The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1877-06-07
A MYSTERY OF MATERNITY.
TIE EVIL RESULT or MINING
BABIES.

TIE EVIL RESULT or MINING
O.. BABIES.
Doubts as t. which is which--No straw.
berry mark to assist in idcntitlca-
ton. IL !
Some time since, n Mrs Dean of
st. Louis, astonishcd herself, her
husband, and the world generally,
by giving birth to four children at
once, one girl and three boys. One
of tho latter died; the remaining
three arc prospering. Mrs. Dean
might be supposed to be perfectly
happy in the enjoyment cf her
multitE Edinoue progeny, but for one
harassing DOUBT which continually
presents itself to her mind; and
which cannot be removed.
The st. Louis Republican says ::
There is terrible suspicion that
the two boys. Master Thomas Dean
and Master James Edward Dean
have
GOT MINED,
And that which Of them is tho elder
and the proper irheritor of u title,
were there one in tho: family, will
never again be known! The myste.
! ry is, in fbct, a double one. Not
only is it Uncertain that the bouncing
baby now called James Edward
Dean is he and not young Thomas
Dean and Uice 0ers0, but it is also a
gloomy problem as to whether or not
the name of Thomas, originally be-
slowed on the one supposed to be
the elder, should not have been
given instead to the one taken at the
christening for the younger and
baptized as james Edward. The
chances for confusion which arise
W'hcn one nurse has four babies to
take care Of arc almost ;llimitable,
and these chances are OILY some-
what lessen ned--not done away with
when the number of babies is
lCuuceQ 10 three.
That Catherine Elizabeth Dean is
the eldest of the three wonderful
babies now living is fact admitted
from the beginning of the trouble
and susceptible Of no doubt. Wm.
Dean was younger than q brother
md sister and older than O. brother,
but William lived to see but little of
this sad world where such abomina~
Bic mistakes are made. The point
ut issue lies only between Thomas
and james Edward. The midwife is
quite positive that she has made no
iblunder and that the one christened
Thomas was the elder, but there was
great throng of people in the
room soon after the babies arrived
in st. Louis and her attention was
called away to the mother, and
honest though Mrs. Robinson, the
midwife, may be, she had no chance
to remain absolutely assured. The
babies were christened on Monday
Supposing the identity to have re
manned Gel tain up to that date the
christening in itself could afford no
security against future accidents.
Subsequent events were calculated
to cause endless trouble. 4 Re
pudIica'e reporter stopping to i'll
quire after their l;.aalth, chanced to
be in the room with tho babies when
something dreadful happened,
night or two ago. There were
ladies iii the room, several of them,
and they couldn't resist tho tempta-
ton Of taking up tenderly in their
arms and caressing for a moment
those thr ee little bits of humanity.
No lady
APPEARED TO NOTICE
The exact spot on the couch from
which she raised the baby she held,
and the visitors with the little
things in their arms moved about
and compared them. Tho attention
Of the nurse was called away" for q
few moments Suddenly she came
back with alarm on her face end a
quick question on her lips: Il
"Who haG this one?
Alas! It could not be said! In
that one occurrence the identity of
the babies was perhaps lost forever,
and who shall say how many times
| the scene was repeated during the