Science Quarus lby's Dinner. |
+M. An Object Lesson to Young Mothers Regarding the Proper
$. Care of the Nursing Bottle.
i That the nursing bottle, either di
rectly or indirectly, is the cause of the
majority of deaths of infants is the
consensus of opinion among the best
medical authorities. Much as has
been written and prayed and preached
against it, there are few mothers who
regard the nursing bottle with the
proper amount of fear which it in
spires In the man of science.
"Always remember that there is a
risk—a great risk—however careful
you are, in bringing up your baby on
the bottle," was the advice given a
young mother the other day by Mrs.
M. C. Duuphy, the superintendent of
Randall's Island, New York City.
The young mother, the wife of a
well-to-ilo llarlem tradesman, had
gone over to the island to find out how
milk and milk bottles and nursing nip
ples were really sterilized. She had
read in the papers and the magazines
hundreds of directions, and none of
them seemed to agree, 01- else the di
rections were not worded plainly. Her
tliree-months'-old baby was not thriv
ing, and she very wisely determined to
have somebody show her exactly how
to sterilize milk and bottle and nurs
ing nipples.
Like hundreds of other woiftd-be
scientific mothers, this one had been
"sterilizing" milk by simply immers
ing the bottles in water and allowing
them to remain until the water reached
the boiling point, and as a matter of
„ fact the milk was thereby rendered
even more dangerous than before it.
had been sterilized.
The mother was then shown by sim
plified process how she could prepare
her baby's milk at home with the joy
ful certainty that after sterilizing it
was absolutely pure and germ proof.
At Randall's Island they have the
most complete facilities for the sue
cessful rearing of "bottle babies" of
any place in the world. The first pro
cess consists of straining the Bilk,
which is done by a patent separator,
for Randall's Island is raising just
now 140 babies on the bottle.
The straining of the milk is a most
important feature, and can be done
quite as well at home as at Randall's
Island. Mrs. Duuphy showed the
young mother how. Taking two yards
of cheese cloth which had already been
boiled twenty minutes, she folded this
into a little bundle about eight inches
square, laid it in an earthenware pie
plate and placed the plate in a hot
oven, where it remained until the top
fold began to get brown. A coarse
towel was also putin the oven at the
same time.
Nine little squares were cut out of
the cheese cloth with bright clear scis
sors. Three of these squares were lied
over common milk strainer, the milk
was poured through into another simi
lar strainer, similarly fixed witli steril
ized cheese cloth, and stiil through an
other strainer.
It is appalling how much dirt and
dust there is even in the cleanest milk.
PUTTING THE BOTTLES INTO THE BOILEK.
The milk was then put Into n largo
airtight bottle, and the bottle set into
Ice to get very cold, but not to freeze.
When Hutlicleutljr cold It was poured
Into an eight ounce nursing bottle- aot
one of the old-fashioned death-dealing
horrors with a long rubber tube, but
with just a single rubber nipple.
Mrs. Dunphy filled ten bottles, the
requisite number for one baby. The
bottles were iuserted in cylinders,
bound together for convenience by a
tin band. These cylinders can be
made l.y any tinsmith for twenty-five
or thirty cents per set of ten. The
bottles, corked up tightly, the cylin
ders were set in a porcelain kettle full
of lukewarm water, just large enough
to hold them without allowing them
THE COOLING I'IIOCESS.
to wabble. The kettle was placed on
a cook stove and the water allowed to
bubble and boil around the bottles for
not less than twenty minutes. Then
it was pronounced sterilized.
Lifting the cylinders out of the ket
tle, they were set in a sink and the
cold water faucet turned on. It is
very important that the milk should
be thus cooled and in running water
before being put i.i the icebox; if put
in the icebox immediately after taking
from the boiling water the milk gets
cold too quickly, and all the beneficial
results of the sterilizing are neutral
ized.
The milk must then be kept on ice
until time for feeding the baby, when
the bottle is again immersed in hot
water until the milk is heated to 08
degrees, or the warmth of mother's
milk.
After feeding, just as quickly as pos
sible, the bottle and nipple must be
rinsed in cold water, then putin a ket
tle with a piece of borax and allowed
to boil for twenty minutes.
