The San Francisco call., 1909-05-09
'1HEMSSING
TT OF TIE
fOI JNDIING
ASYLUM

associations district nurses for the
outdoor treatment OF twins, children OF
a tuberculous mother, one whose ILL
ness and poverty made her a charge
upon the charities. The nurse whose
ingenuity devised the ca ge has made
report on the case and the cage for
the benefit of any little weakling and
for the help of any mother needing It,
The cage" which IS placed in the
best available place in the yard, is
made of wire cot set on legs and
covered in good meat-safe fashion with
wire netting. OF this experiment the
nurse says:
The wire netting is a protection from
flies, mosquitoes. cats and dogs and
serves as a framework for a covering
to shield the baby's eyes from the d.
rect rays of the sun. The mother may
go about her household duties with
the assurance that her baby is weH
protected from harm. The little ones
in question remain in the baby cage
from a. m to D. m.
These twins were born April 5, 1908,
and weighed five and a quarter pounds
each They were put on the bottle. At
the end OF June. they still weighed five
and q quarter pounds. In July they
were put on certified milk and given
outdoor treatment for 10 hours q day.
Their normal increase in weight be-
came established under the new treat
ment. On September II. 1908. they
weighed nine pounds and a half and
began to look less like picked chickens
and more like real babies"
Every foster mother in the city
knows about these babies and watches
for them from month to month when
they are brought to the headquarters.
Now they are kicking lively babies. all
smiles and dimples and so fat that
their foster nothAx has her hands full
every moment or the time
Directions for making and the cost
of the cage is as follows:
Height 9S inches; width OF door, "a
inches Cost: cot bed with wire mat
tress. s250: lumber, $3.50; wire netting,
70 square feet, $3.50; carpenters wages
for one day.
Ju~. how the cage" looks when
seady for occupancy is shown IN some
of the accompanying illustrations. also
how the twins look now, proving just
what 1t means to live In a sort OF neat
safe. Watching over these babies Is
DR.. Annie Lyle, who gives so much OF
her time to the care of the city's un-
fortunate children. whether they be
babies or old enough to get into mis-
chief and come under the discf line OF
the juvenile court. These children get
the benefit OF her years in this city, in
the east and Europe. her extensive
laboratory work and her comprehen-
sive practice. Once a month, she makes
a general inspection of the foster chill
dren when they are brought to head
quarters and advises their mothers.
II there is need for special treatment.
appointments are made for Office
hours. Further than that. DR.. Lyle
makes emergency calls on these chill
-dren any hour of the day or night and
operates upon them whenever neces-
sary. Fortunate indeed are the little
ones. for it seldom happens that ply
sician so splendidly equipped for her
work is so circumstanced that she can
give lavishly of her time and knowledge.
At the last general meeting of the ba-
bies and the foster mothers. DR.. Lyle
made her rounds among them with a
little fat hand snuggled in hers 1t
belonged to roly poly of boy upon
whom she had operated a few weeks
before and who had just been taken
from the hospital He was not willing
to let her out of his sight.
The day that the children are assem-
bled is a sort of gala time. Refresh
ments are served. for il is no light
work to bring these lively youngsters
from home; there is something for the
children as well. The mothers COM
pare notes; they tell of all the Gun
ming" things the children say and do,
and really scrutinize each others chill
dren to see whose looked the best. 1t
is known that IL any of the children
are not rollickingly well the mothers
will ask Miss FELTON, to be ex-
cused from bringing them to the
general meeting. They do not want
any reflection cast upon their
children" most helpful mixture Of
pride and love Is found In every foster
mother. In very truth. no better look