street, opposite the Convent of La Miséricorde, on May 10, 1865. From there they moved to the new home built by M. Berthelet on Mignonne Street, now De Montigny, taking possession of it on February 19, 1868. The same work was continued but with doubtful success, till it found its present vocation as an industrial school, in 1873.
In 1870, the Government of the Province of Quebec had founded a reformatory for youthful delinquents and incorrigible children. Recognizing that happier results would be obtained, if it was under the supervision of a religious body, familiar with the work, the Government made overtures to the superior of the Brothers, but it was only in 1872 that matters were definitely arranged to the satisfaction of both parties. The Brothers have been in charge ever since. The reformatory is a blessing in disguise for many a family and for the community at large. Hundreds of its inmates are today honorable and law-abiding citizens with trades in their possession or equipped for a livelihood. They would have always been so had their parents or guardians done their duty by them and given them the example of an industrious, sober, honest and Christ-like life.
The four Brothers have now grown to 150. In addition, since 1874 they have founded off shoots of their Community in Canada and the United States.
SHAWBRIDGE BOYS’ FARM
Reformation work for non-Catholic boys is conducted at Shawbridge in the Laurentian Mountains.
As told elsewhere the “Boys’ Farm and Training School” at Shawbridge owes its first active steps to the farm committee of 1906 of the “Corporation of the Boys’ Home,” and its immediate inception to the board of nine directors of the “Boys’ Farm and Training School,” chosen out of the board of fifteen governors of the “Boys’ Home” in accordance with the reconstituted amendments granted in March, 1909, to the original charter, these amendments having been prepared by Mr. J.S. Buchan, K.C., to provide for the twin corporations of the Boys’ Home and the Boys’ Farm, the latter, however, being a distinct but subsidiarycorporation. The first board of directors of the Boys’ Farm were J.R. Dougall, Rev. Dr. Eagan Hill, J.C. Holden, S.M. Baylis, C.S.J. Phillips, J.S. Buchan, K.C., F. Hague, F.S. Todd and G.W. Stephens. This board elected as their officers the following: President, J.S. Buchan, K.C.; vice president, S.M. Baylis; honorary secretary, F. Hague; honorary treasurer, C.S.J. Phillips. Mr. J.R. Dougall shortly became president on the resignation of Mr. Buchan. The reformatory is conducted on the cottage system, the prison atmosphere being carefully eliminated, so that it is rather a country farm home school than anything else, although the pupils are those committed thither by the courts of justice. Everything at the farm makes for health, virtue and hope, and is a good demonstration of the modern view of juvenile reformation.
THE JUVENILE COURT AND THE CHILDREN’S AID SOCIETY OF MONTREAL
The Juvenile Court, which of recent years has been established to treat younger delinquents than those already mentioned, was largely the effort of the promotion of the Children’s Aid Society of Montreal.
This association developed out of a movement inaugurated by the Montreal Women’s Club, which, in 1905, formed a committee having as its object the establishment of reforms in the methods then in use in dealing with the children of the city who had offended against the law. The members of the club had become convinced from personal observation during the course of their charitable work that, not only was juvenile crime increasing to an alarming extent in Montreal, but also that the existing legal machinery was very badly adapted to cope with the situation. The “Juvenile Court” committee, therefore, began by collecting information regarding the methods in use in children’s courts and the probation system in various cities of the American continent and Europe, and interviewed many public men in Montreal in the interests of reform. Of these the first to offer definite encouragement and assurance of personal support was Judge F.X. Choquet, who, in an interview with some members of the committee on the 28th February, 1907, expressed his opinion that complete reformation of the law respecting juvenile offenders was urgently needed, and that a juvenile court with a special magistrate and officials was over-due in Montreal, in order that children’s cases might be promptly and efficiently dealt with, the circumstances and family history of the cases being investigated before sentence should be pronounced. It was recommended to the committee as their first step that a petition should be framed and sent to the Minister of Justice asking for a new law regulating the treatment of children’s cases before the courts.
Another public official to whom credit must be accorded for encouragement given in the initial stages of this reform is Governor Vallée of the Montreal jail, who stated as the result of personal experience that the greatest wrong was being done to the youth of the city by the system then in vogue; that he was familiar with the juvenile court methods, and heartily in favour of their introduction in Montreal.
