Newspaper Page Text
'HillAdopt 15Babies of/5Races
A Curious Experiment Undertaken by a Weathy Chicago
Woman to Prove That All Nationalities Can Dwell To
gether in Peace and Mutual Respect and Brotherhood
A Little Philippine Island
Baby Mrs. Bishop Hopes
to Adopt.
M RS. L. BRACKETT BISHOP,
of Chicago, has decided to
have fifteen babies of differ
ent races in her house.
Her principal object is to show
that children of the most diverse
races can live in harmony together.
She is very fond of children and it
will give her great pleasure to edu
cate fifteen little ones.
Her pleasure will be increased by
‘he great variety of her family. If
she had fifteen little American chil
dren, all of about the same size and
color, she might have some difficulty
in telling Johnnie from Willie, but
she will never have any trouble
ibout distinguishing her Eskimo
from her Patagonian protege.
She says that she hopes to prove
that children of all races can grow
equally high in the scale of intelli
gence and that there is no such
thing as racial inferiority.
Mrs. Bishop is a noted worker in
many lines of social progress and
reform. She is interested in woman
suffrage, temperance and club work.
At the time she was married she
was in charge of the National Tem
perance Hospital, in Chicago.
At present Mrs. Bishop and her
husband are occupying a handsome
suite of apartments at the fashion
able Chicago Beach Hotel. She will,
of course, need a very large house
for her children.
Mrs. Bishop has established three
co-operative homes in Chioago s
South Side, where women employed
in stores may live with their chil
dren and enjoy all the comforts of
private homes.
"By my experience with the
babies,” said Mrs. Bishop in an in
terview, “I expect to demonstrate
the utter foolishness of race preju
dice. It will be a concrete and
happy example of the brotherhood
of man. I believe the plan is abso
lutely feasible. Chicago has brought
up fifteen different races with suc
cess. Why isn’t it equally possible
to bring up fifteen little people of
different race types?
"I believe that I have had suffi
cient experience as a teacher to
know what can be done with chil
dren if they are handled in the right
way. My training in the Hahne
mann Hospital has taught me the
physical needs of the child and how
to minister to them. I have always
felt the deepest interest in children.
I believe that the children in this
new home will in a measure take
he place of the two little girls 1 lost
In infancy. I had planned so much
or their early training and later
education. ..
“I am a firm believer that chii-
dren should be allowed to teach
themselves. For instance, when our
son was a little fellow he wanted to
sleep outdoors. That was his own
prcposal, so we put up a little tent
for him and let him try it. He
braved it out all right until 10
o'clock, when he crawled back into
the house to his own bed.
“I have always wanted t° al J°P
chi’dren. I have always felt that
race prejudice does a great injus
tice to many, many persons,
want to settle this problem, 1but t
are making a start in the right d' r
tlon. In the sight of God there s n
difference on account of color
race. Every person is entitled to
every possible opportunity in
development of his life. .
“I am a born democrat in the
>
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'V; f'.
A Little Jap Who May Join
the “Polyglot Family.”
widest sense of that term. As the
Irishman says, ‘Everybody is just as
good as everybody else, and a little
bit better.’ I know that others are
anxious to help with this particular
plan of mine. I have received doz
ens of letters offering assistance in
the selection of the babies. I should
like to take these babies as near to
the age of one year as it is possible
to get them. A house with plenty
of room and playground space must
be secured. The babies will not be
pampered and spoiled. They will be
brought up in the natural way, for I
do not believe in suppressing the
individuality of the child.”
Mrs. Bishop intends to secure
baby specimens of the Eskimo, the
Negrito, the Japanese, the Chinese,
the Arab, the Amu, the Gipsy, the
Hottentot, the American Indian, the
Hindu, the Moor, the Malay, the
Finn, the Patagonian, the Thibetan,
the Laplander, the Egyptian, and a
few specimens of races from widely
separated parts of Europe, such as
the English, Swedes and Spaniards.
The babies will be chosen from
races as widely separated as possi
ble by distance and climate.
“Race prejudice, in my opinion,
is one of the greatest obstacles to
the progress of humanity,” said
Mrs. Bishop. “It prevents people
from learning what is best in the
life of other races. The misunder
standings due to it lead to horrible
wars.”
In the new Bishop home a child
will be taught to look upon any dif
ference in the face of its neighbor
as a pleasant variation designed by
the Creator. The fair-haired little
girl from Sweden will Team not to
run away from the woolly-haired
little Hottentot from Africa as if he
were a demon.
