The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-08-17

such child can stand before it succumbs.
| The tenacity of life in children of per-
fectly sound constitution is proverbial. A
ha porth of bread and ha' a'p'orth of milk daily
| win suffice to keep the machinery of life from
coming to a sudden stand-still. BY such barely
sufficient link will the poor little helpless victim
| be held to life, while what passes as natural
| causes attack and gradually consume it, and
| drag il down to its grave. This, in the baby
farmers estimation, is a frst-rate artice,-the
| pride of the market, and without doubt the most
| profitable. The safest too. Children will pine.
Taken from their mother, IL is only to be eX-
pected that they should. Therefore, when the
poor mother, who is working of nights rs well
as days, that nurse IS money may be punctualy
paid visits her little one, and finds it thin and
pale and wasting, she is not amazed, although
her conscience smites her cruelty.
and her heart is fit to break, She is only too
thankful to hear nurse declare that she is
doing all she can for the little darling. 1t is her
only consolation and she goes away hugging it
| while nurse and her old man make merry
over gin bought with that hard, hard-earned
extra siXpencc that the poor mother has left to
buy baby some little comfort.
/ trust and hope that what is here set down
viii not be regarded as mere tnscl and WOrdy
extravaganza, designed to produce a 'sensa-
ton in the mind of the reader. There is
no telling into whose hands a book may
fall. Maybe it is not altogether impos-
sible eyes may scan this page that have
been recently red with weeping over the terrible
secret that will keep but little longer, and for
must be made. To such a reader, with all kind
Illness. would whspcrwords of counsel Think
not ''tWiCc but many times before you adopt
the ''rcadicst' means of Sinking the awful re-
sponsbity you have incurred Rely on it, you
will derive no lasting satisfaction out of this
readiest way by which, of course, is meant the
way to which the vilanOus child-farmer reveals
an open door. BE righteously courageous and
take any step rather, as you would, l am sure,
if you were permitted to raise corner and peep
behind the curtain that couccas the hidden
mysteries of adopted-child murder.
As a volunteer explorer into the depths of
social mysteries, once upon time ! made it my
| business to invade the den OF a chld-larmcr.
| The result of the experiment was printed in
daily newspaper or magazine at the time, so |
will here make but brief alluslOn to it. | bought
the current number of the newspaper more than
once here mentioned and discovering as usual,
a considerable string OF Chld-adOptng and
nursing advertisements, replied to the ma jOrity
of them, protesting to have child ION my
| hands, and signing myself IN. d. My inten-
tion being to trap the villains, | need not say
that in every case my reply to their preliminary
communications was cOuchcd in such carefully
considered terms as might throw the
most suspicious Off their guard. But |
found that | had underestimate the cunning
of the enemy. Although the innocent seeming
| bait was made a- attractive and sayOry as pos
siblc. at least half of the farmers to whom my
cpistlGs were addressed youchsaied no reply.
There was something about it not TO their liking,
evidently.
Three or four of the hungry pike bit, however,
one being Il lady signing herself "G. H." In her
newspaper advertisement, if | rightly remember
persons whom it concerned were to address,
''Y. T.,' Post Office, -- street, Stcpncy
''Y. T. replying TO mine so addressed said
that, as before stated, she was willing to
adopt a little girl OF weakly constitution
at the terms | suggested, her object being chiefly
to secure a companion for her OwulittlC darling,
who had lately, through death, been deprived
OF his own dear little sister. ~. H. further
suggested that | should appoint place where
We could meet and arrange
This, however, was not what wanted. twas
quite evident, from the tone of the ladys note,
that she was not ut all dcsirous that the meeting
should take place ut her abode. Again / was to
address Post Office To bring matters to
conclusion, ] wrote, declaring that tnothing could
be done unless ! could meet "H. IT, at her own
! abode. No answer was returned to this my last,
and it was evidently the intention Of "I. ~ TO
let the matter drop.
! was otherwise resolved, however. | had
! some sort of clue and was resolved to follow il
| up. BY what subtle arts and contryance l
her abode need not here be recited. Armed with
her real name and the number of the street in
which she resided, | arrived at the house, and at
| the door of il lust rs the pOstman was raDping
to deliver a lctto to the very party had come
unlimited to visit. ! may say that the house
| was Of the small four or tiye-rOomed order, and
! no more or less mtidy or sQualid than is COM
monty to be found in the back streets of Stepney
or Bcthnal Green.
| "Oyleell' was the original of ''Y. h." and of
| the slattemly, ragged-haired girl who opened
! the door ] asked if that lady was at home. The
| young lady said that she was Out-that she had
! 'gone to the Liver The young woman spoke
! with a rapid utterance, and was evidently in a
mighty hurry to get back to some business the
| postmans knock had summoned her from.
! u beg your pardon, miss, gone to the -"
| oliver, where you pays in for young uns
berryis and that. She amt at home, but he is.
| I'll call him."
And so she did And presently a husky
voice from the next floor called out "IIullo!
| what is it -
Here's gentleman wants yer and here's a
| letter as the pOstman jest left
ASK him if he's the doctor; I've got the young
un, | can't come down. the husky voice was
| again heard to cXclaim.
To be sure | was not a doctor, not q qualified
practitioner that is to say, but as far as the Ok
! leek family knew me ] was IN. d. and pac-
| flying my grumbling conscience with this small
piece of iesuitism, | blandly nodded my head to
the young woman when she rected to me Mr..
! OXleeli's query.
"Then you'd better go up, and praps you
| wouldn't mind taking thGs letter up with you,
| said she.
/ went ZIP: it was late in the evening, and cam
| delight in the room on the next floor that is,
but not on the stairs; but had it been altogether
dark, | might have discovered Mr.. OXleck by
thel stencil of his tobacco. walked in at the
| hat-Open door.
There was Mr.. OXleek by the fire, the very
| perfection of an ndOlent, ease-loNmg, pipe
| smoking, beer-sOakng wretch rs ever sat Tor
| his portrait, lie was a man yerglng on IllJy,
| should think, with pair of broad shoulders hC
| to carry n side of beef, and rs greasy about the
cuffs and collar of his tattered jacket as though
at some early period of his existence ne had car
ried sides of beef. But that must have been many
years ago, for the grease had all worn plach lh
III. Il. I...aH Hg.N