Weekly journal-miner., 1915-11-03
BABY CONTESTS
 HAVE COME TO STAY
(From Wednesdays Daily.)

kIlOli W CulCsNdf S Odli9.J
 That the babies of Northern Ari- zona compare favorably with those Of the country at large and that the baby show as an institution has come to stay were some of the statements made by Dr. Mary Lawson Neff who as an expert conducted the psycholog- ical tests at the better babies contest held in Prescott last week.
 Dr. Neff is well versed in this sub jcct owing to long experience in con- ducting tests and acting as judge at a number of baby shows throughout the East and Middle West. The in terview was given yesterday as Dr. Neff left for Phoenix to establish he- headquarters at the Adams hotel dur ing the winter months. She is an ex- pert in mental and nervous diseases.
 Dr. Nef, who by her success in the medical line proves that woman can make good declared that the scien- lllC SCOllliS OI DSOlSS Was bNSuil III the Middle West a little over seven years ago as a part of the public health education movement. "The ob- ject," she continued, was to help mothers to bring each individual child to perfection by bringing out the de- fects, the giving of prizes being of secondary value.
 Tn a larger way the baby contests are part Of the movement for eu- gcnics. Every child has a right to be well born and it can be said Of babies as animals that breed is more than pasture" Good human stock is the most valuable thing that nature has produced. People realize this yet they have not thought very clearly about the matter.
 The first year that the sweepstakes baby rode at the head of the prize stock parade at the Iowa State Fair the dramatic effect produced was over whelming. The thousands of specta- tors cheered and waved handker- chiefs, which was to be expected but hundreds of them wept as if caught in the rush of some deep and unfore- seen emotion.
 50 the scientific baby show has come to stay and they are now held in every State in the Union. The babies at the Northern Arizona Fair contest. superintended by R. NJ. Bueh Ter scored exceedingly well and com pared very favorably with those in similar contests held elsewhere.
 The immediate benefit to the child is very marked as one baby had minor surgical operation performed before the fair was over as result of its being examined. Many have gene to their family physicians for advice as to the care of decayed teeth, proper treatment for adenoids, mus cular exercises to correct slight diff ference in the sides of the baby and care needed for several minor ail- ments.
 "This action was in close harmony with the general trend of the medical profession in developing the science of preventive medicine. Every human being should be kept to his or her maximum condition of efficiency and vigor.
 "The baby health contest does not raise the question, is the baby sick? but the question, how well ought the baby to be? this being the truer standard of real medical science.
 "In some of the States where the contests have been held for several years special buildings have been pro vided for them, Iowa in particular, having constructed a beautiful chil- dren's building. They are built with an ample series of rooms walled in with glass panels so arranged that the entire examination may be watched by the spectators without attracting the attention of the child.
 "At the Panama-Paciic Information al exposition this summer in the Child Welfare Bureau a week was devoted to the scientific scoring of babies. No prizes were given. During the entire fair children have been examined and score cards given. Many hundreds of babies have been examined in con nection with this exhibit"