Page 101 - March On! God will Provide by Brother Aubert

ChaPter 1)

GIFT OF GOLD

oR THE AGRTcuLTURAL PoPULATToN of West Flanders
f the spring and summer months of 1846 spelt disaster'
-had
fhe wit te. 'been devastatingly fierce in the deep
freezes, and. now came the equivalent of a drought, a
freakish condition in an area that normally could count
on rain in two daYs out of three.
For city-dwelleis the unemployment got worse and
worse.
At "Het Walletje" several of the community had with-
drawn, but the valiant who remained at their Posts man-
aged io carry on. The night'watch before the Blessed
Sicrament trad been discontinued after a six-month
period. Weakened physiques could not cope with the
loss of sleep.
At the Iifant-school on the premises at "Het Walletje"
a hundred and fifty little boys were still flocking in there
each morning. Locally these youngsters had acquired
fame for theii thoroughness in licking their soup plates
clean. They were "Pipslokkers," plate-lickers, and the
nickname ci.rtg to thelchool for a generation' Soup at
noon was stifl 6eing furnished by Father Carton's Com'
mittee on Patronage'
The 1845-1846 ichool-year had been a difficult one
for the pay-school in "La Bellevue," now known as the
St. Savioui Primary School. It was still operatit'g, !'!
help for it had to be found. The annual costs exceeded
the income.
In spite of the continued famine and the--general
.r.rempioy*ent, Brother Ryken felt that the Xaverian