A petition was prepared and was subsequently sent to the different branches of the Legislature bearing the signatures of over five thousand citizens. Public interest was increased in the movement by an address given by Mr. W.L. Scott, president of the Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa, before the Montreal Women’sClub, in the autumn of 1907, on juvenile courts and probation officers, and as a result of this address the club undertook to defray the cost of supporting a probation officer, for a time, provided the magistrates would sanction the innovation. Approval and promise of co-operation having been obtained from Judge Choquet, Mr. Recorder Weir, and Mr. Recorder Dupuis, a French lady, Mlle. Maria Clément, was engaged to fill the position.
It was now thought that the growth and prospects of the movement warranted the formation of a Children’s Aid Society, and the first meeting of ladies and gentlemen to form the executive board of such an association was assembled at the residence of Senator and Mme. Beïque on Sherbrooke Street, February 1, 1908, with Judge Eugène Lafontaine in the chair. Although the probation officer had only been at work during a few weeks it was stated at this meeting that her services had already proved of much value. Judge Choquet explained the purposes and need of the proposed society, whose officers were elected as follows: President, Judge F.X. Choquet; vice presidents, Mme. Beïque, Mme. Choquet, Judge Lafontaine, Miss Ferguson, president of the Montreal Women’s Club, Reverend Dr. Symonds, Mrs. Waycott, Mr. J.M. Wilson; secretaries, Mrs. Weller, Dr. St. Jacques; treasurer, Mr. F. Beïque.
By kind permission of the Protestant Board of School Commissioners, the meetings of the council of the Children’s Aid Society were subsequently held in the board room of the Protestant High School on Peel Street.
The members of the juvenile court committee of the Women’s Club were incorporated with the council of the new society, and subsequently, until the official organization of the juvenile court, held meetings twice a month with the probation officer at the home of Mme. Beïque in order to assist with the probation work.
In June, 1908, the Juvenile Delinquents Act was passed by the Dominion Parliament, and at the meeting of the Children’s Aid Society in September of that year a letter was read from Mr. W.L. Scott, one of the original framers of the bill, in which he stated that, “the success of the Juvenile Delinquents Bill has been due in great measure to your Society, and particularly to your having secured the interest of Senator Beïque and Mr. Bickerdike.”
The Society next exerted its effort towards having the act proclaimed by the Provincial Parliament as a preliminary to its being put into force in the province. To this end a public meeting was arranged, which was addressed by the Chief Justice, Sir Charles Fitzpatrick, and by Mr. J.J. Kelso, the originator of the juvenile court system in Toronto.
During the following year the Society continued to co-operate with the probation work, and endeavoured to effect regulation of newspaper selling on the streets by small children and girls, and to secure suppression of the deleterious features of the moving picture shows, which were just beginning to overrun the city.
In 1910, the Juvenile Delinquents’ Act was formally proclaimed by the provincial authorities, and arrangements as to division of expenses, etc., having been adjusted between the province and the municipality, a house at No. 209 Champ de Mars Street, was acquired and fitted up by the city for use as a detention home, the formal opening taking place on the 22d March, 1912.
In accordance with the provisions of the Juvenile Delinquents Act two JuvenileCourt committees were appointed from the membership of the Children’s Aid Society, consisting of the following persons:
For the Catholic Juvenile Court Committee:—Madame Beïque, Lady Hingston, Mesdames Crevier, Moreau, Ethier, Miss Quigley, Miss Murphy, Mlle. Marie Mignault, Rev. Canon Gauthier.
For the Protestant Juvenile Court Committee:—Rev. F.R. Griffin, Reverend Doctor Symonds, Messrs. Owen Dawson, K.J. Hollingshead, Lyon Cohen, Maxwell Goldstein, Mesdames F.H. Waycott, H.W. Weller, W.S. Maxwell.
The society sent in a unanimous request to the provincial authorities for the appointment of Judge F.X. Choquet as judge of the Juvenile Court, for Mr. O.C. Dawson as clerk, and for the retention of acting probation officers, Mlle. Clément, and Mrs. Henderson, in a permanent capacity, and all of these appointments were made, as asked for.
In 1912 the Children’s Aid Society cooperated with the executive of the Child Welfare Exhibit by taking charge of the subsection of that exhibit dealing with delinquent and dependent children.
MONTREAL SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN
An association which has done very effective work since 1882 among the sufferers at the hands of the delinquent classes is the Montreal Society for the Protection of Women and Children. Its work is largely preventative and has succeeded in the protection of women and children from every kind of wrong, abuse and cruelty, arising from nonsupport, wife beating, desertion, assaults, child cruelty and miscellaneous causes. The society has steadily pursued the aim of reform regarding prison labour wages in favour of those who suffer from the incarceration of the delinquent husband, the breadwinner.
