Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1893-07-06
THE BABIES.

Visit to the ChiIdren's Building
| at Worlds Fair.
IA Place Where Babies are Takel
Care Of by Neat Nurses.
CUE liiils Fsssiss Babiss-Ihs 0aAsme,
"kid' Drawing Cart.
woRLp's FAIR. July s. tspeciall -
There is an old saying that all the world
loves lover. This may be true, but
should good deal rather risk my reputa-
tion for accuracy on the statement that
| all the world loves baby. We see this at
the exposition. as we see it everywhere. A
day or two ago l was walking along the
plaisance. saw d group Of people ahead
of me surrounding some object that had
| excited their interest. On drawing near
| found ten or fifteen ladies' and gentle
men gathered about an Algerian woman
who had in her arms dirty-faced, scabby
little fellow of Oh or one and half years.
He was dressed N the garb of his native
land. of course, and was not pretty; but he
was an infant, and a foreign in
FAINT at that, and the ladies and
gentlemen who stopped for u look at him
evidently thought him very cute and nice,
for the women kissed his face, dirt and
all, and the neil gave him nickels and
dimes.
This was a typical incident of the plais-
ance There are a number of foreign
babies and children here, and they attract
great deal Of attention. In the Esqui-
maux village there are two or three juve-
niles, fat and greasy little persons with
black, stringy hair and unlovely eyes and
an appetite for American quarters. They
have been fed on sweetmeats and popcorn
and cake from the luncheon boxes of WIS.,
itors and other goodies till fear they are in
no fit condition to go back to their northern
home and there endure the privations Of
their simple life amid the snowdrifts and
icebergs.
The Soudanese children attract good
deal of attention, too, but for some reason
or other no one wants to pet them. They
wear great shocks Of hair on the tops OF
their heads, thick as mats and causing
them to resemble small editions Of
Paderewski. Possibly these punches Of
hair discourage familiarity on the part of
visitors. One could imagine almost any
Al. = hnrt litrbt
be wise not to permit curiosity to be fol-
lowed by investiga, on.
Now that the Javanese village is open to
the world a large number of visitors with
in the quaint enclosure inquire for the lit
tie woman whose heart has been made sad
by the loss of her baby since she came to
America. The little woman's name is
Mic. and she is not much bigger than a
pint of cider, with tawny hair and great
lustrous ewes. 1t Is worth going miles to
see how the women Of Christendom sym
pathize with her They have heard of her,
far and near, as the woman whose baby
died on the plaisance, and they want to
say a kind word to her and buy something
of her. Indeed, it is the baby, alive or
dead, that makes the whole world kin.
We saw that few days ago in the Da-
honey village. There is Dahomey baby,
and every one wants to see 1t. But every
one doesn't. The mother of this black lit
tie savage is an Amazon of the Amazons.
She is six feet tall, weighs probably 200
pounds, and there isn't an ounce of super
fluous flesh on her body She is muscular,
active, energetic, sometimes ferocious;
especially when the awful orchestra that
plays in the the,.ter sets up its Widest
howl and the drums are beat most vicious
ly. Then the blood is stirred in her
Amazonian veins, she brandishes her war
club with mighty swings, shows her teeth
as If she would like to eat some one alive,
and let's off a whoop of savage defiance.
But she is woman, nevertheless; and
when they send word to her that her baby
has reused from its slumber in the
thatched mud-hut down in the corner OF
the corral she drops her war club and her
voice and starts on run to give baby
comfort from the ample breast of her stal.
wart body. This Dahomey baby thrives
and grows fat, notwithstanding the war
like tendency of its mother; and it is, as
well, quite source of revenue to the
Frenchman who set up this village from
the west coast OF Africa. so many visitors
want to see the little savage babe that
charged for some time, and the number oil
visitors must amount to i1ve or SIX hum
dred in day. A baby that can lie on its
black back and sleep and occasionally
wake up to howl for its Amazonian moth
er and fight off a flea or two, and at the
same time earn forty or fifty dollars day,
is a pretty smart sort OF an infant, even II
it does come from the benighted land OF
savagery.
In the Dahomey village is little chap
about five years old. He is as ugly as sin
and be doesn't wear much to hide ms
hideousness. But with all his ugiiness OF
body he seems to have an amiable disposi-
tion, for the other day he fell violently I'D
love with pretty little American girl ana
ran up to her and threw his black, bony
arms around her. Oddly enough the lttie
American was not frightened, but
laughed and thought the performance .
good joke, enjoying 1t AS well as did the
large number of peoIl 10 who wltnesse IL.
Possibly she Thought savage adoratioh Oh
her civilized charms was quite the proper
thing, and this tribute thereto though
somewhat too demonstrative was not to
be despised or rejected.
II you wang 70 see .h S.oies o. .Hn ;,a ses.' pe
anu ehe populat io'e ,N;aa ~ .a.a na .hasa,.
es' pi'cI' 70 s"1 ~ EI';IS.,,s i,,,i1d;n,
ages AN. ~ nv ~. w - ~ ,ha hniidina
which s'.n1' .uss 49,. ~, ,rho Il
oeNo.eu 70 Wo.i..n .,. ~" as.t;, idaa - ~.
was 'nae al:,i. "a ~, L1;IS;na hara a, Tho fair
,hg Ghiioron oui'''s a - ~ - 80 !
pue "noe'ei 'no " "