St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-07-10
STORM IN A TEACUP.
An Imaginative Reporter, the
Twilight Sensation, and
the Babies Home.
A Humanitarian Institution
Well Conducted by st.
Paul Ladies. Z
The Deaths Of Five Unfortu-
nate Babes Satisfactorily
Accounted For.
Great Work That is Accom-:
plished WithoutYOsten-
tatious Parade.

The management of the babies home
are very Indignant over an article APP
pearing in an evening paper Wednes-
day, referring to the interment of five
babies and declaring that an investiga-
ton will be made by the board of con-
troll. This mitigation was justified, be-
cause the article was grossly erroneous
in many particulars. AS a matter Of
fact no investigation was contem-
plated by the board of control. Yes
terday morning Mrs. W. d. Cor
nish, president Of the board of
managers, Mrs. W. a. Fisher, Mrs. E.
E. Hughsen, Of the board. accompanied
by members of the advisory board. the
physician, DR.. HI. I. OBrien and Mr..
Wright. of the board of control, went to
the home to make an examination of
the management. The matron and
employees were not expecting visitors
and chance was given to see the con-
ditiOn of affairs as they ordinarily APP
pear. The home is located in a large,
airy eleven-roomed building at
$40 Lincoln avenue, and has
very healthful surroundings.
Several healthy little ones were found
OH the veranda in charge of nurses, and
the bedding of the household was spread
out in the sun for an airing. An inspec-
ton of the interior of the building dis
closed that every department and the
household equipments were cleanly and
in good condition.
The home is in charge of a matron,
W fnnP i
nary nurses, a cook and two laundresses.
There are eleven babes in the building,
two of whom are very sickly-lOoking in
tants ofaboUt three months, being in the
hospital department. The milk for the
babes is carefully sterilized in reser-
voir with a capacity of 135 bottles, The
bottles are cofked alright. put into the
reservoir and subjected to a heat of
212 degrees. After the bottles have
been used they are carefully cleaned.
The new babes are kept separate
from the old ones until il is demon
strated that they are not diseased. In
short, it was apparent that the inStitu-
ton is well managed and is perfect in
in sanitary condition, even to the ventil-
alton.
The institution is private enter
prise and none of its expense is paid by
the board of control, and is not in the
least subject to It's dietation or manage
ment. The support comes largely from
donations from humanitarians, and
especially from the prominent ladies
and gentlemen who promoted the insti-
tuition. The present board of managers
is as follows:
Mrs. W. D.. Cornish, president; Mrs Will
lam Davis. vice president; Mrs. NJ. E. Vinton,
secretary: Mrs. Charles E. Otis. secretary; ;
Mrs. Edmund Rice, Mrs. r. Z. Jefferson,
Mrs W. II. Fisher Mrs. Samuel Rockwell,
Mrs. Rudolph Rossurn, Mrs. E. z. Hughson,
Mrs William Bushnell, Mrs. j. W. Chamber
lin, Miss Alice Ames. Mrs. Samuel Beals,
Mrs. A. P. Moss. Mrs. T. P Wright Mrs. =. A.
Hail. Mrs. Philip Reilly, Mrs. L. D. Simonton,
Mrs r. F. Hurd.
Visitors go to the home each day to
see that every thing is properly man
aged, taking turns of a month each.
One of the physicians calls daily and
oftener than once a day If necessary, be-
cause of sickness.
Those Five Babies.
DR.. Harry T. 0'Brien interviewed
about the statement that five babies
were Inferred at one time, said:
They did not all die i'll one day, but that
the undertaken had kept the bodies in a cool
ing room until several were accum ulated for
the purpose of being claimed. Two of these
had died on one day, the other three died
within a week. One of the two was three
weeks old, the others about three months.
One had defective palate and a
double hair lip. 1t had never nursed
its mother, neither could it take
nourishment from nipple until it had been
sometime at the home. 1t was in very bad
condition when taken to the home Another
had an abnormally developed brain that
weighed twentysiX ounces and contained q
very large amount of fluid in the brain. 1t
would have been impossible to prolong its
| life. Nearly all the babies taken to the home
are foundlings and are generally seven
months babes. Usually the mother of ille-
climate children refuse to nurse their off
spring the first day of birth Then many of
them are diseased. One babe was in such a
condition that il took three days to wash it
The skin covering the entire body was raw.
low since moving TO the present quar-
tiers. In one of the best babies
homes in England the death rate is
25 per cent. In a Philadelphia home the
death rate is 30 per cent In the home here
the death rate has only been 3I2 per cent
This is the only institution Of the kind in the
northwest that receives no aid from the
board of control. The people having it in
charge are doing grand work 1t affords
homes for unfortunates who otherwise
would have none or very Indifferent care.
AS to the identity of the children, the matron
is not permitted TO know that. The
proper person learns all that can be of the
history of babies and when one dies the
mother is promptly notified. When the
babies are adopted their identity is not made
public for the obvious reason that it will pre-
vent the mother from giving trouble to the
persons adopting the child As to baby Carl.
of which mention was made in an evening
paper the mother was notified of the death
by postal card and refused to 60 to see it I'M
til IT was about to be inferred in the German
Lutheran cemetery. She then asked that it
be placed in a Catholic cemetery. / did not
make post mortem examination of il be-
cause l had not seen the mother to get her
| consent-a thing 1 always do when the
mother is known. Another thing may be
said to the credit of the institution: No dis
tinction is shown in receiving babies there -
Mr.. Wright, of the board of control,
after making an examination of the
home yesterday, was deeply gratifed
with all that he saw. =