The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1895-05-24
GARDENERS Baby Show Was an
Attractive Feature.
THE COLISEUM CROWDED UNTIL
DOORS WERE CLOSED.
There We're Prizes for the Prettiest Baby.
the Biggest Baby, the Smallest and a
Pair of Prizes for the Best Pair of
Twins-Rival Musical Attractions-The
Success of the Carnival Is Assured.
Especial to the PRESS }


Gardiner, May 23.-The Coliseum is
big building, but what, with the babies
and the admiring multitude who went to
see them this afternoon, it could not have
held another hundred people. So dense
was the throng that at one time it be-
came necessary to tie a rope across the
entrance to the hall and place police
man there to help the new comers see the
advisability of waiting until some of
those inside came out They are bright
looking babies, these darlings of the
Kennebec valley, and if there is among
them future president, the is likely to
prove an orator, judging by the str ength
of lung and staying power displayed by
some of the tots The Congress of Babies
was held in one end of the hall, which
was roped off for their accommodation,
and at the other end Bandmaster
Reeves's players rendered programme of
musical airs, SO there were two concerts
in progress at the same time, and
frequently, mingled with the melody of
the band, came the shrill notes of some
young songster expressing in baby music
an earnest desire for home sweet home
y
all of who were under two years old,
seemed to enjoy the good impression they
were making as well as the older folks
who struggled hard for places in the
front row where they could see the hopes
of the country.
A person looking from the gallery
which surrounds the hall, saw novel
sight. About quarter of the floor was
covered with rank after rank of baby
carriages in all of which were members
of the congress. Mothers arms provided
resting places for Others and when the
band was not playing there could be
heard the strangest kind of a melody,
made up of various nursery rhymes
hummed or softly sung in various keys
by various mothers and nurses One fond
father knelt before carriage containing
the pride of his household and kept that
young hopeful in great good nature by
working the carriage body up and down
on the springs Nearby was a mother
keeping her son amused by beating time
to the music with her fan on the back of
the perambulator, and then there We're
half hundred Of the carriages being
moved a foot ahead and foot back in
the way which is so delightful to the in
fanStile sense.
Outside the space devoted to the babies,
were several little tots who had been
lifted to the top of tall refrigerator for
safe keeping, and their happy faces shone
among the flowers on the head gear of
the hundreds of women around them like
the prize roses in a great garden Among
the pink and white of the hundred or
more baby faces were several whose
smiling countenances of sable hue be-
spoke their African descent and these
little darkeys were among the best be-
haved of the Juvenile congressman and
congresswomen. A short hand writer
,flai irfr bo tbponor IF
on the floor could have easily filled his
note book with admiring exclamations,
expressed in that language which is sup
posed to be Ineligible to infants and is
consequently dear to the feminine heart
Finally after the band had played for
an hour, there was a pause while Mr.. Nc
Causland who acted as sergeant -at-arIns
with the assistance of several deputies
prevailed upon the crowd to fall back
alittle so that the judges might make the
acquaintance of the little folks. Then
the committee, headed by the Rev. S. S.
Cummings of the Little Wanderers Home
of Boston, started on their tour of inspec-
ton. Rev. Mr. Cummings is about the
be selected. He is a venerable man,
having just attained the great age Of 81
years. In the course of his connection
with the Little Wanderers Home he has
made the acquaintance of over seven
thousand babies. If all the seven
thousand showed the liking for him
which these Kennebec tots displayed, he
must indeed have been popular with
several rising generations The kindly
countenance of the aged man among the
sea of baby faces, made charming
picture of youth and age Associated
with Mr.. Cummings as judges were Mr.
J. Fl. Henley of Brunswick and DR. B. d.
e ~, l.
numbered, and the catalogue shows just
one hundred and thirty four entries
When the judges had completed their
rounds, Mr.. Cummings made a little
speech, in which he told his hearers that
this was about the finest lot of babies he
had ever been called upon to judge, a
fact that had made the task of the COM
mittee particularly hard. Then Mr.. Nc
Causland announced that the infant who
would ride in the carriage offered as a
prize for the best looking baby, was little
Miss Thelma Lord The fourteen months
old belle of the beauties was held up by
Mr.. McCausland where all might see her,
and when she leaned her face against Mr..
McCausland and waved her hand to the
crowd, there was host OF loud applause.
Then the heaviest baby was held up to
view, Miss Ora May Meserve, who is
twenty two months old and weighs 36
IA pounds A contrast was the smallest
baby, Chester A Keene, aged three
months. Handsome silver cups were the
prizes for these two. Henry l.. and Helen
NJ. Smith were decided to be the best
looking twins, and each received doll.
So did Albert D. Norton, Leota Moore
Littlefeld Muellon Francis Lawrence,
Caroline G. Bates and Hazel M. Hutch1n-
son, whose good looks won them honor
able mention Lena Gertrude Williams
and Catherine Louise Robinson were
awarded the honors among the colored
babies. These awards seemed to give per-
feet satisfaction to the spectators, but
there are probably good many mothers
living within twenty miles OF Gardiner,
each of whom would have substituted
one little one for that baby decreed to be
the best looking.
It was one of the features of the Carni-
val week.-Mrs. Congress of the Babies
and to the lockers on, over one hundred
babies together made a spectacle never
seen before, and one which very likely
they will never see again. After the adj
iournment of the Congress, each of the
member was given a photograph of all
the babies i'll a group. 1t makes pretty
Dicture and looks for all the world as if
the Youngsters had been brought together
and all kept quiet by some magical
means while their portraits We're taken.