The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1915-01-29
A!IAIDy LAD AND A BABY
And Uncle Sans Polite Consul
In a City In France.
HOW THEY MET AND PARTED.

fant, Who Was American, Presented
Not very long after having taken
charge of one of the consulates In
France | was one morning seated at
my desk busily engaged in figuring
over my quarterly accounts, when sud
denly woman carrying a bundle in
her arms appeared before me. had /
not resided in France sufficiently long
to imbibe the unadulterated French po- |
likeness, but had progressed suf.
6ciently to ask:
Madame, what can | have the pleas |
ure of doing for you this morningp
Monsieur" she exclaimed, walking
toward me, holding out the bundle as
If to deposit it on my desk. this is an
American baby. What shall / do with |
| itT
Abashed at the prospect of so sud
denly becoming a father with the or
ange blossoms and rice omitted and
| knowing that the American govern
ment had established no precedent OF
maintaining orphan asylums either at
| home or abroad. hesitated moment
! and replied:
"Will the madame please be seated
over there by the door and tell me
| why. being q Frenchwoman, she has
become possessed of an American
! babyf"
1t never occurred to me to examine
the little bundle Of humanity. | had In
previous times rather prided myself on
my ability to distinguish the nation
atty of people, had even boasted /
could tell them by their shoes, but
had never tried my perceptive powers
on infant physiognomies.
"Voilar' she said. seating herself.
| shall never forget that word VOLTA.
1t was one Of the first French words
ever learned You know 1t means--oh.
so many things when used exclama.
torily, as it generally is, Usually, how
ever. to the beginner in the French
language it conveys the meaning OF
Here It is" That was about as far as
had progressed in my French educa-
tion at that time in regard to the many
varied meanings OF VOLTA. and de
termined that If it meant the baby then
it would retain its geographical loca-
ton indefinitely that is in the wom-
ans Jap over by the door or preferably
outside But her volta referred not
so much to the infant as to the story
OF how it came to be in her possession.
She talked volubly while | tried to as
sumo the defensive power of silence.
But to Frenchwoman well. silence
simply means what the jockey gives
the horse in the last heat encourage
ment.
From the verbal French cyclone she
hurled at me gathered a few frag
ments that enabled NE 70 understand
For three months she had been EN-.
ployed az nurse by an American wom-
an who had paid her good wages. Four
weeks previously, however, the mother
had returned 10 New York saying she
was going over for only two or three
days on an urgent business matter and
weuld return at once She had not seen
or heard of her since. Being woman
who had to work for her own living,
the baby was a burden on her hands.
She could hardly support herself. much
less provide for the infant and as the
child was OF American parentage she
thought the representative of the Amer
i lean government ought to take care
of it.
suggested that | would write to the
+ city authorities in New York asking as
to the genuineness OF the address that
: the woman said the mother had left
with her.
; And what shall | do during all the
; time you are waiting for an answer
} staryey"
My answer finally was a twenty
: franc gold piece, with which she de
parted. saying she would try to take
= = care of the baby until could hear
u from the New York authorities.
Now, the reasonable and the unrea,
. sonable part of the story is that since
= her departure. though the sun has
: risen hundreds of times she has never
: returned 1t had not risen more thar
/" seven times. however, before l learned
the reason.
- 1t was just one week later at an IN
- formal dinner of the sixteen consulS
who resided in the city that in the
course of a conversation with my Ital
ian colleague | told him the story o.
c the woman and the baby. What dC
you suppose he answered.
le We'll. well" be laughed why, tina
Is same woman came to my office, onl.
IS she had an Italian baby And though
"a was fortunate to get rid OF her TO
TO so francs
IS In the general conversation that fol
70 lowed / discovered that the woman
L had visited every one OF the sixteel
at consuiateS in the city, and by her abil
~ ity to change the baby's nationalit,
b. from English to German and from
r Haitian to Japanese and all the othe
colors of the rainbow she had extract
ed from the consular corps of that par
ticular French city the sum of II
=. francs.
ss This incident is just one Of a serie
~ OF similar experiences with frands an
takers a consul has TO face in the pei
: formance of his duties. --Thornwel
Haynes in New York Tribune
re- Who hangs himself In the chimne
taax 80 Har