Omaha daily bee., 1883-03-12

gaiet Walters be hanged, and there
was no reprleve. This case Is alac
noteworthy for being the last In which
q woman has been hanged in England
for any crime. The ground upon
which the offender was found guilty
appears to have been that the habitual
receiving and treatment Of children In
this manner, feeding them with In
nutritious food, and giving them
soporiic drugs to quiet them, brought
tho case within the definition of muir.
der. Chief Justice Kelly so instructed
the jury, who found accordingly.
A Star reporter has during tho past
week been visiting and converting
with a number of persons who have
saken q deep interest in this subject,
clergymen. doctors and lawyers, and
they are all In accord that Legislative
restrictions are greatly needed to pu,
IN immediate stop to the very extern
alive murder of the %innocents that ID
quietly and gradually going on in this
city. Elbridge T. Gerry, counsel fol-
the s. p. O. O., said: "There Is nc
end Of cases which have come to the
notice Of society during the past five
years. In many instances, however,
the system Ia carried out In such 0
way as to evade all attempts at secur'
Ing the necessary evidence to convict
"How do you. find the working oil
the system generally, as 1t has beer
brought to your notioe1'
"There aretwoo classes, generally, who
leave their children with these baby
farmers. The first are those whose
children are illegitimate, and who are
simply anxious to get rid Of them In
a way that will involve the leas,
trouble ard their children In these
places they agree to pay, generally
from So to IS q week, and sometimel
less. The first payment Is made II
advance, and that frequently 10 tn,
last that ID heard of the mother"
"What Is the ususl oourse on which
the youngster il pu,7'
ut 10 fed on ordinary milk and
water and barley water, upon which
it soon dwindles down to . skeleton.
The baby Is usually able to digest any
of these substitutes for food; 1t cries
innocently from pain, and then
opiates are enthusiastically
paregoric and laudanum-to keep II
still. The child receives but q small
proportion Of what 1t necessary to re-
store the waste OF tissue, and it even.
! tually dies from inapition.
The second class who leave their
children with these baby farmers are
generally hard working women who
are tempted by high wages to become
wet nurses and have their children
meanwhile cared for. 1t Is from thi,
class Of persons thatoomplaints against
these baby farmers come. A gentle
man Of this city recently invited my
attention to the case of o woman,
baby farmer-against whom three
complaint have been made. On going
to investigate the case there wer,
eight or ten children found In q small
room scarcely ten feet square. Hov
they existed was q mystery, fol
there was no ventilation, ans
the room was filed with the emuvis
which emsnated from their miserabl,
food spilled all around, and from
other sources. There they were In al
atmosphere of filth arising from dirt,
clothes, dirty bottles and general neg
leot and absence Of cleanliness. The,
were nearly all in an emaciated oondi
ton and In a state Of torpor. Tn,
woman In charge stated, with grea
~frankness, that she received from 5;
to $5 q week for the pare Of the chill
dren, and, further, that ahe bad
physician regularly In attendance
Further investigation showed that he
statements were true. We foun,
that whenever the child exhibite,
symptoms Of failing health, indigea
ton or the like, the physician W.
called In and prescribed p~aregosic
and signed the certificate OF dealt
which almost invariably followed, Il
the same 'perfunotory manner. Thi
was the usual course pursued"
"What did you do about III"
TT was impossible to do anything
about 1t In the present state OF law
or rather the absence Of law on tn,
subject, that would reach the case
We could not assail the woman, be
cause we were unable to prove an,
guilty neglect yet the plain fact
were a. l state them-and a. to tn
physician, his license protected him Ii
the exercise of his Judgment Bu
Judgment In quotation marks II 20,
please"
"Am / 20 regard this both as a,
actual case and as an illustration of III,
average method of conducting thes
instltutions2'
Both. You have exactly struck il
and that was my purpose In r%elatirI
1t, and to give it the stamp of individ
uality. 1t was on these grounds tina
application was made to the leeisls
ture for the bill now in the hands o
the governor"
what are the provisions of tn,
act itself, simply in the v~ernacular2
Everybody is prohibited from re
ceiving these nursing infants to boar,
unless q license Is first Issued, eithe,
by the MAYOR or the tOard of health