THE CANADIAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
The following movement may be chronicled sufficiently appropriately here among the charities for unfortunates:
The Canadian Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was incorporated in 1868, its charter being granted at the request of Thomas Workman, M.P., H.J. Joseph, Henry Bulmer, T.J. Claxton, E.A. Prentice, H.L. Boulter, J.J.C. Abbott, James Ferrier, Jr., R. Mowat, A.M. Foster, T. Mackenzie, George Stephens, James Hutton, G.W. Weaver, Jesse Joseph and others.
In 1898 a woman’s auxiliary was formed with Mrs. W.R. Miller as its first president.
The above association was the first in Canada. It is the head office of the Province of Quebec, having several branches in other towns. For the first twenty years progress was slow, but in 1913, as many as six thousand cases came to the association.
COURT COMMITTALS
The statistics for the year 1913 regarding the children committed to industrial schools by the City of Montreal is as follows:
Of the 806 Montreal children confined in the industrial schools on the 31st of December, 1913, 463 were Catholic boys committed to the Montfort Orphanage, 422 at the expense of the city and 41 at the joint expense of the city and Government, 290 were Catholic girls confided to the care of the Good Shepherd Nuns, 277 at the expense of the city and 13 at the joint expense of the city and Government, and 53 were Protestant children (33 boys and 20 girls) placed in the Ladies’ Benevolent Institution, Berthelet Street, Montreal.
The expenditure in connection with the maintenance of uncared for juveniles amounted to $69,450.15 in 1913, or an increase of $2,582.49 as compared with 1912.
V
VOCATIONAL TRAINING FOR THE HANDICAPPED
DEAF MUTES: BOYS (CLERICS OF ST. VIATEUR)—GIRLS (SISTERS OF PROVIDENCE)—THE MACKAY INSTITUTE FOR PROTESTANT DEAF MUTES AND BLIND—THE INSTITUT DES AVEUGLES—MONTREAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE BLIND—SCHOOL FOR CRIPPLES (CHILDREN’S MEMORIAL HOSPITAL).
In a separate chapter we have treated of education only in the old sense of the term, vocational training as such also being treated in the notice on the technical schools of the city. The origins of that for physically handicapped children, the deaf, the blind and the crippled, have now to be recorded. There is as yet no provision for the mentally handicapped in the city or province though the subject is being at present promoted. This section is, therefore, placed here rather than in the educational chapter since the institutions it deals with are as yet conducted on sociological and volunteer lines rather than as an established part of the recognized educational systems of the city.
There are at present in Canada seven institutions for deaf mutes.
1. The Catholic Institution of “Sourds Muets,” deaf mutes, boys, founded in 1848 and now conducted under the direction of the Clerics of St. Viateur at 1941 St. Dominique Street, Montreal. 2. The Catholic Institution of “Sourdes Muettes,” girl deaf mutes, founded in 1851 under the direction of the Sisters of Providence, 595 St. Denis Street, Montreal. 3. The Mackay Institute, for girls and boys, founded in 1870. 4. The Institution at Halifax, Nova Scotia, founded in 1857. 5. That at Belleville, founded in 1858. 6. Winnipeg, in 1888. 7. St. John, New Brunswick, in 1903.
