New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-07-09

make Of shirt What it really means -
save the babies" For blue is the Color
adoptcd by the Committee for the ne
duction Of Infant Mortality OF the New
York MIX Committee. I'm the Winoo" u
each of The thirty milk stations est"o-
Iishcd i'm Manhattan ty the committee inns
summer hangs a big card bearing IN huee
blue letters. in Yiddish or Italian or ter
man or English or whatever language Is
most spoken I'm the district where the STA
ton is. an invitation to the mothers 10
bring their babies 10 he saved-saNed from
the blisteriur heat. saved from improper
feeding saved from over-swaddline' sa'eu
from the hundred evils which nave md"e
New York summers slaughter or the III
nocents ever since il became the great CIT!
Il Is
Ev,rywhcre i'm the tenement quarters
cards telling mothers 10 look out Tor 'he
blue fronts" have been distributed; ana
they know what that means, these mo'heIS'
The Tribune reporter. hunting for the sta
ton on lower Washington street one OF
last weeks hottest days saw -four mothers
each with a baby-one of them with TWINS
sitting on a step IN one Of the few avail
abb, scraps of shade and decided To ask
II they knew where the station was.
can YOU tell me where the blue IF -
The milk place? Sure. Its up here. NO
u Washington street" chorused the -FOUR
And II developed that every one Of those
mothers was getting milk at that station
and learning from the nurse and doctor
there how 60 keep babies well
For true gratitude commend mo TO the
tenement mother" said Dr. Philip Van
Ingen. supervising physician Of the New
York MIX Committees stations. at his
office. No 10 East list street. YESTERDAY
"A doctor can sit up all night with a
healthy patient work his heart out max
,ne the patient comfortablo-and Eet no
thanks. hut probably a scoldinG for coming
fifteen minutes late. But talk five minutes
with a tenement mother, telling her what
10 do with her sick baby. and she never
forects it, All the same added Dr. Van
Ingen. refectively. wed like. some more
of the money of tie rich TO start more milk
stations We have thirty. TO cover the
city properly we ought To have twice that
number"
lie got out q map Of Manhattan which
was dotted with Colored tacks-blUe lacks
representing tine committees milk stations,
black orange. etc. showing the location
Of those maintained by the Board Of
Health. the New York Diet Kitchen As
ISOLATION and other bodies. The Glue lacks
predominated.
Here" said Dr.. Van Ingcn. pointing 10
blue tack on Cannon street us sta
ton at which one hundred and sixty-tive
babies are registered But within a radius
Of six blocks around that station are six
teen thousand people. one hundred and
sixfy-hve isn't a very large proportion Of
the babies of that population. How are
we To take care of the others Can l.
our thirty milk stations are looking out
for two thousand babies now. Before
August We shall have four or I'VE thou
sand. The registry at the Cannon street
place is increasing so rapidly that we are
opening another station two blocks away.
But even these two stations are likely 10
be swamped by the number If anxious
mothers with babies
The stations are distributed as evenly as
possible through the most thcky pOpd-
lated tenement districts. There is a little
nest of blue tacks on the map just above
RivingtOn street one station on 4th street,
between Avenue Il and Avenue c. has d
population of 2lOo within a radius of six
blocks on its hands. The station on West
18th street has one hundred babies regis
tered. and more coming every day.
Mothers tell one another about the sta
tons" Or. Van lngen said A woman
came into the East j6th street station soon
after it was opened who had had twenty
children. She had buried fourteen, and the
one in her arms was in fair weY TO 1oi-
low the fourteen-puny. sick, irettng.
Well. the doctor told her what 10 90 Tor
the baby. The nurse visited her nome
showed her how TO modify the milk she got
al the station. how 10 battle and powder
the child. and so forth. The baby began
20 gain i'm weight; it became well baDy
and that mother is 50 grateful that she
can't do enough to advertise us Shes a
regular drummer for the station what Il
more. she stays around the station coupe
Of hours every day and interprets Tor US
she's an Italian who knows EngliSh-ahd
there are many Italian women over there
who don't"
The interpreting is no small part OF the
work a, some Of the stations. At NO. d
Washington street two Interpreters are
kept one a Syrian, the other Polish The
dsy the reporter visited this station the
narrow room was crowded with mothers
some of them were little mothers with
little naked babies in their arms; for they
All have TO be undressed TO be weighed. A
worn looking. dark skinned woman with
mite Of a baby in her arms was telling Dr
cohn. who sat at a table near the door
something in Syrian.
Tell her" said the white capped nurse.
Miss Hazel De Laney. after she had
listened TO the interpreter, tell her TO
bring her bottles here every morning and
| will modify the milk for her When /
modify the milk" she added to the re-
porter "the babies don't vomt. but when
the mothers modify it they don't get along
so well The mothers Will learn, though"
over by the padded scales Joseph Pau
liko, I'm natures garb. was yelling at the
top Of his voice Joseph had never been
weighed In the course OF his sixteen
months and ne viewed the proceeding with
deep distrust. a dozen times his mother,
a broad faced Slav. put him on the scales.
and dozen times he wriggled off and
chung TO his parent with his bare little
arms and legs.
If bowls weighed" said the nurse. he'd
register a ton" The babies that were used
TO it. though. took the weighing quite
calmly