The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-08-07
Wopan's World.


that rules the world speaking h. prose Of
the woman who raises "A family OF chill
dren, does not rock the cradle nowadays.
The movement of rocking The cradle does
not emauate, in these days OF advancement
IT, scientific studies. from mind capable
of ruling anything small, 10 say nothing
OF large world.
Standing in front of an uptown shop
where antiques are zo,1 There was 'ae o-h-
er day an Old mahogany cradle. the low
cradle with rockers al bead and foo! made
in the shape Of i'oe --S, and wiki
headpiece of Tie wood at the top. That IS
the cradle picture@ of which figure |I.a
the poems in which the cradle gives tae
domestic element. But they are not often
seen.
The old cradle standing outside the shop
attracted much attention. A pooriy-dressed
middle aged woman stopped first 10 gaze
al It. She smiled in an amused, reminis-
cent way as she studied il. She may have
had such a cradle for her children at one
time, or she may have remembered such
piece of furniture from her own child
hoods days one after another different
people stopped to look at the cradle, ana
all with the air Of seeing something once
known, but ioug forgotten.
There are very few of the furniture shops
in the city where cradles can be found
now. Those which keep the cheaper class
of goods have more call for them than the
better class, but they keep only two OF
three on hand. and most of them go to the
tenement houses.
At a large furniture shop, where they
have not had cradles in stock for many
years, they believe that the growth of the
city and the decrease Of room has had much
10 do with the disappearance of the era
die. With them the cradle was crowded
out by the folding crib. which could be
placed under a larger bed during the day
time
But the real cause of the passing of the
cradle is science The physicians have de-
cided that the rocking motion Is injurious.
and that a healthy child should be put to
bed and left TO go quietly TO sleep. lt IS
q theory which destroys some Of the poe
try Of existence, as 1t also prohibited the
rocking of the baby in the mothers arms,
but altogether it sounded sensible, 1t was
convenient and it obtained.
The making of cradles Is not now much
of a business. The city jobber in cradles
does his principal business in chairs He
does not sell 10 per cent. of the cradles that
ne did ten years ago, he says. Then he
would sell 125 dozen year. Those that the
New York jobber sells go chiefly to Little
Italy" at and around East one Hundred
and Fifteenth street. There they are
bought by tailors, carpenters, and men do
ing different kinds of business IN a small
way to be sold again. Only one cradle man
ufacturer is known In New York.
The man of antiques, who had the Old
mahogany cradle took 1t from the front
of his shop and down cellar because he was
annoyed by Italian visitors, who wished to
get design for 1t. There is another old
cradle in another antique shop, which came
from Connecticut from the house which
was the home of Israel Putnam, it is said,
and also-though this is not vouched for
that Israel Putnam slept in 1t as a baby.
sufficiently ancient 10 have begun life be-
fore Israel Putnam's day.
There Is another place besides Little
Italy where cradles are TO be found, the
old fashioned wooden cradles and this IL
ia the south There the little darkies sleep
in them, and they stand outside the little
Old houses, which are so densely popu-
lated, many of them. and the wooden top
protects the little pickanniny in rain and
shine.
The aristocratic form the cradle has now
taken IS that of the beaucinette. a basket
on an iron frame, which could swing but
Is always securely fastened to a station
airy position by a ribbon. The beaucinette
is a dainty little affair with light draperies
OF muslin or lace and delicate ribbons but
1t Is hygienic In every detail. 1t combines
beauty and scien ttfic excellence
They had a cradle at the recent electri-
cal exhibition with an electrical attach
ment TO rock ii. An unfortunate doll baby
was in the cradle, and was rocked from
the beginning to the end of the show
One of the propagators of the exhibition
explained with much gravity to women
visitors the particular value of this partic-
ular use of electrical force.
1T is invaluable to a mother" he ex-
planned, seriously. She merely puts her
baby into the cradle, makes connections
with the battery and goes about her work
while the electricity takes care of the
baby. And think of the great benefit of
such an appliance in a lying-in hospital.
The nurses can not give all their attention
10 the babies, and all they have to do is
to have the electrical attachment. and
presto every baby in the place is quiet"
But that was where the man made a
mistake. There was no doubt that Re
knew electricity, but he did not know
babies. The latest Improvements in the
modern hospital or one form of them. are
the little wire baskets fastened to the wall
in which the babies sleep quietly away
from their mammas, and in a bed which
is stationary when they are asleep, but
which can be moved 10 one side or the
other on a pivot or something of that i.a-
ture placed at the head of the little has
kets.
With the electrical cradles in the hos
pitfalls there would probably be developed
crop of addle-headed infants, to say
nothing of nurses driven to the insane sy-
lum from being surrounded by cradles
which had discovered tho secret of per-
petual motion.
There is no reason why women should
be more afraid OF snake than of any
other animal" said the man who keeps
half dozen or more big snakes as pets in
preference TO dogs. Just look at this ana
conda; it's a beautiful tAing," and he took
from its box, says the New York Times. a
snake three or four feet long and let il
curl its head around his neck affection
ately while the women in the room as IL
TO disprove his assertion, jumped to their
feet prepared TO run if it should be neces-
Eary. Don't be afraid" he went on, inter-