The Washington herald., 1913-08-09
ny FRANCES sHAFFER.

~ E"ANSnS S1A-AE HAss
While everybody loves to zee q dear.
dimpled baby. with rose-petal cheeks
and bewitching eyes and hair, the old
time "beauty shows" always did seem
rather meaningless and impractical and
it is satisfying to note that the better
baby" contests are spreading from state
to state.
For now little Miss Dimples or Curly
Loo with her melting brown eyes and
her face like q flower. is just as likely
as not to be outclassed by some sturdy
little stub-nosed youngster with not q
dimple nor a curl to his name, but with
health stamped all over his well-ds-
veloped body.
And 1t would not matter 30 much II
the contests closed when the awards
were over, but the very best thing about
them is that when the score-cards
are returned to parents, showing wherein
their little folk are physically deficient
and why they failed to win q prize, the
real contest begins. For when a beautiful
baby is entered. over whom an. artist
might rave. and he IL found to create
not q stir among the Judges, only low
marks for unsoundness Of body, his
about And generally their pride and
devotion rise in arms and they look for
the remedy to bring him up to the
standard.
In Iowa, where two State contests have
already been held and where they are
preparing for q third this summer, ply
sicians and Judges are rather fond
OF telling how one mother was spurred
along by the defeat Of her small or
spring. In the first contest the little
girl was entered, and. quite likely, down
in their hearts. the father and mother
confidently looked for some sort of
ize. for the child was a winsome little
maid. But when the records were all
in they learned that the pride of their
hearts had been left sadly behind in
the baby contest; for there were sturdy
little contestants entered who showed
certificates OF splendid health and free
dom from defects. while their young
daughter scored warningly low. The
father felt pretty sore at heart, not in
the way Of some fathers and mothers
who sputtered about in beauty shows"
but disturbed at the health-conditions re-
vealed. But his wife lost no time In
lamentations. She was . college bred
woman. and after first studying the
ecore-card> pretty faithfully she con-
suited physicians. read books on child
hygiene and carefully sought the way to
baby perfection.
For a whole year the little miss wa.
treated to fresh air in glorious measure
and followed all the safe and sane rules
for such small folk. and then was en-
tered in the second contest. And that
time she captured the first prize, and the
father and mother exultantly examined
the score-card, rejoicing to have learned
that mere prettiness is as nothing by
the side of buoyant health.
Iowa Is ridiculously proud Of its record
as the best corn-raising State, and for
several decades has been standardizing
corn. cattle. and hogs; and 1t must have
seemed . bit unique when II first be-
came known that babies were to be
entered and judged the same as little
animals, with blue ribbons and cash
prizes to go. not to the prettiest and
sweetest, but to those who could score
physical points, Just like horses, pigs,
and the rest.
DR.. Margaret Clark, who Is the medi-
cal expert in charge of the Iowa move
ment. says that il was one Of the most
humiliating moments in her life when
she realized that she must go to author
tiles on livestock and ask for their
score-card as a basis for scoring points
on babies. But. you see wise old Uncle |
Sam for years and years has been spend |
ing vast sums Of money to produce bet |
ter crops and better livestock and the |
authorities have learned a lot about
the points that count in animals around |
the farm. And. since there were no spe-
cial score-cards, no contests for bet |
ter babies" what could she do but go |
IN the liyo-Sfnck droU
her score-cards from theirs, made after |
long experience?
Modified and adapted to the needs Of !
babies, it has been quite widely adopted; |
and on those cards chest measurement, |
clear. strong eyes, good teeth, stout |
muscles. firm skin and the like, count |
for much, while irregular features slip !
by without much ado. In Iowa's first
contest, when the gates Of the fair
ground were closed, farmers, city folk |
and all their wives, were quite perturbed |
to learn that babies were not up to the
mark Of corn and cattle.
But the fact is. We are Just waking |
Up to the surprise in the statement that |
Uncle Sam appropriates the pretty lit
lie sum of $l7,OC0OOO a year for better
'arms, with all that means, and $50. 900 |
year for better babies, Quite some diff
erence. is there not? OF course. the |
arms, the corn. the cattle, and all are
mighty important-but so are the babies.
And sometimes We shall hear quite an
,ther story.
And it will be well. particularly well,
when We bring to mind the recent state
nent in a government publication that
:. 900 of our 100000 school children
ire in need of attention for physical all
nents and defects. Sort of startling,
hat. Among the physically handicapped,
100000 are quoted as held back by de-
ectiye vision, 10000 900 by poor teeth,
100000 by tuberculosis. There are plenty
If other diseases, deformities, and de-
ects to take heavy toll from the clean
bill Of health that ought to be theirs,
md. according to the report, several mil
ions of these children carry around with