The sun., 1918-11-24

thing Is that II proved a lovely baby"
That was IN Polish home OF two dark
rooms and the space under tho bed In
which mother and child lay was Allied
with kegs of liquor Another foreign
mother. who didn't have money to buy.
clothes for the expected baby. had four
SO bottles OF Columbia Club whiskey In
the cupboard. 1t Is mostly In Polish,
Russian and Irish homes that strong
drink Is found--the Italians have nothing
worse than wine
They are most hospitable, even the
poorest OF these mothers. and seldom does
a nurse return from q days round with
out presents In her pocket Mrs. Fur
man came into the Ladies' Auxiliary
room Mt the Lying-In Hospital yesterday
with half a. loaf OF extremely dry rye
bread, q lump OF cake hard enough 10
kill dog at sixteen PAGES and u hand
full Of nnhait. or thirst producing beans.
a Jewish family she had been visiting
had a bensucha. or party to celebrate
the birth OF a boy. and the bread, cake
and nahait were part of the refresh
ments. which they wished TO share with
the nurse. Nahait are queer looking.
little Russian beans, which. eaten with
plenty OF salt and pepper, awaken n
great thirst and enables the eater TO
drink more vodka, beer or whiskey.
1.-THE child was born this week, and
the benzucha was last night--it Is al
ways held Friday" Mrs. Furman said.
The festivities didn't seem to hurt the
child. They have a party when boy 10
born, but for n girl they have the
rabbits come and pray. One family down
here paid the men from tho synagogue
sl5 to come and pray for their baby,
and they are poor people too The Jew
ish boys Of course are circuIncised."
Nurse Saves Poisoned Child.
There Is much that the nurses and
cleaning women with all their devotion
can't save the babies from, but they
can do something. For instance, one of
them washing new baby In a little
fiat on Avenue A heard Shrek from
the adjoining fat. Dropping the wet in
FAINT into SIS mothers lap she rushed
in the direction Of the shrek and found
a distracted woman holding n year-old
child, to which she had Just admins
tered three grains Of codeine and four
grains OF phenacatin.
This medicine had Just been brought
from the drug store for her husband.
who was being taken to the hospital
with n bad case of pneumonia, and as
the packet looked like the ones the
baby's medicine came in she got the two
mixed.
Infections and emetics of hot coffee
and mustard saved the little one, who
was already getting stiff and clammy.
but II the nurse had been five. minutes
later getting on the job there'd have
been a white hearee before that house.
Curious things these nurses find as
they 20 about their business OF caring
for the new born babies or Of teaching
expectant mothers what they ought to
do Curious things the cleaning women
encounter as they dig and delve In the
filth that is In too many Of the homes
where babies come.
In one fiat on Ludlow street Miss
Berry one Of the nurses, found three
guinea pigs running about on the floor
along with dog and n cat and the
husband was frying eggs and potatoes
to give to the mother of a day-old baby.
She was just in time TO stop him from
numbering the woman with this meal
Here. too. the space Under the bed was
filed with bottles of vodka.
Hens frequently are found in these
homes, sometimes lying bound by the
stove, waiting to be killed. sometimes
Joining. In the family life and picking
UP the crumbs Mrs. Furman said one
family kept q hen twenty days because
Il had laid an egg every day and the
egg was $50 GOOD for the little girl"
In one place Miss Berry found a pigeon