Evening star., 1923-07-04
g M a m m y Cora"
SOOthes BrO,Us and
CrOOr,s Melodies.
By w. HI. CLAGETT.

With the mother-look in her kindly
eyes, Nanny Cora" soothed the few
erish brow of the emaciated form
stretched across her lap as she hum
med an old southern melody to lull to
sleep the newest arrival at the Chill
dren's Country Home.
But the sickly little baby girl. wan
and wasted from the ravages of malnu
triton, refused to sleep. Yet, neither
did she cry, nor whine, nor toss from
side to side. She lay motionless, her
tiny bones straining the taut-drawn
skin, her shriveled fingers clutchIng a
broken toy and her sad, doelike eyes
staring wistfully out into space as If
striving to fathom the meaning of it all.
Nor did the tired head turn when
pretty Lolita, fresh and buoyant from
her three weeks stay at the home, fol-
lowed by twenty-five other carefree lit
tie convalescents, rushed up to bid the
old colored nurse goodbye before leav-
ing for her home.
Learn to Play.
mot so much noise, children" eau
toned NANNY Cora" In a whisper, as
tot, who but a short space back had
been cuddled to her breast just as the
mite who now lay stretched upon her
lap. rGoodbye, honey. Be n good girl
and try to keep we'll" Then raising
her finger to her lips she emitted low
"shur-r" and waved the young merry
makers back to their play.
viii this little girl ever play like
the others?" asked the writer as he
approached the old nanny from be-
hind a wing Of the house.
oh, yes. sir" was the CHEEKY re-
sponse. She'll be all right in a
short while. I've seen 'em worse off
than this when they first come out
here. See that curly headed boy over
yonder on the hobby horse?" point
children at play. 1.-TWO weeks ago
he could hardly breathe, all done up
from bad case of pneumonia, and
look at him now" Then. tenderly
added. Helen will be out there with
them before long, won't you, darling"
Happy, ROllicking Group.
Delighted at the encouraging pre-
diction, and fully aware that Nanny
Cora" desired absolute quiet for her
charge. I beat a hasty retreat to
join the group of rollicking young
sters at the other end of the grounds.
And such a group as 1t was. Twen-
ty-five or thirty light-hearted. healthy
looking, happy boys and girls. the
former ranging In ages from three
to eight years, the latter from three
to twelve, all under the watchfui care
of Miss Anna Hyatt. the supervisor;
Miss Elsie Macdonald, her assistant,
and Miss Elizabeth smith, mousse
keeper, romped over the spacious
grounds to their little hearts con-
tent.
Swings, hammocks. sliding boards
and sandpits all contained their fuil
quotas. while not a few waited turns
to mount spark Plug" the very pop
ular hobby horse, which. according
to his looks, has been at the nome
many seasons.
10000! The man. is gonna, take
little brother when the camera was
displayed. Come on, everybody
he's gonna take our picture" And
in another second a wild rush for
the porch was indulged in by all.
House Rests on Knoll.
OF the many charitable encamp-
ments in and around Washington
none is doing greater good for the
underprivileged children of the city
than the Children's Country Home,
which throws open its doors during
the months of June. July, August
and September each year.
Hidden in the woods off Grant
road. about a half mile from Con-
necticut avenue, the house rests on
a slight knoll entirely surrounded
by wonderful trees, shrubbery and
flowers, and here each year more
than 100 little ones convalescing
from non-contagibus diseases or
from, debility incident to the hot
weather are restored to normal
health by the good nurses in charge.
The children are sent by the diff
ferent hospitals and charity organ
izations throughout the city and
nothing Is left undone by the board
of managers that might add to their
comfor during their stay.
Application cards for admission are
sent to the various charity organf-
cations by the supervisor, but these