Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1877-01-04
How Babies are Treated in Different Coun'
tries.

How Babies are Treated IN Dl1Crent COUA-
tres.
BY the side of the Ganges we see the
little traveller of the Parsees, a people
who came long ago from Persia, and
who worship the sun. The peculiar
ity of this fair-faced baby in the land
Of darker colors, is that he is never
seen with his head uncovered. Man,
woman, or CHILDHOOD or young, rich
or poor, day or night, asleep or awake,
indoors or out,-the Parsee must al
ways keep the head covered. He
wears a pretty cap of silk or velvet or
linen, which is very becoming. His
dress is always of silk, covered with
embroidery, gold and jewels, accord.
ing to the wealth of his family, and
the little Parsee is a very picturesque
object among the naked babies of the
poorer classes.
The little traveller in italy, with his
droll little cap, and dress like his
grandmother's, goes in leading strings
or a walking.frame of Wicker-wOrk.
On the Cornice road he goes to market
with mamma, riding in q basket hung
to the sides of donkey, with Il
brother or sister in similar basket on
the other side. The vegetables which
mamma sells, and the babies, ride
very contentedly together while the
mother, with her parasol hat, crowns
the droll load, husily engaged in knit
ting or spinning as she rides along.
In Algiers, baby rides ''pick-a.back, :"
and in Bavaria tied flat to his nurses
back but if he belongs to the poorer
classes, he has the best time in france.
Have you heard Of that most beautiful
charity in Paris called ''The Cradle'
(Creche), where the babies of mothers
who must go out to work arc kept aN
day-bathed, freshly dressed, fed,
doctored, and amused till their mothers
return home OF night. The late Mrs.
Field, In her pleasant letters from
France, tells about it, and how the
children of richer parents are inter-
ested in it, saving their money to pay
for a cradle in the house, and then 60
ing to visit it, and feeling a particular
interest in the baby that lies in their
cradle:
There is another charity in Paris, as
we'll as in many other places, for the
little traveller who is cleft out in the
cold'' by poor or unhappy parents. In
our country he is apt to Start OH his
life:journey from somebody's door.
step, from which he is generally sent
by the owner to Founding Home,
provided for such unfortunate waits !;
but in Paris the charitable home for
this little travelee has, in Its do"r:way,
a SOFT Of box which turns on pivot.
When a mother, from poverty or any
reason, feels obliged to give away her
baby land none can tell what mother
must feel before she comes to that,
she goes to this door, lays the little
creature II, the m3vab1e box, and turns
it around out of her sight, ringing ?
door-bell as she does so. An attendar
takes the gift, carries it to kind-heart
ed women within, who dress and feed
it, and bring up the motherless baby,
in time teach It some trade, and give
it a start in life:
The little traveller On our side of the
water has a variety of fashions. In
Lima he swings in a hammock in
Yucatan he toddles around amply
dressed in straw hat and pair Of san.
dals. Among the Indla.5 e our prai-
RES lie begins life as passive bundle,
hung over his mothers back or from
the limb of tree. His head is made
to grow fat by means of a board, if he
is to have the honor of being Flat.
head Indian. Waste no pity On him
it would he the sosr6W and disgrace of
his life if his head were shaped like
yours. He will in future years select
his slaves from round headed races,
and proudly declare that no Flat.head
was ever a slave!
When the little travellers come In
pairs, they make confusion in the
world. Among our Piute Indians Gas !
lately read in a Nevada taptr), when
this HAPPENS, 1t becomes necessary, by
Indian law, for the dignifed. pompous
papa himself to take care of the super
tious baby. When you remember that
an Indian never deigns to notice, much
less to touch, a papoose, you can i'm
agine what modification this must be
to him.
Among some peoples the extra baby
is at once put out Of the way; but in
one African tribe a curious custom
prevails. The hut containing the
unfortunate pair is marked by d cloth
hung before the door, and a row of
white pegs driven into the ground in
front of it. If any one except the
parents goes in, he is at once seized
and sold into slavery. The twins can.
not play with other children, and no
one can use anything out of that house.
The mother is allowed to go out and
work in the field, bring wood and other
necessary things, but she cannot speak
to any one out Of her own family. This
performance goes on till the unwel-
come pair are six years old, when they
have a great ceremony--music, march.
ing, feasting, and dancing and when
this is done, the banished family takes
its place among respectable people,
again.
$ DR.. Mary Walker got up the other
morning in a thoughtful, dreamy
mood, her mind dwelling on a remin-
iscence of the happy by.gone days, and
in an absent manner she tried to put
her pantaloon on. over her head and
she worked herself into a fit of passion
and vexation before she recovered
herself and saw what the matter was.