THE CATHOLIC INSTITUTE FOR DEAF-MUTE BOYS
Montreal, therefore, might claim at present the lead in this great educational work. Quebec, however, opened a school for deaf mutes in 1831 under Mr. Macdonald, a lawyer who had studied at Hartford, Connecticut, under the direction of M. Laurent Clerc, a pupil of the Abbé Sicard, who had learnt under the famous Abbé de l’Epée. In 1817 Laurent Clerc came to Hartford to found under M.H. Gallaudet, the first institution for deaf mutes on the American continent. The school established by Macdonald was unfortunately closed in 1836, owing to the withdrawal of subsidy by government. The Abbé Prince, afterwards bishop of St. Hyacinthe, endeavoured to support a school under the direction of the young Caron, a pupil of Macdonald, but through want of funds it closed in 1840. Later the Abbé Lagorce, of St. Charles on the Richelieu, attempted to teach the deaf mutes of his parish by pictures. In 1848 he was invited by Bishop Bourget to establish a school for deaf mutes at Hochelaga, in the hospice of St. Jérome-Emilien (the old house of the Good Shepherd) on Brock Street in the Quebec suburbs. He was assisted by a young man named Reeves, a deaf mute and apupil of Caron. The school was afterwards transferred to a house on Dufresne Street, given by M. Dufresne. In May, 1850, it was transferred to a building on Coteau St. Louis (Mile End) on a piece of land given by Dr. P. Beaubien. It was closed temporarily in May, 1851, on account of a visit made by the Abbé Lagorce to France for the purpose of study. He returned to Canada in October, 1852, and was installed at Joliette. In 1853 he returned to the house at Coteau St. Louis. There he remained till January, 1856, when he relinquished his work in favour of Brother J.M. Young, a cleric of St. Viateur. The latter, himself a deaf mute, had been invited by Bishop Bourget on his return from Rome in 1854, when he found M. Young a professor at the Forestier Institute in Lyons. M. Young entered the novitiate of the Clercs de St. Viateur at Vourles on the 15th of October, 1854, and after pronouncing his vows on October 21, 1855, embarked for Montreal, arriving in December. In view of his advent the classes had not recommenced in September but were again opened January 7, 1856. After the vacation of 1856, the establishment was removed to Chambly but, not succeeding, it was definitely reinstated in Coteau St. Louis after the vacation of 1857. Meanwhile, in 1856 Brother Young was joined by Father Bélanger. To him are due the many important developments, such as the opening in 1865 of the first workshops for printing, binding and shoemaking. In 1878 he added two stores to the principal house and in 1881 joined the workshops to it by a viaduct. In 1870, after a year’s study in Europe, he introduced teaching by words and again in 1880 the purely oral method. In 1883 he was forced to take a rest till 1895, but in 1900, he definitely retired, being succeeded by the Rev. Father Cadieux, of the Clerics of St. Viateur. The establishment gives a complete education to the pupils in its vast halls and workshops, where, besides printing, binding and shoemaking, other trades are taught, such as tailoring, sadlering, joinery, wheelwright’s work, painting, blacksmithing, etc. English Catholic children are also admitted.
THE CATHOLIC SCHOOL FOR DEAF-MUTE GIRLS
The next school, for girl deaf mutes, was established in 1851 at the time when that for boys was in a precarious condition. Its home was first at Longue Pointe and it was opened, under the auspices of Mother Gamelin, the foundress of the Sisters of Providence, by Sister Marie de Bonsecours (Albina Gadbois) on February 19th, with two pupils. The work for the unfortunate children was not then understood in Canada, being even thought useless. In 1852 there were four pupils, in 1857, thirty-two. The school which had then become too small was transferred to the hospice St. Joseph in Montreal. In 1864, the institution was definitely established upon its present site on St. Denis Street. Its first buildings have been gradually enlarged. The first teachers studied for a year at Joliette under the Abbé Lagorce. In 1853 they went to New York to study under the celebrated Isaac Peet, director of the Institute for Deaf Mutes in New York. Two years later they returned thither for further instruction. In 1870 they went to Europe to familiarize themselves in the oral method, but it was not till 1879 that the intuitive pure oral method, replacing signs and imitation, was applied in its entirety. In this they were greatly assisted by the Abbé Trepanier, honorary canon of the Cathedral of Montreal, who was for eighteen years attached to theinstitution of the deaf mutes on St. Denis Street. In 1912 the establishment numbered 260 girl pupils and fifty-four religious.
THE MACKAY INSTITUTION FOR PROTESTANT DEAF-MUTES AND THE BLIND
Prior to the establishment of the institution known as the Mackay Institution for Protestant Deaf Mutes and the Blind, there was no school among the Protestant community for the unfortunates who might be either blind or deaf. During the year 1868 the subject was being agitated and on the 7th of January, 1869, a public meeting of those interested in this work was held and the following prominent citizens formed themselves into a society to establish an institution for Protestant deaf mutes and the blind in the Province of Quebec, then better known as Lower Canada:
Mr. Charles Alexander, Thomas Cramp, Frederick Mackenzie, Thomas Workman, John Dougall of the Montreal Witness, William Lunn, G. Moffatt, J.A. Mathewson, J.H.R. Molson, Hon. J.J.C. Abbott, Edward Carter, Q.C., P.D. Browne, John Leeming, W.H. Benyon, J.F. Barnard, S.J. Lyman; and the following ladies:
Mesdames Andrew Allan, R. Redpath, J.W. Dawson, Major, Bond, Cramp, Fleet, Moffatt, Brydges, Brown and Workman.
