Charlevoix county herald., 1910-05-21

save" one of the matrons said. 1--WE W.
keep them from privaton. from cru
city even from death-the little ba-
bies nobody wants. We are Just trying to give
them their chance. We hope to preserve the
mothers from greater sin, from the life of the
streets. from the doors of prison, but It is the
babies that count. We must save our babies"
The law OF this country will not permit the
giving or selling of little children, but it cannot
Ifetect them from desertion. The founding hos
pltals In our big cities the states efforts to
play the part of universal motherhood, to care
for the children who are thrown on her mercy
and who will help make her future.
The room where the mothers relinquish their
babies Is called the saddest place in New York.
There Is nothing in the receiving room but the
little cradle. and no one in sight. A matron Is
always in waiting by. She never forces a
mother to confession, but. If possible, persuades
her to tell why she wishes to desert her child
and perhaps influences her not to give 1t up, but
to begin life over again. mother must under
stand that the choice is with her-the matron
may give the mother 10 or Is minutes in which
to decide-but the choice is final If the mother
wishes 1t, and 1t can be arranged she is often
taken into the hospital with her baby and allowed
TO nurse 1t, by having charge of another of the
uny children and helping with older child
There are now 800 mother nurses working in the
New York home, and there have been as many as
nVe or six hundred at other times The mother
who comes into the hospital to work can often
prove her fitness to have her baby back again.
/ But once she puts il down in the rescue cradle
and goes out the ever open door the baby belongs
ITO her no longer; she may never see or hear of it
again. The child belongs to the state. No prayer
nor entreaty, pleading of circumstance will
afterward avail. The child has entered a world
that shall never know its origin. Somewhere
future waits for 1t. but the baby is to have no
knowledge of its beginning outside its adoption
in the Founding home.
/ A bath and clean clothes are the first signs of
the baby's adoption in the Founding home. A
doctor next iDspects the little person to that
IL shall not carry a contagon to any of the thou
sands Of small brothers and sisters who wait.
Ing for it outside the walls of the reception ward
Two three weeks the baby may be detained in
the reception quarters-the smaller the baby the
less danger of contagious diseases-or as many
days. Then 1t becomes either indoor
outdoor baby.
There are GOO indoor babies being cared for
Inside the New York City Founding home. 1t Is
necessary to board ON the outside 1900 more
Seven thousand four hundred and twentyfour little
foundlings have been looked after in the past two
years, and there are relatively many in Boston
in Chicago In Philadephia-in every large city
In America
In Europe there greater number
of founding babies. The European states take
charge OF the deserted waits, but the mother Is
only permitted to bring her child to an entrance
way ring bell and give it into the arms of the
attendant who opens the door-and go away
without a word.
In the homes OF love, of wealth and happiness
there sounder, sweeter babies than the
deserted children of the founding homes. The
babies far untroubled by their situation in
life and have not the institution look of older
children. What is the institution look? 1t trans
lates itself; the expression of a cramped individ
uality, of longing for a more personal express
sion; the look of too much routine. of drilling, Of
the law without the spirit.
But the babies know of no difference between
themselves and other children, and many times
before they wake to the thought a home has been
found for them. Nearly 500 babies year from
the New York Founding home adopted by
private families in all parts of the country. They
prove in their lives that it does not matter in
this world how are born. cit is just the way
we're dedicated"
Nobody but baby lover would adopt one OF
our babies; older children may be taken by fami-
lies and made into drudges, but who would adopt
a tiny child except for lover" one OF the sisters
at the hospital said
There is a wonderfully wide choice in babies.
for they are taken into the home without regard
to nationality, to creed color; so there pink
and white blond babies, brown-haired, blackeyed
babies, girls with curs and boys with round
close-cropped heads.
The children wear no kind of uniform. The
little girls have big bows Of red and blue and
pink ribbon their hair as the most fashionable
little person who lives round the corner on Fifth
avenue.
The clothes OF several thousand children are
an important consideration. Think OF what a
single baby's trousseau means at home. Fortu
-nately homo babies outgrow their clothes and
pass them on TO other babies. There all sizes
TO be fitted at the Founding homo. In the last