The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-09-08
A GREAT BABY FARM. |
FOURTEEN THOUSAND WAITS ARE
SENT OUT FROM IT EACH YEAR.


Ones Are Received.
From the Piftsburo Dispatch
MOSCOW, Aug. 12.-The biggest baby
farm in che world is here at Moscow. 1t
costs s5Oo, 200 year to run It. and it has an
annual crop of 1900 babies. 1t has
branch farm at st. Petersburg, which turns
out yearly harvest Of 5000 more, and
since its foundation 1t has sent out into the
country districts of this empire more thar
100000 squalling infants. l saw last week
500 babies under 4 weeks old in the st.
Petersburg institution, and as l write this
letter 1900 little ones are within the walls
Of the establishment here at Moscow.
The Moscow founding asylum is an inn
perial institution. IL was founded by Cath
crime II. one of the loose stand the liveliest
OF the expresses of Russia's past, and It is
kept up to-day by a tax on playing cards
All OF the cards used 10 Russia are made by
the government. Their importation is pro.
htoited under heavy penalties, and every
gambler and every card party has to con-
tribute 10 the support of this institution
The servants OF the car in the royal red
livery stand at it's doors and its accounts are
looked over by the officers OF the treasury
department.. 1t is in fact a model among
the baby hospitals OF Europe, and the scenes
within IL are such as you can see nowhere
else in the world.
A GARDEN FOR LITTLE ONES.
The big Moscow founding asylum lies
within q stones throw of the Kremlin,
where the most sacred of all Russia's great
churches stand. 1t is on the banks OF the
Moscow river and In the very heart of this
city Of 5000 people. The buildings are
vast 4-story structures, built in the shape
of hollow square about garden which
contains, perhaps, an acre OF trees and
lawn, into which, on these bright summer
days, the children are brought to take their
airing.
visited the establishment this afternoon.
The gorgeous imperial servant in his red
and gold livery took my card a. the big
front door and a long-gowned, shock
headed boy ran with it to one OF the ma
irons. l was directed to the door of the
garden and a little trim lady OF perhaps 25
years took me in charge and showed me
over the whole institution. She spoke a
little English and much German, and she
talked about the babies as we walked
through the garden.
This garden was cut up long. wide and
well-shaded walks, and these walks were
filled with the nurses and their babies.
Each baby has her own wet nurse and
along each walk were two lines of these
nurses, each with a baby, and the whole
were hundreds upon hundreds of these
nurses-buxom young peasant girls Of 10
years old and upward, all dressed in their
best clothes for 1t was Sunday afternoon,
and all wearing the picturesque Gaps Of the
institution. These caps are nurses caps Of
blue, green or red, which are as full as
Tam OShanter caps at the top, but which
fit tight about the forehead and which are
set rather on the back of the head, so as
not to hide the forehead. The dresses Of
these hundreds of maiden nurses are cut
low at the neck, and standing at one end Of
one Of the walks you look along a line Of
800 white necks shining out under the
bright caps and bordered by white Jokes
from which full gowns fall.
THOUSAND RUSSIAN MADoNNAs.
At first you cannot notice the dresses for
the interest you take IN the nurses and
babies and their feeding but as you grow
used TO this you notice that each girls dress
is much the same. Fhe sleeves, full at the
shoulders, are short and leave the arms bare
60 the biceps. The waists are full and half
open at the front, and the skirts gathered
In at the waist, are short and do not reach
to the ankles. The Gaps are Of different col
ors but of the same shape, and the girls are
OF all types OF Russian beauty and homeli-
ness. Hundreds Of them are blondes, and
the faxen-haired, blue-eyed beauties Of the
northern provinces are well represented.
Hundreds have the rosy cheeks that you
find along the Neva and Upper Volga, and
here and there you see the dark eyes and
brunette faces which are found further
south. As | stood upon the steps at one
end Of the garden, could see fully 900
of these girls in the garden below me.
Think OF i'll A Thousand Russian madonnas
not in oil or water colors, but in living,
glowing hesh and blood; a thousand babies
performing their part in the picture. and all
this upder one OF the brightss5 skies and in
one Of the prettiest gardens OF the world.
1t was, in truth, a sight worth coming to
Russia to see.
AS we walked through the garden the
nurses saluted US. The young matron
bowed TO taem and we raised our hats as
we entered one of the walks, and at that
moment the 100 red and blue caps bowed
down to u.s. The girls bow from the waist,
and not with a nod of the head, as we do.
They are not ashamed Of their business, and
they hold up their babies for US to look at
as we pass The nurses seem TO be fond of
their babies, and l would like to show if
can just how one Of these Russian babies Is
cared for.
CRIBS FOR THE YOUNGSTERS.
Behind each nurse along these walks
stood little iron crib, and these cribs are
smaller than any baby cribs you have ever
seen. They stand on iron legs, but they are
not as big as the average family clothes
basket, and they are about feet wide, 8
feet long aud feet deep. Each baby has a
crib to itself, and there were, was told,
1900 cribs standing IN the garden
at the time visited IT, In some of the
cribs babies were lying. They rested on
soft mattresses with their little heads, many
Of which seemed to me no bigger than a
base ball, upon little pillows, and over them
were drawn nets to shield their red faces
from the too ardent kisses OF the wind.
They look most comfortable, and l venture
you could get nowhere in the world 900
babies all under four weeks old who would
make less noise than these 900 odd Russian
babies were making.
Here aud there about the grounds noted
tables on which the babies were laid when
their nurses wished to rearrange their tot
let's. and 1 noted how carefully the little
ones were handled. The tables. which were
about four feet square, had padded tops
and as 1 saw the dressing going on looked
in vain for safety pins and the other little
fortunes which l have seen In American
baby dressing. The baby is wrapped
around in soft linen CLOTHES, It's legs being
close together and its little red body swed-
died up till 10 looks for all the world like a
big rag baby, with the exception OF where
it's little red face and its bright eyes peep
out of the white linen.
nNru On ruuxs