While the bottles were boiling Miss
Margaret McCarthy, the assistant su
pervising nurse, showed the young
mother how to sterilize the bottles and
nipples after they came out of the
water.
"Never lay a bottle on its side, but
turn it up." said Miss McCarthy.
"Many mothers imagine if they have
boiled nipples and laid them on the
window sill to dry in the sun that all
the germs are destroyed. That is all
wrong. The warm sunshine only
warms Ihe little stray germs into life,"
Two folds of the sterilized cheese
cloth were then laid on a piece of
clean, unpainted board—a kneading
board is a good thing—and the bottles,
necks downward, were dropped into
the interstices of a wire rack and al
lowed to drain onto the cheesecloth.
The nipples were dried with a piece of
the same sterilized material and then
wrapped in cheesecloth. The remain
der of the cheesecloth was folded up
in the sterilized towel and put away
until time togo through the same pro
ceM In the evening.
The milk should be prepared twice a
day—mornings and evenings; that In,
enough should be prepared at one time
In the morning to last alt day, and In
the evening to last until next morn
ing. More than that should never be
sterilized, because, while the milk may
keep sweet a much longer time it loses
much of its nutritive power if allowed
to grow the lease bit stale.
If baby appears to be not thriving,
and the.mother can determine this by
weighing it carefully every other day,
then its milk is not agreeing with it,
and a physician should be consulted
immediately. The healthy baby will
increase in weight between certain
ages, while at others it will remain al
most uniform, but it will never lose
weight. The falling off in weight of
even an ounce or two means some
thing. and what tiiis something is none
but the physician should determine.
In just what proportions to dilute
the milk after it has oeen sterilized
and bottles and nipples made germ
proof, is a question often asked by
mothers through the columns of news-
papers. No general rule ran be formu
lated to answer this question. That Is
something which the physician alone
cnu determine. The formula that will
agree perfectly with one baby often
proves the death of another. Each
baby requires individual attention,
and the wise mother will avoid any
thing except professional advice re
garding the preparation of her baby's
milk.
If the mother at home will guard the
nursing bottle for one mite of a baby
with as much rigor as Mrs. Dunphy
and her assistants look to the bottles
for their 142 babies, the death rate
among city children might be reduced
DRAINING THE BOTTLES OS BTERILIZI3D
CHEESE CLOTH.
to a minimum within the next two
years.
The Randall's Island babies, poor
little waifs picked tip in doorways,
railway stations, deserted warehouses
and occasionally fished out of damp,
leaky old scows or garbage cans, wax
strong and flourish on a bottle diet,
while the child of well-to-do parents,
living in a comfortable home, often
dies of neglect—that is, neglect of the
milk bottle.
The Randall's Island babies are in
variably more dead than alive when
they reach the hospital. Every so of
ten when the shabby little bundle is
unrolled on arrival it is discovered
that the little feet are stiff and cold,
and many a feeble life ebbs out ere
the boat that carries the frail burden
is moored to the landing.
And still a larger percentage of these
babies live and grow into strong,
hearty children than any other class
of bottle-fed infants, not because they
are pampered and cared for like hot
house flowers, for where there are 142
babies there is no time for pampering,
but because the milk bottle is feared,
as it must be by all conscientious
mothers.—New York Herald.
A IJttln Mlfttnkr In
The chief officer of a Yorkshire yeo
manry regiment, while congratulat
ing one of the troops on its appear
ance, made a stirring allusion to the
medals worn by some army veterans
in the ranks. One of the men, a na
tive of Wharfdale, afterward went
home in a very thoughtful frame of
mind, and next morning he came on
parade with several medals on his
breast. Said the ollicer,"l didn't know
you had been In the regulars." "No,
I ain't," said the man. "Well, how
about the medals, then, my good fel
low? They can't be yours." The man
promptly answered: "Can't they! Aye,
but they be. My old coo won 'em all
at Otley Show."—Upper Wharfdale
Fox* II tinting Harioni.
There are still in England two rep
resentatives of the old-time fox-hunt
ing parson. These are the Ilev E.
Ing parson. These are the Rev. K.
nolds, who ar» respectively masters
of tta# Catllalvck uud Couiatou pac**
A UNIFORM FOR WOODMEN.