“My children will grow up in such
an atmosphere of tolerance and love
that when they leave this home they
will spread the gospel of universal
peace and brotherhood all over the
world,” concluded Mrs. Bishop.
“They will do more for peace than
societies and meetings of grown-up
people can do.”
Many facts of great interest can
undoubtedly be learnt by watching
the development of these little chil
dren of strange races. For instance,
the members of nearly all other
races but Europeans and Americans
of European descent have very fine
teeth.
Is the quality of their teeth due to
their structure or simply to habits
of life? As the little Hottentot and
Malay babies will have to live on
American food, we shall be able to
see whether that will give them de
fective teeth such as most American
children have.
The Chinese and the many mil
lions of allied Mongolian race are
remarkable for the strength of their
nervous systems. They can endure
intense pain and long-continued dis
comfort which would kill an Amer
ican or drive him mad. We shall be
able to see whether this very desir
able nervous solidity will disappear
under American conditions of living.
Mrs. Bishop w r ill apparently en
counter some extraordinary difficul
ties in bringing up her curiously
diverse family in the same home.
For instance, the little Eskimo is
used to the most intense cold. His
race has been accustomed to it for
uncounted generations.
In a hot climate an adult Eskimo
becomes prostrated and is liable to
die. Will an Eskimo baby be able
to accustom himself to the Summer
climate of Chicago?
On the other hand, people from
Central Africa and the trwpical re
gions of the earth require a great
deal of warmth. Exposure of the
skin to the sun and air is necessary
to their existence, but they cannot
endure such exposure in a northern
Winter. How will Mrs. Bishop be
able to look after the health of her
Eskimo and her Hottentot baby in
the same nursery?
Scientists have for some time dis
cussed the advisability of conbin-
ing the useful qualities of various
races in order to produce a more
efficient type of humanity. The
later careers of the babies in the
Chicago home may be guided so as
to help in solving this problem.
Immense deposits of coal and
other minerals have been found in
the Arctic regions. The civilized
world is desperately in need of coal,
but the Arctic climate is sucl) that
white men can hardly work in it.
The Eskimos can endure the cli
mate, but they are too lazy and un
intelligent to work.
If we could produce a halfbreed
with the climatic endurance of the
Eskimo and the strength and intelli
gence of the white man, we might
solve one of the most difficult prob
lems of living. At present there is
a strong prejudice against such a
mixture of races, but scientists say
that it is the rational course to fol
low. One of the principal objects
of Mrs. Bishop s experiments is to
remove the prejudices that exist
against race mixtures.
The tropics contain immense stores
of wealth in the shape of minerals,
food and vegetable products of
which we are greatly in need, but
then again the white man of tne
temperate zones in unable to work.
The native, be he Hottentot or
Malay, can stand the climate, but
he will not work. If we could cross
the most energetic white race with
the climate-hardened tropical native,
we might obtain very valuable re
sults.
To this mixture we might add a
strain of Chinese, because that race
endures pain and hardship so calm
ly and philosophically.
It is Interesting to know that a
new mixed race has been evolved in
the Hawaiian Islands to meet the
new conditions and Is said to be
giving splendid results. According
to a high authority from the Islands,
this race consists of seventy-five
parts Japanese, forty-five parts
Chinese and ten parts Anglo-Saxon.
It also includes a smaller touch of
Portuguese, Korean and Porto Rican,
with slight French and Spanish in
fluences.
The new people are said to be
extremely handsome and well built.
They have a beautiful, rioh dark
brown skin and fine eyes. They
meet all the requirements of cli
mate and industrial efficiencj admir
ably. The climate is hot and dis
inclines a white man to labor. The
work required in the sugar fields
is severe and the full-blooded Haw
aiian was unwilling to do it. The
new mixed type does the work well
and enjoys good health.
Mrs. Bishop believes that her eu
genic experiment will produce many
valuable results of this kind and go
far toward realizing that universal
peace and brotherhood of man, for
which all good people hope.
A HOTTENTOT
MOTHER—CHILD
(£) UNDERWOOD $ UNDERWOOD
Mrs. L. Bracket \
Bishop of Chicago
Who Has Her Husband’s Hearty Approval of Her
Unique Undertaking.
