The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1907-12-14

THIS is a story which nobody III 'il.
world, unacnuajnred with tho fact
/; IN the case. will believe, and which 4:
nevertheless trle IN every Gctail-titc
story Of baby six weeks Old TINT
walks
The vcrasi.v Of tho tai. rs proved n,
physicians and q trained nurse. I'll \
al the libraries Of medical WORKS con
tanning anecdotes about extrAorai- A
| nary babies there is nothing compar- \
ing to this.
! According % the physicians who
| hase seen colletta Regan--ScNer1l -
them eminent spctialiSls--she is .tt-
Solutelr without q precedent III oar.
dom, and her parents, Al. and Mr..
Joseph Regain. are re;.lly entitled tpi
make the claim that theirs IS the most
wonderful baby in the universe.
The Regans live at .5s South
Spauiding avenue. Mr.. Ee-,n Il !,
real estate opcrtcr ana berry grower
lie Is not an especially large Or pou-
erful man and his wife rs q frasila
delicate woman When the little 7'tt
was born, on the morning q Sept.
-. 1907. six weeks ago vest ersstN
it was feared that she would de, and
she is still far from strong.
Colletta weighed 1t birth littl3
more than five pounds The aycTS ~
weight Of newborn baby j. seven ar!
a quarter pounds, 50 Colietta W;&s
apparently under, rather than above,
beginning life.
Furthermore, she was sick for tTv"
weeks ana had several commissions
Being a hottie baby She had tho
handicap Of food cxpcrim entatlpn
against her. If ever there was a BABY
that might have been excused for
being backward, that baby was Coz
letta Regain.
Miss Irene Barber The trained nurse
who was, and still is, employed IN the
case, said that from the very holr III
, its birth the baby impressed her III!
J being unnaturaliy alert and bright. Oh
, the morning Of tho third day Mis-
Barber laid Colletta on table after
, preparing her for a bath Then she
! spread an afghan over her and Weri
, ont OF the room for 4 moment. When
t She came back coIletta had kicked oiS
? the afghan and was creeping across
G l. the table on her hands and knees
Mind you. 4 baby is not supposed ~
t have strength enough - IoiI off III
G back or change its position ~ the
5 fraction Of an inch until it i three
g months old. CollcttA crept At The
II age Of three days.
n II told the doctor about IT," said
| Miss Barber, "and he just laughed al
9 things and ! Aeplied that ! had cer-
: talnly seen something that no one IA,
= ever seen before. In my heart
= couldn't blame him for doubling ny
word. Who could be expected To ~
), lieye such yarn if he had the slight
est knowledge Of baby capabilities ans
is limitations
- However I knew that my ey''
n had not deceived me and ! felt tina
rn1lHtt.a syn,III he1y- Watching ten
J. her out OF 4 tWo-ouncc bottle anu
a saw Immediately that She did not PHI
% away on it mechanically as most ba
e bics do. She would nurse until ~
"a was tired and then she would push tn
s bottle away. Presently she would fee
like having another try at i. Iht1
&c she would look around for tho bottle
j. reach out for it and put the nipple !
4 her mouth. When the bottle wa
empty She would throw it out Of tn
n, basket. which She never did so ION
- doctor could see for himself ana i
~ opened his eyes in astonisllmen;, f.
!. it is an established physiological Ia,
~ that infants do not notice anythn
= around them until they are six week
~ old
~ With every passing hour the chill
10 seemed to develop and unfold. Sh
70 was like the magic tree which ~
p conjurors of India are said to be alb
r to make grow while you wait.
ION the day she WAS five Wech
H. DID, said Miss Barber, II was hun
= ming a tune to her, and suddenly 81,
ot began to beat time with the fore
IL finger of her right hand. / suppose
10 it was merely a coincidence. ] stoppe
= singing and she stopped beating tim
ne I began again and she began 70 ktt
il time---not a wild, waving motion, bi
an accurate movement In perte'
e. keeping with the rhythm Of the ttn
he This. too, ! showed to the doctc
and he had called in specialists to So
II. They could not dispute the fa
that Colietta knows how to beat tin
re- as well as any orchestra leade
N Neither her father nor her mother
a musical They say that SO far :
ny the knows there was never q muslcla
70 in either of their families.
ne 1T was on Saturday. the day y
a fore she was six weeks Old, &hat I.
IS baby walked for the first t1Nle. 81
oh was lying across my lap on her ston
+. ach. All of q sudden She Caught no
oh of my skirt, pulled herself aroun
nd grabbed my apron and stood bolt y
right in my lap. ] lifted her away
mt set her down again and she steppt
1, forward. She took six steps belo
o.. I could recover my senses sufficient
tie to get her on her back and keep II
mt there"
lit Ii you know anything about BAH
d.. at all you know that they are not 81
cd posed to be able to hold up the
heads under six weeks and their ba'
It's must always be supported.
in OF course, the news that the 81
1ct weells-old baby Regain was waikiki
IcI soon got around the neishborhoo
ne and one excited woman telephoncd
ut the Examiner. A reporter was Sc
A. out and saw the baby in the act
his walking. There was no doubt apo
,ut it whatever. She walked. TO be SUI
led she held on to Miss BARRIERS hans
81 but she walked
Il have been a trained nurse I
cnt nine years. said Miss Barber, "a
IL / have taken care of hundreds Of y
rit- bTes, but 1 never dreamed Of such
&C. baby a.; this When I try to mn
yer her lie still like other babies she cri
a with rage, aud 50 far as ! can see q