In a room, a penny must be paid for every bed
over the first. Boots can be cleaned for a penny, shoes for a
half-penny. For carrying wood, &c., either a halfpenny or a penny
will be exacted according to the time taken. Payment for these
services must not be made to the servant, but at the office.
The gates close at ten o'clock at night, and open at sunrise, "but
if any visitor wishes to make Alpine excursions, or has any other
sufficient reason, he should let the director know." Families
occupying many rooms must - when the hospice is very crowded, and
when they have had due notice - manage to pack themselves into a
smaller compass. No one can have rooms kept for him. It is to be
strictly "first come, first served." No one must sublet his room.
Visitors must not go away without giving up the key of their room.
Candles and wood may be bought at a fixed price.
Any one wishing to give anything to the support of the hospice must
do so only to the director, the official who appoints the
apartments, the dean or the cappellani, or to the inspectress of
the daughters of Oropa, but they must have a receipt for even the
smallest sum; alms-boxes, however, are placed here and there, into
which the smaller offerings may be dropped (we imagine this means
anything under a franc).
The poor will be fed as well as housed for three days gratuitously-
-provided their health does not require a longer stay; but they
must not beg on the premises of the hospice; professional beggars
will be at once handed over to the mendicity society in Biella, or
even perhaps to prison. The poor for whom a hydropathic course is
recommended, can have it under the regulations made by the
committee - that is to say, if there is a vacant place.
There are trattorie and cafes at the hospice, where refreshments
may be obtained both good and cheap. Meat is to be sold there at
the prices current in Biella; bread at two centimes the chilogramma
more, to pay for the cost of carriage.
Such are the bye-laws of this remarkable institution. Few except
the very rich are so under-worked that two or three days of change
and rest are not at times a boon to them, while the mere knowledge
that there is a place where repose can be had cheaply and
pleasantly is itself a source of strength. Here, so long as the
visitor wishes to be merely housed, no questions are asked; no one
is refused admittance, except for some obviously sufficient reason;
it is like getting a reading ticket for the British Museum, there
is practically but one test - that is to say, desire on the part of
the visitor - the coming proves the desire, and this suffices.
