The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1871-11-03
DAILY PRESS.
PORTLAND
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1871.
Russia and Her Babies.
PORTLAND,

Russia and Her Babies.
Ell Perkins of the New York Commercia
has some time been to Russia, so that wher
he lacks a Saratoga season or European &
North American Railroad Opening for 6
theme, he falls back upon country and Gus
toms of the Muscovites. The following arti.
Gle under the heading above will be novel to
many of the PRESS readers. e.
Fourteen thousand babes
That is just the number of babies they had
in 1867 in that great Hospital Dom in Mos
cow.
Where did they come from?
well, they came mostly from the City of
Moscow. Some of them were foundings,
some were the offspring of naval and military
officers, and many belonged to the merchants
and tradespeople of the city. This great ba-
by hospital is the largest in the world. 1t is a
great Daby-rasing machine. II man is fowl
ana many men are FOUL, as Diosenes saws,
then this hospital is the great national chick
en-hatcher for the Russian Empire.
BABY MANAGEMENT.
The great baby hospital is managed thus
The hospital is divided into, perhaps. fifty
wards,
One ward with competent physicians and
nurses will take care OF babies one and two
and three days old-foundngs.
Another ward with other physicians and
nurses will take care of all the babies per-
haps 100, from three days to week old.
In another ward viii be all the babies from
one week to two weeks old; in another those
from two weeks to month old; in another
those from one month to two months: in
another those from two months to four
months; and SO on till one ward will take
charge of children ten years old.
SICK BABIES.
There IS one ward especially devoted to ba-
bies with "scald-head." Another waud takes
sore-eyed babies another, malformations; an
other, babies diseased through paternal sins.
Each of these sick wards has one constant
physician, who makes the disease of ihis ward
a specially. Ii it is the ward for sore eyed
babies, then the physician is posted on that
disease. He has doctored babies with sore
eyes by the thousands. He knows every
phase of the disease. Besides being skinfully
educated as an oculist, he has the experience
of years-all the time doctoring sore-eyed ba-
bies. What wonder that he becomes prof.
cient, and that he should know constantly
what to do with any difficult case OF sore eyes,
which might puzzle the most experienced
physicians who had not made that particular
disease a speciality?
So in the other sick wards, there were ply
sicans who looked after scald-head and made
it speciality. For years this physician had
attended thousands and thousands of cases of
sorehead. He had seen the disease in every
form except the symptoms of political sore
head which seems to have taken hold of Mr..
Greeley, Mr.. Chase, Mr.. Frank Blair, Mr..
Wendell Phillips, and American political ba-
bies, Mr.. Waterbury and the Young Democra-
cy, who want new deal in the City, and the
Young Republicans, who want a new deal
among the Custom Houses and Post Offices.
When the babies come they enter at the
general office. The clerks take its name, ties
little silver check about its neck, and hands
| the duplicate to the mother. If the baby's
check is 942 then the mother, when she wants
to see it, calls, hands in her check 942, and
the baby with the corresponding check is pro-
duced.
As soon as the body is in possession of the
hospital officers, it is baptized and sent to its
respective ward.
The nurses-wet nurses-are healthy coun-
try women. the wives of ex-serts (Mosheks).
The diet OF these women is SO selected that
they shall produce large quantities of milk
The bosoms of these women are oftentimes
| immense. Their dress waists are always
above their bosoms, which gives them very
| singular appearance. They are larger at the
waist than at the shoulder.
TREATMENT OF BABIES.
| The babies are fed, washed, and dressed
with the utmost regularity. Each nurse in
| ward has specific duty to perform. TAX
the ward having the week-old babies; on
| nurse will do nothing from morning till nisl
but undress babies-another nurse wi
plunge them under streams of warm wate
and wash them-another will dress them u
Hf nf@ Ee ahesPeg hy 60 %
| down the sides of the ward, each baby bein
| washed, nursed, and dressed certain numbe
of times each day.
The little thing learns to like its treatment
Sometimes the nurses give them toss of sew
eral feet into the beds, or from one woman t,
| another, and the little thing will laugh an(
| screw up the funniest smiles.
| After being nursed they are rolled up tigh
like an Indian baby and laid away. Thei
hands, arms, and legs are all wound up witt
| strips of linen cloth. This is the only crit
| cism l could offer against their treatment {
babies-this pinioning their hands and feet.
Many good respectable mothers whose hui
bands are in the army or navy, or even well
to-do-tradesmep, send their offspring here 3
| be cared for. The treatment is SO superio
| that by far fewer babies die than would die
| left to the best care of fond mother.
The salary of lieutenant in the Russian
| army OF navy-take notice, o! ye Fifth aven
l ut UcueSy is dUOuG YOUO per duuuu1 anu tuel
| wives can hot afford to take care of the chill
| dren at home.
MATCHING BABIES.
| Yes, Matching babies! There is funny ma
chine here for Matching prematurely borl
children. Little "wee bits" of babies, who's
mothers hsve to give them up at the age o
six, seven, or eight months, are here cared 10
in manner SO nearly like nature that tn
baby never knows it is born at all. 1t is roll
ed up in downy swaddling clothes, and KEEP
in dark place, lpdrn. agith steam, and thes
great, rough-bearded men act to it like
mother. Many of these unfortunate littl
things which come into the world premature
ly, through great convulsons and fright, lik
the Chicago fire, are thus made 10 hive. b
and by, when they are old enough, they ar
brought odt 10 the light, and the anxiou
mother calls, hands in her check, and sees fo
the first time her poor little unfortunate baby
smiling, fat. and happy Heavens, what tran
ports Of delight some OF these mothers show
They seize the little angels, press them I
their bosoms, and cry to God prayer of hal
piness.
| WHAT BECOMES OF THE BABIES?
This is a hard question. Those belongin
| to the well to-do merchant class are take
home as soon as the dangerous period is pas
ed.
The cast-aways are trained up by the Go
ernment-the males becoming officers in th
army and navy 10 Fifth avenue Bellies! an
the females becoming actresses and assistan
in choruses in the great theatres. Some b.
come the wives of Priests-all drifting inl
social circles above the ex-serfs. One of tt