How to Be Your Own Weather Prophet
T HE United States Weather
Bureau is supposed to predict
the weather we are going to
have. It guesses wrong more fre
quently that it guesses right. A vast
numbc’- of people depend more upon
local and unauthorized forecasters
than they do upon the official predic
tion. This is particularly true in fish
ing and farming communities. These
unofficial forecasters depend upon
natural signs for their predictions
and their deductions are based upon
a series of observations that in many
cases have been handed down from
father to son for generations.
A community of weather prophets
that has the most honor, not only
out of their own country, but in it,
dwell in Berks County, Pa. There
for years lived the venerable Elias
Hartz, the pioneer "goose bone man,’’
who foretold the Winter by the size
and location of dark spots on the
breast bone of a goose.
We may ask by what means a
goose can form sufficient dark spots
on Its sternum, or muskrats can know
months in advance of Winter that it
will be necessary to build their
houses higher, when the Govern
ment's official forecasters can do
nothing of the sort The answer is
that the causes which make a cold
or an open Winter may begin to
operate early in Summer, and that
the phenomena noticed are some of
Copyright, 1913,
their results. The muskrat doesn't
build his house higher because he
knows the Winter is going to be cold,
but the same factors that later pro
duce the Winter weather stimulate
thus early his building faculty also.
How do the common house swal
lows of New England know in Sep
tember that it is time for them to
fly South? Clearly by subtle climatic
changes to which they are sensitive,
and to which we an dthe Weather
Bureau are not.
The goose bone method still holds
the place of honor, but there are.
many other signs as implicitly be
lieved in. Here is a collection of
the most weathered, most tried and
best vouched for. They have been
compiled from a hundred of Berks
County's most honored prophets.
An early departure of birds indi
cates an early Winter.
If the ground is white on Christ
mas it will be green on Easter.
An early fall of leaves indicates an
early Winter.
When the leaves of the trees turn
red early in the Fall, the subsequent
Winter is sure to be long and severe.
A heavy crop of nuts and persim
mons indicates a heavy Winter. This
was the case this year, both crops
being exceedingly large.
Long bristles on hogs, as well as
long and shaggy hair on horses and
cattle in Fall, indicates a long Win
ter.
by the Star Company. Great Britain Rights Reserved.
i
The Weather Telling Goosebone. It
Is Divided, as Diagram Shows, Into
Months. The Size, Position and
Degree of Darkness of the Spots
Indicate the Severity of the Win
ter and the times of Snow and
Cold. This Bone for 1914 Shows
Open Weather Up to the Middle
of December and Severe Weather
Into April and May.
If the hull on shellbarks and wal
nuts is thick it indicates a long and
severe Winter.
Whenever the husk is found to be
close and tignt on the corn ears, the
Winter will be severe. This was the
case this year.
Tliick shells on onions indicate a
hard Winter.
If in the Fall it is found that the
hair on the squirrels’ feet extends
down over the claws, or that the
feathers on the legs of partridges
extend almost to the claws, the Win
ter will be severe.
If between Christmas and New
Years the geese waddle in mud, they
will do so every month of the fol
lowing year, for the ground will not
be frozen.
Whenever on September 29 the
wind comes from the south, the Win
ter will be late and mild.
If the weeds are plentiful and tall
in the Fall, the snow will be plenti
ful and deep.
If the month of November is a
warm month, the Winter will be
severe.
The number of days from the first
snow fall to the end of the month
indicates the number of snow falls
for the Winter.
A heavy fur on cats, wild bears,
raccoons and opossums all indicate
a severe Winter.
If the leaves of the trees and
grape vines do not fall before
November 11 the Winter will be a
long and severe one.
If trees are covered with a thick
layer of moss on the north side the
Winter will be severe. The moss
will be a protection from the north
winds, sleet, hall and snow.
If wild bees gather a large store
of honey Winter will be a long one.
If the weather is pleasant on No
vember 23 and 24 the Winter will be
mild, but if the wind is from the
aorth it will be severe.
The early moulting of domestic
fowls means early Winter; otherwise
the Winter wiil De late.
If the spleen of hogs is short and
thick the Winter will be short.
If the scales on the buds of trees
are short and thick the subsequent
Winter will be severe.
If there is ice in November that
will bear a duck, there will be
nothing thereafter but sleet and
muck.
If horses and cattle have a raven
ous appetite in the Fall the Winter
will be a long one.
If nuts are plentiful the Winter
will begin late but wiil be long and
severe.
If tortoises go down into the
ground early and burrow to an un
usual depth severe Winter follows.
If corn husks are very thick and
the stalks lean to the west, watch
for a bad Winter.
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