About that time, however, they succeeded in procuring a building at the corner of Eighty-sixth Street and Second Avenue, well suited to the purpose. This they were enabled to place under the direction of the Sisters of Charity, a religious order whose members, by their noble and generous self-devotion, in the care of the sick, forlorn, the destitute and helpless in every form, age and condition in life, have been the theme of praise in story and song in every clime and tongue, and from persons of all shades of belief, race and religion.

The houses in Thirty-sixth and Thirty-seventh Streets were soon found to be inadequate for the accommodations of the daily increasing numbers, and the managers, were within eight months of the day of opening, forced to seek other and more commodious quarters. Two buildings were then rented in Eighty- Sixth Street, near Fifth Avenue, and so soon as convenient the boys moved into them.

The difficulties experienced in providing accommodation, in obtaining the considerable suras necessary in the inauguration of so vast a work, were but a minor portion of the onerous task placed upon the managers' shoulders. The far more difficult problem of " what to do with the abandoned child,"' and " how to do it " had now to be directly solved.

Most of the children received, particularly during the first few years, were the victims of indolent or vicious habits. Experience taught that, to succeed in this work of reformation, constant occupation, pleasantly diversified, was essential, and space for play-grounds, out-door labor, and places wherein trades could be learned was required.