The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-10-26
Children's Ward Model of Efficiency for Care Of Lit tie Ones When Afflicted by Sickness-Description of Equipment
By DOLLY DALRYMPLE

ed people who believe that "a small one shall become a great state" and that to upouild humanity you must be- gin with the babies, gathered together to perfect these ideas, and then walk with me into the beautiful new central hospitar at Fairfield. which will be opened on next Wednesday and Thurs day, and see If you don't agree with me that the great Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad company had this idea tucked back in it's big brainy head when the foundation stone was laid for this splen- did structure.
 From the moment I entered the big doors which open into the offices beau tifully equipped and tastefully fur nished as I went from ward to ward, from kitchen and laundry to the beauti- full. spacious roof garden of the central hospital the other day. and saw the modern. up-to-date building. the very Hast word" as it were in hospitals, all that money and brain and brawn can make of such an enterprise. the feature that struck closer to my heart than any other, the spot upon which my eyes were riveted, and to which my attention was turned in happy adoration, was "the chill dren's ward" where little sick. helpless, suffering babies will be cared for. where precious little Iives>>will be prolonged,
 
 hearted doctors will minister to the wants and wishes of those small ones who shall become a great state"
 It was my good fortune to be shown over the 'central hospital by the ef- hcient superintendent of the hospital. Miss Mary Forman, whose pride in the beau tiful building and it's equipment is sec ond only to her ardent love of her work. Miss Fornan during her six years with the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad company has by her kindness and gentle ness endeared every one to her with whom she has come in contact, and from the beginning, when little cid shack of a hospital was first started, up to the present moment of the opening of the splendid new central hospital, Miss For man has done her share toward making this part of great company's work splendid and unqualified success
 MOST PERFECT SERVICE
 Looking toward the children's. ward, typical of cheer ad optimism of warmth and beauty, the governing impression comes to the mind of the beholder that here is the most delightful environment. the most perfect service. the most ade- quate means for taking care of little sick babies, that can be devised.
 The four wards, two for the white chill dren and two for the colored children. accommodate about 40 altogether. Ini- maculate little white beds built so that the patient is easily handled and com fortablv cared for. stand in rows with the whitest sheets. the whtest little pill low cases. the fluffiest, softest blankets, all making mp the perfect whole which
 is beautiful to look upon
 Here and there are tiny little tables sitting around with two or more little chairs arranged about them for the kid dies to play or write or build block houses or anything else they happen to want to do
 Over in wonder corner youll see a rocking chair" bit larger than the little straight chairs, and you can I'm agine some curly-headed blonde baby boy with big blue eyes sitting up in a lovely little dressing gown over his pa jamas, rocking away for dear life-a con valescent not quite well enough yet to go out on the adorable. big. lovely porches, but just out of his little downy bed, where maybe fever and aching and hurt have kept him for weeks.
 Again, over in another part of the room you'll see another chair, big and strong, but a baby chair just the same, and tEere your mind wanders to brown eyed baby girl with lovely ringlets about her rosy cheeks and she. too. is enjoying the peace and comfort of "the chjldren's ward" after a terrible Illness which has left her all fragile and fairy-liSe and wonderful
 I don't know anything about technical terms, the name of the wood work or the material that the floors are built of. or the thousand and one things that arch | itects and contractors and things used in building hospitals. but this do know about the,"the children's ward out at | Fairfeld--everything is modern. and won derful, and beautiful and that just kept saving to myself:
 1 .'Its all too uce and too pretty for darling little sick babies to suffer and be sick in, and just wish it wasn't a ! hospital somehow--but a beautiful play house for the babies, where they could enjoy themselves day in and day out with 1 t1feir cunning little games and pranks and fun
 DIET KITCHENS
 After you've seen all the ''diet kitch : 1 ems adjacent to "the children's ward. 1 their splendid equipment of cooking uten- sjls. all sorts of modern devices for keep ! ing food hot and steaming. all manner of new inventions about everything per 1 joining to babies. Miss Forman wants
 YOU to see the big, spacious lavatories, baths showers, gorgeously big tuDs ana everything of that sort of which she IS ! go proud and which she declares makes sickness much>easicr for little children and certainly gives the patient double chance for recovery.
 ] After a delightful hour spent in the children,s ward" Miss Forman suggests that we jump into one of the big cleo
 tric elevators and go down to the next 1 floor. where there is another big sur prise awaiting. And what do you suppose that surprise is? The most adorable ward | for little, bitty young minute ola babies, all comfy and cunning, with TOUT 1 little tiny basinette beds all in row, 1 and then two more, with the loveliest
 pale blue blankets which of course l sup nose meant girls" and lovely pale pinN l ores over in the other ward, which nat uraly you'd think stood for 'boys, but
 no indeed Miss Forman has an idea all of her own-the blue color scheme or screens. blankets and other things IS
 for the little white babies. While the
 mink color scheme is for the little colored | babies. ,s. .ha
 I wondered to myself if the beds, the
 t,risst little .basinettes'' affairs you eyer saw. were numbered and l looked all round to see if they were, but they amt no sich animal" I found out Ahu then begged to know how you could eel lone baby from the other, with whoie row of little 24-hour-old babies all Tn 3
 row if YOU didn't number them, put MISS Eorman only laughed and said tha' l wasn't a difficult thing to do
 NOTHING LEFT UNDONE | And do let me mention the long tapie in tbis baby ward. which is electricaiis naatad so. that the youngster may bs eiven his bath without catching cola jsnd-oh. well, there isn't single thins Jeff undone in the baby department from inc tiniest little old rattle sc l amuse the baby with to the sol,, l'ully