The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1890-01-30

NtIo Trying 10 gtb u glimpse Oh the unknown
beyond" To use the words Of piOus sick-nurse
of my acquaintance. Occasionally that dispo-
stion Is combined with a strangely serene tenn
per; the child will smile Mt every little attempt
to attract its attention by words and Caresses
and will then relapse into its silent mood, and
instead of complaining Mt neglect, will lie
awake in its cradle, playing with the fringes of
its canopy in an absent-minded sort of way,
and at last go to sleep as quietly, with or with
out supper. They are too good for a world
like this their mothers will say, with pro-
phctic instinct, and the truth seems to be that
child may he too languid to fret too deficient
in vital energy to assert a will of its own, and
passing from a semi -lethargic condition into
the sleep Of tho endless night.
SCREAMING BABIES.
The incesssnt shrieks of a young child NAV
not always indicate organic disorder, but
constitute strong presumptve evidence that
something or other IS wrong and that tho little
creature uses its only available method of pro-
test TO achieve its delivcrauce from a c0ndi-
ton of extreme discomfort Tho cause of
the trouble may BIO impatienee of restraint
the irksomencss of tight swaddling clothes
obliging it TO remain almost motiouless N tho
same position, and unable to turn in its CRADLE
or the prison walls of that cradle itself and the
child's unsatisfied desire to exercise its motive
organs by good romp on the foor.
"Children in tolerable state of health rarely
cry rs long as they can rummage among a col
lection of movable Objects" says an authority
on Kindergarten management, land the privi-
lege TO crawl about on few square yards OF
carpctcd floor often Gains screams that nothing
else will silence. 1t is never a good plan to
leave a child under three altogether alone for
any length OF time. but two or more of them
soon learn to while away time by cooperative
play, and cease TO fret at the momentary alb
senco OF the nurse. But IA long as a baby is not
positively starved, even positive neglect does
not try It's patience nearly rs much "a enforced
inactivity at time of life when the exercise of
the growing muscles aud shows ia prompted
by an iTrepressible instinct. On hearing the
incessant, fretiui screams OF well-fed young
stcr my first impression is always that its cries
imply appeal for liberty" DIR. Charles Page
of Boston, holds, however. that youngstcr
may DO too we'll fed altogether for his own
good, and expresses conviction that the star
walton methods of baby farms are hardly moro
destructive of infant life than the prevalent
custom Of Cutting the feeble digestive organs
Of child till the little vessel literally runs
over, and the stomach has 10 relieve itself by
retehing fits. Fretfulness under such circum-
stances, he thinks is simply indication of
gastric surfeits, and by no means of hunger
Crying" he says, is with an infant mostly a
manifestation of pain or discomfort rarely
symptom OF hunger, and never of depraved
nature, as so many would fain believe" Ae-
the case of healthy person-causes no painful
sensation, except more or less during the time
from the nth to the tenth day of total absti-
nence. How, then, could We suppose any in
FAINT to be crying from hunger when rarely if
ever, does he experience an interval of more
than two or three hours between meals7 That
infants do suffer continually from irritation of
the stomach and bowels is true without doubt
and SO long as every body who approaches or
has the care OF them has a mania for feeding
We can easily believe that tho disease is not
caused by lack of food. That nursing or feed
ing will, for the moment. still the crying is no
evidence 10 the contrary. The craving of the
adult dyspetic Is likewise temporarily appeased
by the ingestion Of food, but the effect is To
aggravate, rather than cure. the disease
The latter argument Is certainly worth con.
sideriug; but, on the other hand we should
remember that the experience of an adult fast
ing expert can hardly be accepted as u iii cri-
teron for the management of a young child
have had pet eagle that evinced occasional
fits OF total abstinence moods, when he would
refuse food for weeks together. A turkey bug
GARD after good feed, can starve for q month,
without any visible discomfort while the Young
of all birds Of prey are almost Unsuitable.
piece of meat as big as tho little screamers
head will stop the cries of young hawk for
hardly quarter of an hour and puppies break
out whining whenever their fo0d-whether
their mothers milk or the contents of n nurs-
ing-bottle--is withheld for more than 40 min
utos. The reason is that in Young creatures
the process Of organic development goes on with
great rapidty, and that the tissue forming eIe-
ments have To DO supplied by frequent re-
newal of the raw material. Nevertheless it is
II safe rule not To force food on reluctant child
since surieits of that sort are very apt to de-
velop an abnormal appeteney-A habit of glut-
tony. in palmer words. There are baby dys-
peptics that never cease clamorng for tidbits
fha Of
them wall with stomach aches
Indigestions of that sort are aggravated by
the foolish habit of keeping n nursery at hot |
house temperature. Combined with lack of
proper ventilation, IN excess of stove heat |
would nauseate even robust adult aud often
rritates fretful babies to the verge of eonvul-
sion fit In an outrageously oyerheated pas |
Senger car 1 once saw lady exhaust her |
ingenuity In various attempts to silence the |
ear-splittlng screams of her baby that had made |
itself general nuisance for the last two hours |
aud seemed bent ON trying to exhaust the en- |
ergy of its lungs, as it certainly had succeeded |
in eXhausting the patience of its fellow pas
senger Its mother had chosen the scat directly |
opposite the glowing stove aud slapped and |
coddled the little ear-spltter by turns, but its |
yells grew ever louder till some of the passen- |
gers got up aud removed their portable bag |
gage 10 the smokingcar. That exodus at last |
vacated seat ut safe distance from the stove. |
and the next time the distressed lady passed /
me on her way to the water cooler called her |
attention To the providential circumstance: |
"Will you permit me to tell you what's the |
matter with your baby7 She will stop crying |
in few minutes If you will take "a seat near |
that open window" IAN open Window"
Hope and prejudice seemed to struggle for mas
terry in the poor w0man's mind, but after an
other attempt to rock her little terror to sleep,
she suddenly arose as if resolved 10 leave no
eXpedient untried and actually deDoSited her