The following officers were elected: Mr. Charles Alexander, president; Thomas Cramp, vice president; Frederick Mackenzie, secretary-treasurer; Thomas Widd, principal; Mrs. Widd, matron.
On the 19th of January, 1869, another meeting was held at which it was announced that the sum of nearly $6,000 had been subscribed, and more promised. The members worked vigorously to raise sufficient funds.
The work of the honorable secretary-treasurer was no sinecure. He sent out hundreds of circulars to ministers in all parts of the province to obtain the names, age, sex and circumstances of all Protestant deaf mutes in the province. On the 26th of January, 250 circulars to Protestant ministers had brought only 23 replies, reporting 5 deaf mutes and 5 blind.
On the 10th of March, 112 replies had been received, reporting 38 deaf mutes, 8 of school age, and 34 blind, of whom only 5 were of school age. On April 30th, 210 replies had been received, reporting 57 deaf mutes, 35 males and 22 females; eligible for school, 8 males and 5 females.
On the 4th of May, another meeting of the committee was held and it was decided that Mr. Widd should look out for a suitable house and grounds to open school for September. A house and ample grounds were found in Côte St. Antoine at an annual rental of $400 with an option to purchase in five years for $8,000. The house contained accommodation for about twenty pupils but very scant provision for teachers.
The doors were opened on the 15th of September, 1870, and 11 pupils admitted, 9 boys and 2 girls. Six paid full fees of $90 for the scholastic year and 5 were free. The number in attendance was later increased to 16; 13 boys and 3 girls, one of the latter being deaf, dumb and blind.
The institution had a hard struggle for existence for many years, especially about 1876, which was a year of great financial depression; but with the help of kind friends it was kept open and attracted the attention of the late Mr. JosephMackay, who finally bought a piece of ground in Notre Dame de Grâce and erected thereon a handsome building capable of accommodating about eighty pupils and their teachers, and the name was then changed to the “Mackay Institution for Protestant Deaf Mutes and the Blind.”
Mr. Widd retired from the principalship about 1882 and was succeeded by Miss Harriet E. McGann as superintendent, who later married a most talented teacher, Mr. John I. Ashcroft, and after his death carried the superintendentship alone to the present date.
There are now about seventy pupils of whom eleven are in the blind class. The subjects taught the blind are the ordinary English branches, music, typewriting, raffia work, knitting, plain sewing, chair caning and piano tuning. For the deaf the Masterson method is used in the kindergarten classes, dressmaking and domestic economy, besides the ordinary public school course. In the industrial department the boys acquire a good knowledge of carpentry, wood carving, cabinet making, shoemaking and chair caning.
THE INSTITUT DES AVEUGLES
The “Institut des Aveugles,” or the Institute for the Blind, at “Nazareth,” St. Catherine Street, the first established in Canada, was founded in Montreal in 1860 by the Rev. V.B. Rousselot, a Sulpician, who sacrificed his private fortune for the work of his predeliction. The course given aims at providing a classical and religious education and follows the practical methods adopted in Paris at the Institution National for the young blind. Music is especially cultivated. In 1892 the Grey Sisters, who have charge of the institution, added an Institut Opthalmique. Eye diseases are also treated at the Hôtel Dieu and Notre Dame Hospital.
THE MONTREAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE BLIND
The latest development is now being enterprised by the non-Catholics under the foregoing name.
In response to a circular letter sent out by a blind citizen, Mr. P.E. Layton, inviting personal friends and others to meet at his residence on Tuesday evening, April 21, 1908, about fifteen blind men and their friends responded. The meeting having been arranged by Mr. Layton, it was unanimously agreed that he should take the chair. In a few well-considered words the chairman set forth what he considered to be a pressing need in our community, the establishment of an association to promote the interests of the English-speaking blind in the Province of Quebec. He was of the opinion that an up-to-date school for the blind was an urgent necessity and that in connection with this, workshops for blind adults should be established so that the non-seeing might by instruction and training become self-supporting. In the discussion which followed it was unanimously decided that such an association should be formed, having the aforesaid objects as its ultimate aim. The officers of the society were then elected as follows: Dr. A. Fisher, honorary president; Mr. C.W. Lindsay, president; Mr. W. Stewart, vice president; Mr. P.E. Layton, treasurer; and Mr. S. Fraser, secretary. The above officers, with the addition of Messrs. H. Baker and T. Stewart, formed an executive committee of management. At a subsequent meeting Messrs. A. Rossand I. Mullhollin were added to this committee. By the end of the first year $12,608.48 had been realized from subscriptions.