Evening star., 1915-11-28
discard this form

Immigrant mothers discard this form
of swaddling entirely.
Bohemian Infants are likewise swad-
died from the shoulders down. and for
the first four to six weeks of their
lives their arms are tied to the body,
in order to insure their being straight.
Caps are tied on to keep the ears fiat.
Their heads rest upon pillows and the
child is carried about on a cushion.
The children are carried to baptism in
their swaddling clothes. These people
do not abandon this custom immediate
ly, but gradually discontinue it
On the other hand. the Neapolitan and
Sicilian children are most thoroughly
swathed and kept so-frequently until
they are weaned. Their arms are tied
to the body for several months. and
they are left to lie upon mattresses OF
wool or feathers. After coming to
America these mothers do not abandon
this practice. but hold to the customs
OF the land of their nativity.
Hence one may believe that neither
method makes any material difference
in the bodily changes of the American
born immigrant child, but that its radi-
cal departure from the hereditary ply
sical traits of its parents, with its ac-
celerated growth, is due wholly to the
new environment.
1t is also believed that one OF tho
factors in the improvement in the child
development lies in the fact that fami
lies do not generally assume the size
in America that they do in the home
land. and as the family decreases in
size the children increase individually
In height and weight
Improvement in physical and mental
conditions is not confined to the chill
dren, but the entire family group re
spends to the revivifying influence OF
Americanization. and this applies to
practically all of the European immi
grants.
No matter II the Irish Bridget does
come over to be domestic and wash
iron, nurse, and. In fact, be a general
maid of all work, imposed upon because
of her lack of knowledge OF the
language and customs. she does not
mean to remain a domestic of the same
grade Her one aim is progress. This
all-pervading germ of Americanism
gets into her system as soon as she
leaves Ellis Island, and before she real
ICES it herself she has definite plans
for getting up in the world. In thou
sands of instances the young Irish i'm
migrants have developed into keen
sharp business men and women after a
few years of life over here, and they
have forged far ahead of what they
would have been at home, even with
opportunities.
Among the Germans this is rather the
rule than the exception, and in fact
among all races it is the female immi-
grant that shows the quickest response
to the new world influences and makes
the effort to better the native condition.
With them the lure of the fatherland
is not SO strong with the men. nor
are they satisfied to remain in the old
country If they do return. They claim
that the rush and energy of the Yam
kee gets in their blood and they miss it
so that they must needs return to stay.
i.
From the southern European races.
where the larger percentage of the I'M
migration has been of the men alone.
conditions seldom improve much. Lack
ing the family life. they do not assimi-
late with Americans, but herd together
in communities or boarding groups
where some immigrant and wife run
a boarding place.
Living in this manner these Greeks.
Turks and many Slavs contribute moth
ing to the advantage Of the country
They do not spend more than a third
of their earnings, they do not patronize
American banks nor sympathize with
American problems. They simply work
with the facilities America offers as
means to an end, which is to make all
they can, save all they can and then
go back home to enjoy 1t.
And in the case of the Greeks. a mem
ber of the immigration commission has
declared that this country was the
loser by not having some means OF
livelihood that would offer inducements
to the Greek women. Because of their
intelligence and splendid physique. II is
said that they would form a valuable
addition to the female population of
our land. Up to the present time, with
the exception of Chinese women. the
percentage of Greek women is the
smallest of any of the races which pour
forth their hosts to find homes upon
our shores.
1t is noteworthy fact that investi-
cation proved that a comparison be-
tween young Greek girls and the aver
age group of matinee girls of this
country would result in the acknowl
edged superiority of the Greek girl
upon all physical points.
Unfortunately the commission was
not able to obtain data to prove the
effects of American environment upon
American-born children OF Greek par
ents-