The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1913-09-07
BETTER BABIES CONTEST AS
AUXILIARY INTERSTATE FAIR

Pensacola will have a Better Babies
Contest, to be held in connection with
the Interstate Fair.
From time to time The Journal pur-
poses publishing facts of interest in
connection with this movement, which
is sweeping the country from one end
to the other, and has taken hold OF
the public interest as few movements
have done.
A woman in Iowa solved the prob
lem which has gravely bothered the
learned heads of scientists. She dis
covered a method by which science
can be made to work for the good Of
every day folk, and that Is as valuable
as any discovery ever made by science.
So great honor should go to Mrs. Mary
T. Watts, a member Of the council of
the Iowa Congress of Mothers. DR..
Margaret Clark, a practicing physician,
joined with Mrs. Watts, and to these
devoted women belongs the credit of
what Is likely to so down in history as
the Iowa idea
1t Is hardly conceivable that a
learned mind engaged in scientific
study and experiment to make babies
better could have evolved plan so
simple, so effective, as the one that
woman would have the daring to toss
aside senti1nentality. to declare with
blunt frankness that Iowa was far
more interested in improving it's pigs
than its babies. And she proved 1t
with an object-lesson that Jared the
good people OF the state into action.
The worst that may be said OF the
Iowa idea Is that children are judged
az little animals. but this is only partly
true. Bone and flesh, conformation,
physiological conditions receive first
consider alton. Strong, healthy, per-
fectly developed babies mean every
thing to the race. But in this Judging
the mind receives almost equal at
tent1on.
The Iowa idea is to Judge babies as
dolls.
The story of Alice Milstein, one of
the Better Babies prize winners. Is
significant In the first contest she
lost out entirely. The next year she
won first PRICE Her parents had
studied and applied child hygiene in
the meantime. They learned how to
make merely beautiful baby q strong
and healthy baby as well. This simple
truth Is worth pages of argument.
The campaign for Better Babies" Is
about the most important work that
human beings can undertake. mas
much as the Iowa plan has proved sue
cessful-there were four times as many
babies entered the second year as
there were the nrst-the plan should
be adopted by every state in the Union,
unless an even better plan can be de-
vised. The Iowa women have done the
hard work of the pioneers; those in
other states are offered the results of
what Is no longer an experiment but
demonstrated truth.
Babies beauty shows have long been
an established institution. Many states.
as Iowa did have held them in con-
nectton with the state fair. Mrs. Watts
has demonstrated her theory that once
mothers realized the nature and pur-
pose Of the Babies Health Contest the
interest would be keener. the rivalry
more Intelligent. because the health
contest has all the vanity appeal of a
beauty contest, and much moro be-
sides.
Prizes That Mean Somethins.
Moreover, the prizes won in d health
contest have sibnifcance. Caprice
favorttism, sentimentaiity usually give
q baby first prize in a beauty contest.
A prize won in a health contest is a