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very desirable that classes should be held to teach young girls of
the ages specified how to take care of infants. With the poor
" the little mothers " are common features of every squalid street.
It is high time that their education in baby-craft should be
seriously undertaken. In the New York slums, this problem is
being successfully accomplished. The little mother, that pathetic
figure, a girl of 10 or 12 years, deprived of her heritage of childhood,
is forced into the hazardous position of foster-mother to each
succeeding family baby until she herself becomes a wage-earner or
a wife.
The New York " Little Mothers' League " teaches these young
girls how to wash and clothe baby, the importance of fresh air,
the care of the milk and milk bottle, the preparation of barley
water, and the hygiene of the home.
Illustrative Cases.
1. The family occupied one room. The father was in prison
for ill-treating his wife. The mother went out daily to work at
10 a.m. and stayed out all day. The baby, four months old, had
bronchitis and was left in the care of a girl 11 years old. It was
unwashed at 11.30 a.m., and clothed in a flannelette shirt, one
petticoat, and a stiff binder, all filthy. The baby was fed on a
patent food by the child of 11, who, at the first visit, was
excessively dirty and engaged in scrubbing out the floor. The
family had paid no rent for two months. There was another
child, 2 years old, ricketty, thin, under-sized and dirty.
2. The family consisted of the father, mother and four children
(including the baby) and slept on the stairs of " buildings" whenever
and wherever they could as " they had no money to pay
deposit for a room."
8. The baby was 3 weeks old and the third child. It was being
breast-fed. All the children were living. The father was an odd
or casual waiter and earned 14s. per week. The baby and the
eldest child had Ophthalmia. The mother was giving them home
treatment by pouring cold milk from a beer jug into the eyes of
both.