The true Democrat. [volume] (Bayou Sara [La.]) 1892-1928, 1916-07-15
vAE STORY OF the DOORSTEP
BAHY,

10 H4Hstbit lkHofaif aHs 's"'"'
Deserted ny his father. unweicomed by
his mother. 1t IL wonder that the mite
OF humanity did not fit back to the
great Unknown, giving up life as a
most unpromising outlook.
However. he blinked his eyes at a
grey world. reached uncertainty for a
motherhand which yielded no response
aud raised his voice In piercing
vail. II WIS that determined, insisteat
vail which settled his fate. Ills dis
couraged mother looked at him In grim
despair. A baby with lungs like his
was real handicap for an unframed
woman with her way 10 earn, Who
would pay wages to woman bardened
with a wailIng baby And where was
the money coming from tn pay some
one to keep the baby while she worked
Decidedly the situation was desper'
ate. So the young mother did what
hundreds Of her kind have done before.
In the dim, silent hours of very, very
early morning, she stole TO the City
Hospital and laid her baby, warmly
wrapped, on the steps where she knew
I, would be found and taken In. along
with the milk and the morning papers!
When the fne. whitehead nurses of
the City Hospital sas the little strang'
er thrust upon them. they sighed, Here
was another fight 10 be waged against
the legions Of danger which encompass
the unmothered child. artificial feeding,
ignorance Of the ehlid's constitutional
heritage, institutional instead of indi.
vidual care Perhaps the good angels
who guard little children whispered
into Edward Deans ear 10 be very
good baby and earn something better
than a number in an asylum for found
llngs, For certainly Edward developed
into a model baby. No matter what
the nurses did for him. II seemed just
the right thing. Modified milk gave
him strong bones, firm flesh. sturdy
muscles. Regular bathing and COM
Portable clothing gave him soft,
smooth skin Plenty of sleep In a
weityehtilated room gave him steady
nerves. And the love Of the nurses,
who simply could not withstand his
wlnsome nature. kept him smiling and
happy The nurses began 10 take pride
In the little man who was responding
wonderfully 30 their intelligent care
and feeding
Jersey City had a Better Babies Con.
test. Edward was entered in the con.
test. And then. II such thing were
possible, Edward was given even more
careful attention. His life became a
regime of nursely guardianship that
ran by charts and hours. He was
weighed aud measured before an In
terested audience Of Whitehead women.
lie gas fed by the clock, each feeding
weighed and measured, even az Ed.
ward had been. And without knowing
one baby from another. without having
seen a single baby examined In Jersey
City. the director and her clerical
workers began 10 figure the cards. as
they had done for many other nearby
contests The work went forward In
a businesslike way until one of the
workers with uplIfted pencil exclaimed;
Here's a perfect bahy'"
Nov, anding perfect baby Ia an
event even In Better Babies Bureau
TO which hundred thousand score
cards come In year Much excite.
ment aud comparing OF figures and re-
adding followed and when i, was all
over, with the leo per cent record
above challenge, the Jersey City com
mIttee announced that the perfect baby
vas founding. who owed his good
health and fine looks TO the unremIt
ting care OF hospital nurses.
So II came about that Edward Dean
won the Woman's Home Companion
gold medal and was duly scheduled for
exhibition al the closing exercises
when prizes were TO be awarded. Hut
fairy godmother had not yet
finished her work Among those who
attended the closing exercises OF the
contest we're MIR and Mrs. James
Hanley. Of GautieF Avenue. They Just
neede$s better baby In their home.
and who could be better than Edward,
with perfect score and a sweet dispo-
aition to his credit? So Edward was
taken To his new home and placed on
trial Al the end Of six months he had
proved himself best baby indeed, and
on April nth Judge Mark A. Sullivan
pronounced him the legal son OF Mr..
aud Mrs. James Hanley.
Luck?