, 1866-10-13
HORRIBLE DISCLOSURES.


The Paris correspondent Of the London
Star tells this horrible story:
IA subject Of deep interest is now dis
cusscd at the French Academy of Medicine,
to WHICH have already alludsd-namc
the tfiahtfil mortality Among French
children, according to the fashion Of this
country, put nut 10 nurse. Every year twenty
thousand babies nrc sent out OF Paris under
the care OF peasant nurses, and Of that nun1-
bcr live thousand on nn average are returned
to their mothers, the other fifteen thousand
having died Of cold, starvation, and bad
treatment. Since 1AG it las been calculated
that in the nci9lborhood Of Paris alone
three hundred thousand Of the nurslin.s have
died in the hands Of their foster mothers.
Why should such barbarous murder he al
lowed to dcpOpulate the country? 1t Is en-
tircly owing to the bad management Of the
the tuftaur dc a4oHrficts, over which Govern
mcnt has not till now exercised proper
amount of surveillance. These officers re-
ceive Unfortunately every woman who up
plies to them for employment.
- i fr;ghttul trade Is carried on By specula-
tors Of tho lowest class, denou,inatcd ntcn-
eHTs, who enroll couHtrywoncn In their pay,
convey them to Paris in carts Justly called
rurgntories,' obtnin for them babies whose
mothers lays applied al the office for nurse
for their child, and convey thclu aud the
children back to the country. The horrors
that take place durin. the journey to Paris
and back In the vehicle Of the n,entur arc Of
SO startling nature TINT one could hardly
believe them to be true were it not for the
nndoubted proofs which have been laid be-
fore the Academy Of Medicine. Thus the
countrywomen make no scruple In cxclang-
ing the babies entrusted to them. aud several
among them undertake to nurse two or three
children at time. | have SEEM exclaimed
n. CheylIier, addressing the Academy, one
woman protesting to nurse seven iutants,
and yet she herself had neither milk nor u
cow
FED with bad broth, exposed to every
species of dirt and neglect, tile miserable in
writes to its mother that her baby is prosper:
ing, that 1t had grown ont fits clothes, and
required fresh supply. The mother natu-
rally spends her months wage; In supplying
her child's wants, and goes 4 paying Its
board for months after-it has been lying IN
ber Of nurses come annually to Paris and
carry back a supply Of children, and not one
/ has ever been known to bring child buck to
the capital. In their charge the children
simply appear and disappear. Dr.. Broehard
| cited in lis speech to the Academy two COM
nuncs of tie Eute ct Loire Department,
where the nurslinEs invariably die.
| "lt appears there are women among the
nurses whose reputation is we'll known, and,
horreseo rcttrt,s, these nurses are specially
sought for by certain ill-fa,ucd houses. En-
| trusting newborn infant to one Of them Is
| tantaln0unt to infanticide. Dr.. Brochard
read several copies Of the lying letters
written by nurses TO the children's parents,
describing in pathetic language the rosy
| cheeks aud increasing charms Of their In
lants, dead weeks before the cpistlc was In
dited. The doctor also gave several curious
details Of the annual pilgrimage to st. Criard,
| in the department Of La Perchc. st. Criard,
| be 1t remarked, is the real name Of the place,
and not luxembourg. On given day, late
| in autumn, it is the custom Of the country
to bring every infant in the vicinity before
the painted image Of the saint, there to do
him homage, The said statue happens to be
in chapel at the top Of a steep hill, exposed
to all the winds Of Heaven.
~The country itselfis bleak and the climate
peculiarly cold ut any time of the year.
Naturally, this long pilgrimage at the worst
season OF the year to the top ofa great height
proves fatal to all the delicate infants who
are carried In the procession, and the amount
of deaths from bronchitis which ensued in
the conrse Of the week following is some
thing Incredible. These horrible facts are
highly discrcditablc to the mayors Of the
various villages where these infants are nuss-
ed. Naturally, il II. 1e Mairc, instead of~-.:.
flvatinc his aI1rfcots and peaches and g'io-
ing prizes at agricultural shows for his !. :
pigs, was to look sharp after the extraord'.-
ary number Of little graves In his villa :;
cemetery, and insist on medical reports Us TO
the cause thereof being laid before him, in
FAINT mortality would rapidly diminish.
Messieurs les Maires will probably rcad this
opinion from the pens OF their respective
projects, expressed In somewhat startling
form, as once the French Government takes
up subject 1t does not trifle with 1t, and IN.
doubtcdfy posses the rare gift Of making
| itse1f ohnye1 -