We were not able to provide enough
bed-clothes to keep the students warm. In fact, for some time we
were not able to provide, except in a few cases, bedsteads and
mattresses of any kind. During the coldest nights I was so
troubled about the discomfort of the students that I could not
sleep myself. I recall that on several occasions I went in the
middle of the night to the shanties occupied by the young men,
for the purpose of confronting them. Often I found some of them
sitting huddled around a fire, with the one blanket which we had
been able to provide wrapped around them, trying in this way to
keep warm. During the whole night some of them did not attempt to
lie down. One morning, when the night previous had been unusually
cold, I asked those of the students in the chapel who thought
that they had been frostbitten during the night to raise their
hands. Three hands went up. Notwithstanding these experiences,
there was almost no complaining on the part of the students. They
knew that we were doing the best that we could for them. They
were happy in the privilege of being permitted to enjoy any kind
of opportunity that would enable them to improve their condition.
They were constantly asking what they might do to lighten the
burdens of the teachers.
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