Drees For Cold Weather Adopted bj
Montana Foresters.
The forest superintendents and
woodsmen in Montana have recently
adopted a uniform, as shown in the ac
companying photograph, which will
be worn by them while ranging in the
public for-st reservations in that State
during the winter. These uniforms
have been submitted to the Secretary
of the Interior and the Commissioner
of the General Laud Office, and efforts
|
A MONTANA WOODMAN.
may be made to have all Government
forest employes furnished with similar
clothing. These men are exposed to
much bad weather. A suitable uni
form is certainly essential to their per
forming their duties satisfactorily.
Now that the forest reservations
have become a source of revenue to
the Government, the duties of the for
esters are more important, and their
instructions are more rigid. In ISOS
there was cut and sold about $.'500,000
worth of timber from Western forest
reserves. With proper care of the for
ests and an efficient corps of men to
guard against forest fires, it is ex
pected that this revenue will steadily
Increase.
Timber is in every country an im
portant natural product, and in this
country it has been especially plenti
ful. but up to within four or live years
the American forests were allowed to
run down and left in a bad condition.
Since Commissioner Binger Herman
became the official head controlling
the forests many schemes have been
instituted to repair the damaged for
ests, and their preseut improved con
dition is largely due to his strenuous
efforts. One of his most recent
schemes Is the telephone system,
which was established in California
last spring. This system was only an
experiment, but in all probability it
will eventually be extended to all for
est reserves in the United States.-
New York Tribune.
RUBBER BISCUITS.
The Shape In Which the l'arti Product
Is Shipped.
To form the biscuits, the natives
take long stakes of wood, sometimes
pointed at the end, and quite frequent
ly shaped like a paddle, dip them inio
the sap buckets or basins, holding
them in the smoke after each dipping
until the successive films of rubber
solidify around them. A biscuit of
Para rubber, therefore, represents the
slow and laborious accumulation of
hundreds of dippings, so that quite a
stretch of the imagination would be
necessary to arrive at the number of
dippings required to form the huge
Para biscuit Illustrated herewith,
which weighs 1120 pounds, and meas
ures four feet five inches in height.
nrnnrn BISCTIT.
1 three feet five inches In diameter and
nine feet four Inches tu circumference,
i Such Immense masses of crude uuber
1 are said to actually represent a loss to
the grower, being used principally by
Import 'is for exhibition purposes.
Sometimes the natives use a stone as
a nucleus, and, to prevent this method
of securing an Illegitimate profit, the
biscuits are split in halves before ship
ment so as to reveal the slake hole
runnitr: through the middle.
silent ICnltroHil Mgimts .
Hallway whls»les indict tortures ot«
s.t many iieople that Austria has Intro
duced us; sleiu of silent signaling
Belgium Is trying compressed air whis
tles Instead of steam, aud Germany
•Uperlißcuts with hums.
CHILDREN'S COLUMN
Her Name Is Peg.
In search from A to Y they passed—
<Vnil "Marguerita" chose at last—
But thought it sounded fat- more sweet
l'o call the bab.v "Marguerite."
When grandma saw the little pet
She called her ''darling Margaret."
Next, Uncle Jack and Cousin Aggie
Sent cup and spoon to "little Maggie,"
And grandpapa the right must beg
To call this lassie "bonnie Meg"—
(F"om "Marguerita" down to "Meg!")
And now she's simply little "Peg."
—St. Nicholas.
A Coxr lied for Doll 10.
A pretty doll bed can be nande from
a grape basket. Remove the handle
and replace one-tliird of the way from
the end. Line the basket neatly with
silkoline or cheese cloth, aud wind the
handle with a strip of the same, and
again with marrow ribbon, ending in
a bow at each end of the handle. Put
a ruffle, edged with narrow lace around
the outside of the basket. Enclose the
short end by fastening a canopy of the
material used to handle and edge the
basket. Fasten lace-edged curtains to
the top of the handle drawing to either
side, where they may be tied with rib
bon. Cover a piece of pasteboard to
fit the bottom of tbe basket and the
bed is ready for mattress, pillow, etc.
It is fine enough for the queen of all
the dolls.
Rare Intelligence in a Worse.
