The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-08-11

kept absolutely clean. As most of the cases in the hospital are those of sum- mer complaint, this was a serious ob- lection.
 This year, however, all the mattress es were thrown out, and at cost of but few cents per bed. the sixty cribs in the hospital were equipped made in the following manner:
 Eight inch boards, thirty inches long, were fitted at the head and foot of each cot. A strip of canvas with a three-lnch hem on each side takes the place of a mattress and is held In pos- ition by two poles or broom sticks. which run through the hemmed sides and into holes bored at the upper corn CTS of the head and feet-boards--thus locking them Into solid frame. Over the canvas were placed rubber sheet. a quilted pad. and a regular sheet and the bed was ready.
 The advantage of the canvas Is that the air circulating beneath 1t makes it cooler than the usul mattress, and when It becomes soiled, the canvas can be sterilized or washed like ordinary bed clothing. At the end of the sum- mer, if the parent wishes to return to the ordinary mattress, the frame can simply be lifted out of the crib, as the iron frame work is not damaged in the least The new cribs have had thor ough test this summer at Junior Sea Breeze. as the many hot spells have taxed this babies hospital to its full capacity.
 The same canvas idea employed in the new crib is excellent for camping or for sleeping on the roof, as the crib can be made by boring holes lp two grocery boxes or packing cases. or or dinary carpenters horses, and running the poles through them instead of the headboard and footboard of the regu- lation crib.
 The cost for transforming a crib in- to a sanitary summer sleeping place is about twenty cents for canvas and five cents apiece forbroomhandles or cur tain poles. Any sort of board longer than the width of the crib will do for the end pieces. The same idea on a larger scale makes an excellent bed for adults in camp.
 News travels fast in the tenement districts, and the fact that a social worker gave a little child refreshing shower bath by means of a casual sprinkling pot has made this form of ablution stylish for babies" A man worker who showed how some bagEing and a few barrel hoops could be trans formed into a shelter tent on a cool roof has also started a new style" The putting of barrel hoop covered by green baize over one end of a clothes basket, which is a common form of crib. first used professionally by the nurses at Caroline Rest Home, has led to the saving of many babies eyes from the glare of buildings and as- phalt in tenement streets.
 The visitors are ready even to show the mothers how to make proper hot weather and other clothing for the baby and other children.
 One source of sickness among ba- bies Is that they frequently have to stay in the tenement kitchens while their mothers are cooking stew or oth- CT boiled meats and vegetables on the coal range. The temperature can be imagined. It so happens also that al- most all the cheap meats require very long cooking and the result is many hours of blazing fire in a range.
 The Association saw a way out of this. and Is now showing the mothers and fathers how to make a satisfac- tory fireless cooker out of soap boxes and excelsior or newspapers. With the cooker all that the mother need to do Is to let the meat or vegeta bles come to a hard boil and then put 1t Into the fireless cooker which in some hours cooks the meat thoroughly without drying It up Meanwhile the fire can De put out ana the IIaL made cool. This idea has led to what might be called communal kitchens. The wo- man who Is doing ironing anyhow in- vites her neighbors to get their fire less cooking started on her range and the rest do not light fires at all. The effect of this absence of a blazing stove when the outdoor temperature is run ming in the sos. can readily be appre- ciated.
 By way of contrast for winter use the Associations workers have taught the people of the tenements how to make out of board a ventilating strir for their windows which will give the baby plenty of fresh air without expos ing it to a direct draught.
 So rapidly are the tenement folk be- ginning to appreciate the value oi these homemade appurtenances that the charity organizations are now pre- dieting that the fight against disease and suffering in the poorer districts o1 the city will soon be much easier tc wage,
 Our greatest trouble up to date, said one charity official recently, 'hai been to get the poor people to cooper.