Daily Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1882-1893, 1888-09-12
CRUELTY TO CHILDREN.
What Becomes OF tho Unfortunate Infant
Of the Mniropolis.

What Becomes Of the Unfortunate Infants
Of the Metropolis.
For some time the buidness Of baby
farming has been incr p ssirg in this city.
until at the present me- mant il extends
from the most squalid EasG Side localities
to the magnificent ana luxurious man.
sions on the ultra fashionable avenues.
in this city every year an average Of
about 800 unfortunate infants are picked
up in ash barrels, in hall ways, on the
streets, and frequently in the river.
These are nearly all the Children of poor
and indiscreet young women, who in an
evil hour gave heed to the voice of the
tempter.
Many Of these children find their way
into regular institutions which are incor-
porated for business Of that description.
such as the Founding asylum, and a
number Of religious concerns where pro-
vision is made for the little waits. But
by far the great majority are ''farmed
out" TO women who for a consideration
care for the children or help to end their
miserable lives, as the exigency of the
case or the pecuniary interest involved
may require.
The mother in most cases is drawn
from the humber walks in life and can
afford to pay but small sum for the
maintenance of her child. She accord
ingly seeks out one Of the baby farmers,
who thrive in every part OF the tenement
districts of the city, and there arranges
f.F the raNaf.ftAr, and e L..
one. A fixed sum per week is decided
upon, ranging according to location from
81 10 S., and the transaction is con-
cluded. Perhaps the unfortunate mother
is sometimes lucky enough to have as
partner in her guilt one who will pay the
weekly stipend. BE furnishes the money
for three or five or ten weeks, but with
each succeeding payment he grows tired
Of the job, and finally he drops off alto
gether.
The baby farmer gets impatient. She
threatens the mother OF the child and
perhaps succeeds in having he- hlnire-
some personal sacrifice 10 help for It's
maintenance, but the struggle proves too
much and the next chapter in the story
is the announcement 20 the erring
mother some day that the baby is dead.
OF course, If the child has died while en-
during some Of the thousand ills that
babyhood is heir to a permit for its
burial is easily procurable, and that Is
the last Of the drama. But in nearly all
cases il is very hard for even a skilled
physician to properly account for the lit
tie ones departure from this unfriendly
world. and no more is heard of the case.
But there are other baby farms, many
Of them in the gilded neighborhood where
Ward McAllister's 400 society orna-
ments futter, and there the procedure,
charges and arrangements differ, but in
the long run the result is invariably the
same. The pTiceschargedfo for the reception
Of infants in some of these places run as
high as $40 a week, but in the majority
OF cases the bargain is made by the pay
ment Of a lump sum which viii cover
the cost OF keeping the baby until il is
old enough to be received in an orphan
asylum or disposed Of in some other way.
Generally the children of such people are
offered for adoption and in this way
nearly 40 per cent. OF the baby farm
children Of the better class are disposed
Of. because the mothers do not wish to
have them sent TO asylums, where their
''blue blood" may be tarnished by com.
mingling with walls Of the common -,
As the matter is at present conducted
in this city all applications from persons
So. l-..,, a,,I ,,,.s,t.s,, - -. ..,,-.s
ed over TO the Society for the Prevention
Of Cruelty to Children by the board of
health. The society investigates the
moral surroundings Of the applicant, and
the board Of health looks after the sani-
tary arrangements. When everything is
found all right permit is issued. The
establishment at that point is lost sight
Of, and the board Of health or the Chi.
dren's society may know no more about
the place or the number Of babies kept
there or the way they are treated than the
emperor Of Morocco. Safety for the lives
Of these unfortunate waits can only be
relied upon in the regular institutions,
where the utmost care that tender nurses,
aided by the most approved scientific ap-
pliances. can give, Is administered.
The utmost efforts Of the police authori.
ties or the Children's society 30 prevent
abuses In the system thus far have failed
because OF the numerous Obstacles thrown
In the way Of reform. The villainous
women who, for a consideration, squeeze
the young lives out Of so many little
wifs year by year, adopt many and
clever ruscs to escape detection in their
foul work. and they generally succeed.
These PEOPLE give such an unenviable
reputation 10 places constructed and run
on purely legitimate basis that tho un-
fortunate mothers are moro frequently
tempted TO throw their helpless offspring
into the depths of tho North or East
rivers than oonsign-them 10 fato that Z
worse than death itself.