The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1888-04-15
RECOVERING LOST CHILDREN.
a Service the Police Perform Which Very
Rarely Appears in the Newspapers.

In city like indianapolis the number Of
small children who wander away from home in
one year and cannot find their way back is
larger than most people imagine. While no
official record is kept it is estimated shat not
less than one thousand were lost in the streets
during the last twelve months. Out OF that
large number every child, far a. known, was
returned to its parents unframed. In some in
stances it required several days to restore the
children to their homes, and the work
was often bsset with many difficulties. When a
mother discovers that her child is missing she
usually calls on policeman for assistance. and
to the members or the force is due the
credit of restoring the little wanderers to
their parents The police in this work have
adopted system, and by it's observance are en-
ablsd to pick up missing child generally within
an hour or two after it's absence has been re-
ported to them. Whenever the Waterman az
the telephone at the station-house is notified a
child is missing he takes very full description
of it. This is immediately telephoned to every
patrolman duty. great many parents do
not know the efficiency of the force in this re-
spect and instead of asking for it's assistauc.
they start out aimlessly and sxcitedly to
recover the thouRhtless offspring Lost chill
dren somehow have q mack of evading those who
know them, and il is seldom they are found by
their parents Sometimes through a patrol
man private citizen q lost child, with nothing
about it to indicate to whom it belongs, finds its
wav to the police headquarters, and then the
difficulty of restoring IL 90 its parents begins.
The first thing one should teach child the
names of its parents, and the number of the
street on which it resides, but of the scores of
the lost constantly being brought to the
is found that can tell these facts Ere
quently there Ii a the clothing, or
on some piece of jewelry worn that will lead to
small clews are absent. A questions officer
usually asks of lost child it, What does your
papa tell You to say il you are lost Ii any
thing will recall the memory of child on such
a matter that question will The other day
when little three-year-old WAS asked it at the
station-house he replied: He tells me TO show
clothing a silver medal attached to string
around his neck. on which was engraved his
name and residence.
s'Are children generally contented until their
parents are founda" asked of old officer
the other evening.
Nearly always" said hs. ssThere is some
thing strange about it, Nine ont of every ten
children will stay among strangers, and be per-
fectly satisfied have seen children three and
four years old stay at the station house two days,
and never think of their parents or home"
.sHow do so many children get lost from their
parents2"
s.They invariably follow away something that
attracts their attention. More get lost by fol
lowing dogs than in any other way, / think. If
. child happens to be ont the street and dog
comes along the urchiD will always go after it.
and il the dog trots ont OF the neigh borhood
=
that with many children wandering away
from home so few get hurt In fact. / do not
remember OF ever hearing of instance where
q child met with any harm. / also often wonder
how the little fellows walk SO far from home
IN short time. MAfter they once
get beyond the familiar sights of their
immediate neighborhood they hasten from one
scene to another. IT child has been lost two
or three hours we never look for it near it's
home, forfit will almost invariably be found in
distant part of the city. IL Is usually the rule.
if one is missing the South Side, it will be
found somewhere north of Washington street"
Last Tuesday morning n report came to the
station-houae that fve-year- old daughter OF a.
NJ. Kirk living South West. had strAyed
away from home. and could not be found. The
officers on duty that day exerted themselves 70
find the girl, but when night came
they had no information for the
parents who almost distracted
The search was kept up by the night patrolmen,
and the men on duty Wednesday. but not until
late in the evening oS that day were any tdnRs
received of the child. message scaue then
from HaughviIle, announcing that little girl.
who gave her name as Kirk. had been found
wandering around the streets over there When
she Was returned 70 her parents she said she