Evening star., 1936-09-16
BY IRA WOLFERT.


: CALENDAR, Ontario, September
si6.-Eix o'clock is the hour, and the
morning sun is beginning to make its
influence felt through the thick morn
ing mists.
Rosy Is its light as it falls on horses
jingling in their harness, wagon wheels
,creaking over ruts, cows slouching OF
to pasture and on the sleepy, pouched
faces Of the vanguard of tourists al
ready lined up at the gate, waiting for
$50 to come and a view of the quin-
tuplets.
Sounds carry far in the quiet air Of
this country, and, as the tourists listen,
they can hear the laughter-perhaps
the wailiAg-of the five girl babies.
When one laughs, the five laughter
rents, great crashing gales Of laughter.
When one cries, the five cry-and the
ssound Of it Is something wonderful to
thear.
. At 6 o'clock, the babies are up and
-ehined and digesting their orange
Juice. At o'clock, they are wallop-
ding through breakfast. At 8 o'clock,
they are out in their expensive play
gard, tugging carts, sliding, climbing.
pulling the ears of woolen animals and
ethe eyes out Of dolls.
Glass Enclosed Playground.
The playyard is ringed around with
q glsss-walled shed, through which the
tourists file Before the glass, fine
meshed silver screening has been
stretched, and over it hang long caves
casting the windows into perpetual
shadow. With this arrangement, the
tourists can see the babies plainly, as
through thin, fine silk, but the babies
cannot see them at all. At most, ir
those moments when nthe sun is ex.
actly right, they see swift-moving
shadows, vague blur as of clouds rae
ing across a sunlit meadow.
The babies are fine, lusty, healthy
kids. Firm fleshed, rosy checked
sparkling -eyed, dewy-lipped. When
they fall, they say "oof!" and that's
all, no crying, no wimpering. But at
every fall, the moan that goes up from
the women tight-packed in the tourist
shed makes the wall of the banshee
sound soft as the plunk of a guitar
A sign enjoins silence. But it seems
impossible to still the means and the
huge roaring tide of "ohs" and "ahs'
and "cutes" from the assembled ladies
BY 1890, the quints are ready for
lunch and their afternoon nap. AT
2:30, they are back in the playyard
and, at S, they are ready for their
baths, dinner and indoor rioting. AT
Z, it's lights out until another day
The babies, Of course, have not the
faintest idea of the vast uproar they
have caused through the world and
the revolution they have made among
their neighbors. It is said that DR.
Allan Roy Dafoe himself, who seem.
to love the girls as . doting father
once snuggled his head In amongs1
them and whispered wearily, DO yor
know, you little things, what you have
done to us alp" For answer, they
pulled his ears and pinched his nose
and dragged his hair almost out OF
his head.
A Big Job, Says DIR. Dafoe.
DR.. Dafoe, asked to describe the
revolution made in his life by the
five girl babies, whirled his hand
around in a complete circle and
smiled helplessly at loss for words.
Man." he said, I've got big
Job here"
It's big and it's almost completely
strange. Only small part of it now
with the babies in good health-is
medical. An average Of 10 or II doc
tors from all parts of the world visit
him daily en- route to the nursery
and they indulge in obstetrical and
pediatrical chit-chat. Then, at least
twice day, sometimes three-and
that would make 1t morning, after
noon and evening-he visits Ibis" ba-
bies. In between times, he has some
few of his old patients who refuse te
give him up, who insist on coming tc
him for advice about their misery,
their backaches and the asthma OF
their plowhorses.
For the rest, his life is along an
nncharted, thorny, virgin road. Al
"boss," he handles as much busi-
ness in q month as his own previou,
lifetime had contained. Gradually
and day by day, he Is meeting and
entertaining hundreds Of the great
men of the earth.
Perhaps, deep down, these extraordi-
nary experiences have changed him
But to his neighbors he seems to be
what he has always been.
They tell a story here that illus-
~ uHuu-