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From: Margit <>
Subject: Orphan's Home Life...excerpts from "An Orphan's Saga" by Carl R.Narveson 1982
Date: Wed, 21 Apr 2004 16:00:07 -0500


The Orphan's Home was located in Flom Township where I live in Minnesota. If
you are interested, I will send more.
Margit

BOYS' LIFE AT THE HOME

FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE HOME. Carl, to brothers. "How did you feel the
first days you were at the Home? Remember when you cams into the Home?"
Arthur, "Well, it's always a problem in that you always feel a little
lonesome at first in a stronge environment. Otherwise I would say that
after I got acquainted, I enjoyed it." Lawrence, "I know when I came to the
Home I never was so sick in my life as I was then‹so homesick‹and for two
weeks I stood behind the door going down to the boys' room in the basement,
and it was really tough to get used to at first." Carl, "I didn't remember
that you had spent that much time standing there." Lawrence, "0 yah, I
didn't go out until finally Skauge kicked roe down the stairs to go out and
play with the kids." Carl, "I can remember how I looked at all those big
buildings, and how big that immense hall was with all those people. What in
the world were we getting into? There was Pa and Ma and Auntie Skauge, and
Nels Mugaas, and workers, and kids all over, and it was so big and strange
and I was terrified."

THE DINING ROOM. The main building‹32 X 34 feet, three stories high, built
in 1901, was added to in the back by a 26 X 44 foot addition which contained
the kitchen and dining roans, and sleeping room on second floor. In 1920
the third part of the building was added to the south of this main part.
Kitchen and .dining room were then transferred to this new part. When we
came we ate in the old part. Carl, "You remember that for about three weeks
"after we came there instead of eating with the other children we ate at the
manager's table with Pa and Ma Skauge, Nels, the hired inen, and Auntie
Rachel Skauge, remember that? I don't know why we didn't get put with the
other children right away, but for seme reason they kept us there. The food
was much better at this table." Lawrence, "I don't think they had enough
chairs to seat us, because I know we had to stand. Quite a few of the
smaller kids had to stand. They had five or six long tables to seat us,
they didn't have enough benches. And the smaller children up to three,
four, and five years old were at this one table where helpers like Miss
Laura Ask cared for them. Then the other kids were put at tables somewhat
to size, the bigger boys had one table there and the girls were off in one
section. They had to get chairs and stools later on."

FOOD, Carl, "Do you remanber the kind of food we had to eat?" Art, "Well,
not exactly, the food was good. We always had plenty." Carl, "We had
oatmeal for breakfast." Lawrence, "There used to be oatmeal for breakfast,
no milk on it because the cows at first when we came there didn't produce
enough so only the small kids got milk. We got oatmeal five or six days a
week, and on Sundays we always had prune sauce, prune sauce. Yah!" Carl,
"And then we had bread and syrup, and water, or maybe skim milk." Lawrence,
"It was always in the rooming for lunch. And in the afternoons, they'd cone
out with a big pan full of bread with syrup on it and no butter." Carl, "I
think we had butter . about three times a year." Lawrence, "For dinner we
used to get potatoes and meat or fish. Everybody loved fish, I think."
Carl, "Do I love fish! Do any of you eat fish now? Not unless it is fresh
pike." Lawrence, "The kids didn't like it, and they used to ship in a barrel
of different kinds of fish‹I believe it was mostly cod fish and it was
pretty greasy‹I believe it was cod fish shipped in from Duluth, but the kids
weren't very crazy about it."

TABLE MANNERS. Carl, "Remember our table manners? How did you behave?"
Art, "You had to. If you didn't, boy, you got kicked out of there and sit
in the comer." Lawrence, " At every msal the kids would be talking like
everything and Skauge would get up and rap on a dish with a fork or knife,
and it would get quiet. Then he'd call on one of the children to say the
prayer (in Norwegian, of course). After that the noise would start like it
was a cannon going off." This was the prayer:

"I Jesu navn, Gaar vi til bord. At spise og drikke, Paa dit ord. Dig Gud
til Aere, Os til gavn, Saa faar vi mat, I Jesu navn. (Literal transla-
tion: In Jesus move, we go to table, to eat and drink, upon your word, You
God to honor, us to gain, so get we food. In Jesus' name.") Carl, "And I
remanber at one table where I sat, there was a sort of a half-wit kid. We'd
be saying grace, we all joined in, and BANG! When it was finished, just
like a shot, he'd grab the food and take it in. He didn't care whether
anyone else got food or not. But I say he was a half-wit." Lawrence, "On
the whole I remember they were not so hoggish. There really was enough to
eat, although it was plain food, but the kids were pretty good."

The girls waited on the tables, as wsll as setting the tables, clearing
them, and washing the dishes. The cook was about the highest paid worker at
the Home, next to Pa Skauge, and Nels, getting even more wages than did
Auntie Skauge. You can imagine it was quite a job to cook meals on a stove
fired by wood for about one hundred and thirty people, three times a day and
at least two lunches in-between the regular meals.

Carl, "Art talked about Pa Skauge being strict and that we behaved. I
remember that I was reading a very good book and came late to a meal. Pa
asked me why. I said I had been reading and forgot the bell." "You can go
back to your book and read, but you can't eat any food." I didn't miss any
meals after that."


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