The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-01-26
The New Child's Hospital In London,

|
To lay day by day In dingy garret. reek.
Ing OF filth and defiled by smoke, the fail
light o! heaven scarcely daring to peep In
ana brighten with one faint ray the sordid
hole; racked by pains and tortured with In.
diclble longiDgs; deserted and neglected. on
II not neglected, by the force Of circumstan.
ces ut least alone-such Is the fate of many a
poor child, OF those frail souls whose early
life ought to be that Of q bright butterfly
Born OF diseased or stunted parents, bred IN
hardness and poverty, deprived of vivifyiDg
air and nourshDg food, minds dwarfed, intel
lect prematurely sharpened by the sight of
| vice and wretchedness, one asks why such
unfortunate creatures exist. The poor are
not naturally heartless. Many a mother will
stint herself for her children: yet the sickly
| cripple grooming all day over the fire.
| and tho sufferer from spine complaint
| stretched In abiect misery on the heap OF
rags that forms his bed, by the inevitable
| friction of constant familiarity cease to
commando o 1.-THE OF the affectonato syrnpa-
| thy their woes deserve The anguish of the
body leaves no room for the expansion OF the
| mind; the nervous tension necessary to the
endurance of pain exhausts the vital bowers;
the poor, flickering soul, dumbIy aspiring
after freedom, sinks feebly down to earth and
acquiesoes In the one inevitable Knowledge
the fact that suffering Is the lot of man.. Doc
tors are conversant from experience with the
vast amount OF disease common to the Door
such disease as Is actually unknown to the
rich, owing to the favorable surroundings in
which they are educated. Many of these
cases are incurabe or nearly so, and hospi-
tails can neither afford the time nor the money
for their efficient treatment. Thus the little
suffering waif Is turned out of the grand asy-
iums OF healing, and restored, often an
unwelcOme burden, to the house Of his
parents, where he fades gradually away,
unblessed by the slightest alienation OF
Private charity alone can here avail.
We gladly welcome an admirable effort in
this direction made by the Little Hospital In
Cheyne Walk, Chelsea. In comfortable
house OF the period OF Queen Anne, with
view OF the ever-movinR panorama of sky
and river; sunshine and light streaming Law
ishly In, the winter breeze gently rocking the
leafiess s5ycamores In front; tenderly nursed
educated when It is possible; cherished and
watched up to the very portals of death the
little children lie undisturbed. The moral
effect Is extraordinary. III are the children
OF poor parents; some have been snatched
from the dregs OF society, the verest Arabs
and gutter children. Little by little the AT
mosphere OF gentleness and love that encom-
passes them softens their hearts and devel-
ops their faculties; smiles break out on tiDv
plnched faces that have only known tears:
dimples appear as il by magic on baby
cheeks the light Of content and happiness
shines from weary, anxious eyes, and, ODE
dent to the impulses Of the soul, the BODY re-
ceives new vigor. 1t Is only for yery few
years that this blessed haven Of rest has OK
lsted; yet already several reported incurable
cases have been restored to health, and the
remainder of the children, brought under
softening and refining influences, have profit
ed physically and morally. No one entering
green, filled with little cots, each with its
gayly striped blanket seeing the cheerful
children clothed In scarlet flannel Jackets.
with smooth-brushed hair, happily employed
with toys and picture books, could realize
the vast sum OF physical disease on which he
is gazing.