From San Francisco comes a story
of a horse that saved its life by hold
ing to a rope with Its teeth. At the
time of the Incident the horse was
being led across u gang-plank to a boat.
The tooting whistle of a tug caused
the horse to shy Into the water. There
was no place for theunfortunate crea
ture to get out and It looked as If It
would have to drown. As a last re
sort a man threw a coll of rope out to
the horse. The line no sooner struck
the water than the Intelligent animal
seized It between the teeth and held on.
In this way his head was kept above
water until a boat came, a hawser was
fastened around the horse's neck
and the creature was towed ashore.
The horse was valued at SIOOO, and
after its unexpected plunge was loaded
aboard ship aud went to Tacouia.
Everyday I.ove.
A group of little girls were telling of
the love each felt for her mother; and,
as the testimony went on, the strength
of the statements grew, each child
feeling obliged to surpass her mates.
Finally, one said positively, "I lore
my mother so much I would die for
her." The impressiveness of this de
claration subdued the circle. The cli
max had been reached. A wholesome
turn was given to the situation by the
quiet observation of a lady sitting
near, "It seems very strange to me
that a single girl that loves her mother
enough to die for her doesn't love her
enough to wash the dishes for her."
We who are older and know better
require just such homely reminders to
bring us back from our theories to our
conditions. The love that Is to"the
| level of every day's most common
needs" Is the only genuine kind.—Con
gregationalism
The Up«id»-I)nwn llmi*e.
A house topsy-turvy Is one of the
oddities described by George W. Cur
ren in an article in St. Nicholas en
titled "Play-llours at the Paris Ex
position."
Not far from Old Paris, in the Ilue
de Paris, a street crowded with con
cert-halls, burlesque spectacles, cafes,
and the many attractions and dis
tractions of modern Paris life, one
comes unexpectedly upon the amusing
Upside-Down llouse or Mauolr a
l'Envers. Did some great giant stride
through the avenues of the Exposition
in the de.'i'J of night, and, thinking to
play a joke on the world, pick up this
i stone castle, and set it upside down
i upon its chimneys and towers? At
j any rate, here it stands, the Gothic
i arches of its windows pointing down
j ward, its sculptors, coat of arms, clock,
flags, all In the same absurd position,
while through au open wind' . we
catch a glimpse of a room w> - chairs
and tables cling to the ceiling, and
waiters with their heads downward In
the air move about, bearing trays of
i eatables turned upside down to upside
1 down patrons sitting at the upside
j down tables. Has the law of gravita
i tion been suddenly suspended to bene
i tit the projectors ol' the Paris Exposi
tion? We cannot resist the temptation
to enter r.. „ J up—or is it down?—the
winding staircase in the tower. Above,
we find the various rooms, bedroom,
and even bath-room, all the contents
of which follow the strange law of this
strange house.
We discover, before long, that much
Is due to a clever arrangement of mir
rors, while other curious mirrors, con
vex. concave, and variously curved,
show us to ourselves In surprising aud
distorted shapes and attitudes.
Dmn rr'a Tli mk«.
"Help! Help!" buzzed Dancer, strug
gling wildly in the white creamy milk.
"Oh. 1 shall drown If some one does
not come quickly!"
"llullo! What's all this noise about?"
said a loud voice; and a pair of b g,
round eyes looked over ti e top of the
milk Jug. Poor littl Dancer nearly
fainted with fright, though the owner
of the round eyes did not seem at all
cross; but. putting in his . tiger, he
carefully rescued the little tly froiu
the milky sen. Little Dancer himself
was deeply Interested In what fol
lowed: the gentleman put bltu on •
pise* of rwd, hairy pspsr, wltlcli Quick
ly dried nil the milk. "Thank you
much!" cried Dancer, in fly language.
"I shall soon be quite well again now."
And, after n little while, he unfolded
his wings, and flew up to where his
brother and sister were dancing near
the ceiling.
One day, some time after tills, Dan
cer was crawling contentedly up the
window, when Brightwings, his eldest
sister, came flying up.
"Oh, we're having such fun!" she
buzzed. "Won't you come and play
with us? Do"
"Where arc you playing?" asked
Dancer, as they flew together into the
garden.
"It's such a nice place," said Bright
wings. "On a man's head that's not
a bit hairy."
