Guesdon, C.S.C., Father Isidore, New Orleans, Louisiana, to Archbishop Anthony Blanc, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1855 June 1

He has just received Blanc's letter. He is overwhelmed by Blanc's solicitude for them at St. Mary's Catholic Orphan Boys' Asylum . He assures Blanc that nothing will stop him from going to the sick but he will also be prudent. All the members of his little community Congregation of Holy Cross have proved that. Their children are attacked in a very violent way; in a few hours they are gone and the disease is contagious. But he believes that transferring them to the infirmary would be very inconvenient without great advantage. They would constantly have to have one vehicle ready to transport the sick and another for the dead. They would have to double the personnel. The spiritual aid would become very difficult because of the distance; they would have to have two pharmacies. The new house is not prepared for this. Each child not ill with cholera is completely separated. However the Sisters of the Holy Cross and Guesdon are among them without any inconvenience except fatigue. The real help would be to send them some nurses. Some Sisters are already established in the house with part of their furniture. Guesdon would not want this consideration to stop Blanc from carrying out his plan and there will never be a question of pay or rent for a house of which they have the use only by Blanc's kindness. But he believes a mile distance is too much to make it advantageous. The town had given coffins and buried the children free; now they must pay for the coffin and one piastre for the grave. The children have had their shoes since this morning and have been forbidden to drink any water before it is purified. P.S. The doctor believes they will have 10 dead tomorrow; three are dead already. Guesdon has just learned that Father Francis Gouesse no longer belongs to the Congregation and that he plans to return to New Orleans as a secular priest. :: VI-1-i A.L.S. French 4pp. 4to.