The Washington times., 1936-06-19
MOTHER REARS
.14MARATH0N
CHILDREN
Mrs. Harrison Holds
One Unique Record
In Marathon
By FRANK CHAMBERLAIN
(Copyright. 1895, by King Features
Syndicate, Inc.)

Madeline Harrison holds the
record over all the other mothers
listed as contenders for the half
million dollar prize in the great
Millar Maternity Marathon. For
all the children borne by Mrs.
Harrison to date-and there are
IA of them-are still alive and
well. Each of the other compet-
ing mothers has lost at least
one child; one of them as many
as IL, with eleven still living.
But so far as Mrs. HarriSon'S
chances for winning are con-
cerned, they now stand one, two,
three, it seems. For with only
eight children born in the Speci-
fled time, she is in the race
with one mother who claims 10
but expects no more, three who
have nine each and who all have
expectations, and two others who
now have eight each, of whom
one has expectations.
Mrs. Harrison herself expects
visit from the stork about the
middle Of October. If he brings
her only one baby, she is sure
loser in the race: if twins, she has
a chance for a tie; if triplets, an
excellent chance to win.
She Ozark House"
Another contender who has
eight children born since october
81, 1926, but claims no expecta-
tions before the time limit ex-
pires, is Mrs. Manuela Darrigo.
She is regarded as a dark horse"
in the race for unless she is keep
ing back some of the facts to
spring as surprise when the final
date arrives, she doesn't appear to
have chance.
But Mrs. Harrison, cheerful and
philosophical, says it's all in Gods
hands. She has had twins twice.
If twins come in October-well,
that might mean lot to the
Harrison family. They're proud
of their independence, but they
could use to advantage any part
of that $500,000 that comes their
way.
Every cne of Mrs. Madeline
Harrison's IA children is alive and
healthy, and her ninth baby since
October, 1926, is due in October of
this year.
I'm praying that it will be
twins, or even triplets," the gay,
laughing mother says. Since she
has already had two sets of twins,
and if by luck she should have
tripletS, another contender must
have twins to tie her.
Husband Drives Car
Her husband, Ambrose Harri-
son, in the early forties, works
as a night operator on Toronto's
municipality owned street railway
company. They live in tidy brick
house on Pacific Avenue and never
have had to accept cent of re-
lief money, despite the fact that
it takes eight loaves of bread and
a pound of oatmeal every day to
feed them.
Papa Harrison cuts the chill
dren'S hair. Mama Harrison ties
up the older girls hair in rags
every night. Her own hair is per
manently' waved, and she has
dimpleS in her cheeks. She wears
a clean, sleeveless cotton dress
around the house, and one of the
things she would like to buy, if
she ever has enough money to
afford it, is nice, stylish house
dress"
Mrs. Harrison helps the children
with their homework, then plays
games with them until it is time
for them to go to bed. She doesn't
approve of their going to the
movies to see "a1l that love stuff"
And she doesn't know what the
family would do without Mary,
age 18, who is another mother"
to her younger brothers and Sis
terS.
Here Are Their Names
Now listen to Mrs. Harrison
name her children:
paul, the youngest, was born
in 1885; Dorothy came in 1888,
and Ann in 1892. There were
twins in 1880, Joseph and June.
There were twins, too, in 1928,
Ambrose and Jimmy. Gloria
came in 1927, Madeline in 1925,
Teresa in 1924, John in 1922,
Wilfred in 1921, Patricia in
1920, and Mary first of all in
1918.
81 agree with Mrs. Timleck
that the money should be di-
vided among all the mothers
with big families. One family
wouldn't know how to spend
such big sum-"
She was married at 21, and
thinks people should marry early
so that they can grow up with
their children. Whether she wins
y the Millar will contest or not,
she intends to go right on hav-
ing babies, saying:
IL love them, and they aren't
any trouble to have, and if
God wants me to have them, 1
don't mind one little bit"
She prefers having her babies
born at home, so that she can
keep an eye on the other chill
dren.
Then there's the Darrigo fam
lily. Steffano and Manuela and
their IL children live on Parlia-
ment Street in five rooms.