She flew tip to the gentleman who
was sitting under the trees, and set
tled on his bald head.
Her brother, who had recognised his
friend of the milk-jug, followed her;
and they had a merry game.
But, in a few minutes. Dancer no
ticed that the owner of the head kept
putting up his hand as if to drive them
away, and making queer little noises.
"Stop a minute, Brightwings," he
said, "lie doesn't like it."
"Nonsense!" cried his sister. "What
does that matter? And why shouldn't
he?"
"I enn't tell you," laughed Dancer.
"But we musn't stay any longer."
"It's so jolly! I don't want togo!"
said Brightwings.
But Dancer was firm.
"If he hadn't saved me, I should
have been drowned," he replied. "And
we musn't worry him, and prevent his
going to sleep like that."
"Very well," said Brightwings. "Let's
go and have some jam!"
So the two flew off to the pantry,
leaving the old gentleman to finish hi*
nap in peace.—Cassell's Little Folks.
Sontflthlnc About Spldori.
If the world were not so full of "littl#
Miss Muffets" the children would know
more about spiders, as there are really
no more Interesting insects to study.
But as soon as the spider will sit down
beside her, then Miss Muffet ru;:s
frightened away.
Now, what she ought to do is to sit
perfectly still and watch the spider,
and take note of the interesting
things it will do. If it is the common
garden spider it will soon suspend it
sell' by a silken line or travel across
a cable bridge to the nearest twig or
branch.
It is a familiar sight to Miss Muffet
who takes early morning walks to
come upon the lines or webs of the
gossamer spider, a silken network,
studded with dewdrop diamonds,
spread over hedge and field. These
gossamers serve as balloons to the
spiders, and the apparent flight of this
wingless insect from tree totree, across
water and even through the upper
regions of air has been almost ns great
a puzzle to naturalists as the fly's walk
on the ceiling.
When the weather Is dry, warm and
still, some spiders will be seen hanging
motionless, head downward in the
centre of their wheel-like webs lying
in wait for prey, while others, at tlw
top of the b'.ades of grass or rail posts,
are patiently waiting for a rising
breeze to assist them in shooting their
lines high into the air. As these silver
threads are carried aloft the spiders
go along with them, and after a while
the threads are brought together by
the action of the upper air, and gradu
ally assume the shape of fleecy flakes,
composed of irregular silky masses.
When the upward current ceases they
fall to earth again, and numerous
winged insects are found entangled in
them.
Other welis for Miss Muffet to study
are those large, white sheets, sloping
downward into tunnels, numbers of
which are so frequently seen spread
out upon the grass and lower bushes.
These webs serve as a house to the
spider, who, sitting near the mouth of
the tunnel, and shaded by the dark
m ss of the covered way is ready to
rush forth and seize the first unfortu
nate insect to become entangled in the
fatal web.
Then there are the spiders who make
; their houses in curled up leaves. Of
j ten these leaves are used by the moth
! or spider, who is keeping a tender
watch over a bagful of eggs.
An interesting variety is the diving
spider, and perhaps Miss Muffet ha*
often seen shining through the water a
little globe, apparently of silver, which
: forms t'.;e perfectly dry apartment of
| tiie diving spider, in which, like a mer
-1 maid or a s, a nymph, it resides in
! comfort, and, unmoved by storms, it
; devours its prey at ease. It builds it*
house by first attaching loose threads
in various directions to leaves of
water plants to form the frame work
of its chamber. Over these It spreads
a transparent, elastic varnish like
liquid
air at the surface, and then plunges
down to the bottom of FJO pond, where
It U able to breathe for a long time,
and ford upon the water bugs.-New
York Tribune.
(nlonl tl of Travel.
Wherever the earliest colonies set
tled in America, they had to adopt tliu
modes of travel and the way* of get
ting from place to place of their prede
cessors and new neighbor:-, the Indian».
These were first, and uerally, to
walk on their own stout leu*; second,
togo wherever they could by water,
In boats. In Maryland and Virginia,
where for a long time nearly all set
tlor* tried to build thrtr homes on tha
buiks of the river* and bays, the
travel w«s nlmost entirely by boats, as
It wns between settlements on nll*tii»
great rivers, the Hudson, Connecticut
■ud Merrimack.