The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-04-16
PROBLEM To SAVE
THEM AT ter BIRTH.
Enough Babies Arc Born, but
Too Many Die Before They
Are Two Years Old.
MORTALITY HIGH.
Speakers Urge Better Care i'll
Effort to Check Abnormal
Death Rate.

--------------------.
Under the Joint auspices of the State
Board of Charities and Correction and
the Richmond Board of Health, the re-
duction of infant mortality was the
subject of addresses made in the hall
of the House of Delegates yesterday
afternoon. Various aspects of the
subject were discussed by experts in
the work and the most acceptable
methods of preventing the death of
infants from common causes were
recommended and explained.
Mrs. Beverley b. Munford presided
over the meeting and first introduced
Miss Ellen Rabbit. of Chicago a work
er in the chila helping department OF
the Sage Foundation. Miss Rabbit.
quoting from statistics, stated that
one-fourth of all those who die are
dead before they reach the age of
two years. and impressed upon her
hearers the Importance OF concentrate
ting the life-saving work on very
young babies.
Fine. Milk supply.
Richmond, she thought, was partic-
ttlarly fortunate in that the city has
in her opinion. one OF the best milk
supplies In the country and that every
child in the city can be fed on milk
practically as pure as can be got in
any city of the United states. She
spoke of the lack OF education among
mothers and advocated a plan for cd
ucatfng girla
She called attention to inmates OF
blind institutions, saying that one
quarter of them we're obliged to so
,l. Ia CO Mt lfstr
of proper trerpelent when they were
infants and t..Al Sfnany of the perma-
nently blind might have been saved
by early attention.
Miss Florence baltimore. assistant
director of the child helping depart
ment of the Sage Foundation, was the
next speaker. In reference TO Inc
work OF saving children in Virginia,
she said that in the beginning the
difficulties wera small as compared
with other States, especially in the
mining districts of the North, on &C
count of the fact that the foreign
population is small and the people IN
derstand each other. Then, too, she
said. there were not here the elevated
railways, the subways and the crowd
ed tenements to contend with. though
| she did not hesitate TO say that even
with these undesirable features elimi-
| mated, there was plenty of work for
| Virginia to do in the way of saving
| the infants and making good citizens
| OF dependents who for one reason OF
| another had been wards Of the pub
| lie
Proper Care of Dependents.
Her argument was almost entirely
! from a social viewpoint and dealt
largely with the proper care OF de-
| Sin IN Is
| stitutions OF negligence, she said thai
few, if any. of them We're gettinG al
! the underlying causes OF dependency
| which she thought most important as
a groundwork for theit training.
She spoke with great confidence OF
conditions that exist in the mining
camps of the North. especially 4,
pennsylvania, where social workers
have to contend with both natural fg'
ncrance and a lack of knowledge o.
the English language
i Miss baltimore also spoke of hei
j experience with charitable institutions
in which children of all classes of In
teIligence were housed. She did no.
j approve or tile promiscuous minslinf
, OF those of sound intellect with menta
detectives. and hoped that the time
was almost over when they would be
thrown together in public institutions
Her plan Is to have the detective!
segregated where the causes OF hot
4 their dependency and deficiency II
mind and body may be thoroughly in
vestigated. Fathers and mothers o
defective Children she said. ARE TIL
neglected children of the past Sh
believed that defective children shout
, never be placed with the rest, and tina
all should be examined before beln;
admitted into the institutions. Sh
also called special attention to the i'm
portance of Investigating people t
whom children are given after serv
Ing their time in the charitable In
! stitutions.
Too Many Infants Die.
Or. T. C. Levy. Chief Health Offices
spoke on the birth and death rate
The birth rate, he said, would be larg
enough, but that the problem was t
save the children after they We're borr
One of tho most important thing
he brought out was that OF the mill
supply. in which lie said no city In tn
: United States excelled Richmond
Speaking OF children, he compare
them to plants. saying that a gard
ener had to learn their proper care b
the plants which died. but added tina
a woman could not afford to sacrific
several children In order to properl
: raise one or two. lie, therefore. re
commended that they take advantag
Of the knowledge of the Health De
partment, which has gained informa
! ton from statistics in all parts of tn
country.
a or all the agencies working in thi
city he spoke most highly Of the In
structive Visiting Nurses Association
1--WE are sending out the nurses" h
said, mot to treat the sick babies. bu
to Keep the Well ones we'll The sic,
ones are sent to the doctors"
Concluding. he said that the Rich
nlond department was going yer.
carefully into the work. and made al
earnest plea to the citizens for thel
CO operation. He said that nearly al
tho physicians had pledged their co
operation.
Though not quite so many peopl
were present as We're expected, Their
We're number of new faces, and en-
4 thusiasm ran high.
i Verdict for Defendant.
sgsThp case of Nellih Morris apains