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 QUEEN'S DAUGHTERS

69

QUEEN'S DAUGHTERS

mission wa.s entrusted to the Lyons Society of African Missions. R. P. Oswald Waller, b. at Bennwihr, Alsatia, 24 Jan., 1866; ordained, 10 July, 1892, sent to the mission in Egypt, then to Dahomey in 1898, and to Nigeria in 1906; was appointed first prefect Apostolic on 26 Sept., 1911. He resides at Shendam, Demshi.

Ntgata, in Japan. — This mission was erected into a prefecture Apostolic on 13 Aug., 1912, and com- mitted to the care of the Society of the Divine Word, of Steyl. It comprises the Provinces of Akita, Yamagata, Nygata, formerly part of the Diocese of Hakodate: and Toyama, Ishikawa, and Fukui, part of the Archdiocese of Tokio and the Diocese of Osaka. On 19 Nov., 1912, R. P. Joseph Reiners was appointed the first prefect Apostolic. He re- sides at Nygata.

PcTDMAYO, in Peru. — This mission was erected into a prefecture Apostolic on 4 Oct., 1912, and was confided to the Friars Minor; R. P. Leo Sambook was appointed first prefect Apostolic in Nov., 1912. The establishment of this mi,ssion was the outcome of the agitation stirred up in the British Parliament by a detailed account of the atrocities perpetrated on the unfortunate Indians b.v the officials of a British rubber company operating in Putumayo, a distant district of Peru, at the head waters of the .Amazon. For years this company had forced the Indians to collect crude rubber for them in the forests, and enforced their orders by tortures and scourging, inflicted by negro overseers imported from the Barbados for the pun'ose. Even women and children were not spared. The charges made by Sir Roger Casement, who visited the district at the request of the British Government, were in the main corrobor- ated by the report of Romulo Paredes, a special independent investigator sent to the region by the Peruvian Government. For years the few mis- sionaries in the district had appealed to the Peruvian authorities, when the opportunity presented itself, to protect the Indians, but until the agitation pro- voked by the revelations in England occurred and action was taken by the British and United States governments, no attention was paid to their petitions on behalf of the suffering natives.

Teffe, in Brazil, erected by a Decree dated 23 May, 1910, when together with the prefecture

Apostolic of Upper Solimoes it was se))arated from the Diocese of Araazonas or Manaos. The missions in Tf'ff^ and and Upper Solimoes were undertaken in 1897 by the Fathers of the Holy Ghost and the Im- maculate Heart of Marj-, under R. P. Libermann at the request of Mgr. da Costa-Aguiar, Bishop of Amazonas, whose immense diocese erected only five years earlier was practically devoid of priests. The first mission was established by R. P. Berthon in June, 1907 at Teff6, a town on the .Amazon 700 miles from Manaos, and 1600 miles from the Atlantic. It is situated at the confluence of the Teffe and the Solimoes (or Upper Amazon), opposite the mouth of the Jai)ura; the missionaries have been greatly aided in their work by the co-operation of the local government authorities. They have established at Teff6 a large orphanage and industrial school for the young Indians, on a site donated for the purpose by the municipal authorities. The first prefect Apostolic is R. P. Michel-Alfred Barat, b. at Cler- mont, France, on 12 Nov., 1864; missionary in the Amazon district since 1897; appointed superior of the prefecture in May, 1910.

Tripoli. — This prefecture was erected into the Vicariate Apostolic of Libya by a Decree dated 23 Feb., 1913.

Welle.— By a Decree of 18 Dec, 1911, the Prefecture Apostolic of WelliS was divided into Eastern and Western Well6; the line of separation being the 26° 30' E. long. Each division was made a prefecture Apostolic. Western Well6 remained under the care of the Premonstratensians of the Abbey of Tongerloo, Belgium. Eastern Well6 was entrusted to the Dominicans; its first prefect Apostolic is R. P. Reginald Van Schoote, who was ap- pointed on 12 Jan., 1912. He resides at Amadi.

Zambesi. — The eastern boundary of the Zambesi mission was changed by a Decree of 28 June, 1912, and is now: the Portuguese Mozambique territory to 15° S. lat., then the rivers Luangwa, Lukasashi and Mlembo as far as the south-east corner of Belgian Congo.

Acta Apostolica Sedis (Rome, 1909 — ); Battandier, An- nuaire pontifical catholique (Paris, 1908-13); Missiones ca~ tholiccB (Rome, 1907); Piglet, Les missions eathotiques /ran- caises au XIX> aiicle (Paris, 1901-03).

A. A. MacErlean.

Q

Queen's Daughters (Daughters of the Queen OF Heaven, Filit, Regin.e Cceli), a religious and charitable society founded at St. Louis, Mo., 5 Dec, 1889, by Miss Mary Ho.xsey. It was organized to supplement the work done for the poor in their homes by the members of the Conference of St. Vincent de Paul. The project received the approbation and encouragement of the Very Rev. P. P. Brady in whose parish it was inaugurated, and several years later the papal sanction and blessing were accorded (17 July, 1894). The society has since spread to numerous parishes of the United States and there are now thirty-five associations affiliated to tho.se at St. Louis. The constitution of the society pro- vides that it shall be governed by a general council composed of subordinate councils and associations. Five or more associations in a diocese have the right of forming a subordinate council with its own by- laws and officers. The society was incorporated on 6 Jan., 1902. The Queen's Daughters visit the poor in their homes and afford them spiritual and material aid. They eiiileavour to influence those who neglect their religious duties or the rehgious training of their children, they teach Christian doctrine in mission Sunday-schools, and assist in preparing

persons for baptism, and in providing suitable clothing for the first Communion of children whose parents are unable to make such provision. Their organizations include sewing-guilds, cooking-schools, boai'ding-liomes for women and girls, sanctuary guilds :ind altar societies. At their Saturday in- dustrial schools for children the children of the poor are taught to sew and be self-helpful. Here also they are brought in contact with the members of the Gu;irdian Angel Bands, th(! children of well-to-do parents, who are taught to make garments for the poor and to be gcn(-rally helpful and sympathetic to their poorer companions. The usual work in connexion with juvenile courts is done according to instructions provided by court officials. The members of several religious congregations are honor- ary members of the as.sociation. Representative of these are the White Sisters of the Nazareth Home, Providence, R. I., who maintain a day nur.sery and visit the sick poor in their homes and to whom the society is pledged to contribute a specified sum monthly. The patroness of the society is the Blessed Virgin; and its motto "Ad Majorcm Dei Gloriani",

Blanche M. Kelly.