e .gaaf .
Ihe Omaha Sunday Bee Magazine Pa
A Chicago Hospital's Jj $ UM foe Kin (Soloooit) Said,
i
-uever system 01
Recording Baby
Foot-Prints, Which
Makes It Impossible
for Any
Q Doubt
4 About Its
Identity
Ever to
Arise
I 1 lV
1 v
r
& i
Impression of s bibya" tf
toot whloh wilt never, change f ' '
1 f; . AVIV- ,, 1,.. , ,t u-. , , - ? 'fi
v;X AV
I 7 , (
-4 ,Ji 4'-.
vv v Y iVW, .
"Jfnd ibe King (Solonon) Said,
Bring m a $word. Jfnd tbev
brougM a sword before foe king
"And toe Kin said, Divide foe
Ifoiag cbild In
two and 0t
Mi to tbe one
and balf to
foe ofoer'
I Kings,
Chapter 111.
v.24,25
The Famous
Painting of "Tha "
Judgment of Solomon,"
- by Raphael.
"If the footprint system
had only been known in
Solomon's day, the world
might have been poorer
by one proof of his wis
dombut the real mother
would have been spared a
most painful ordeal."
Thli footprint Mt.
novor bo oonfuotd with
that of any othor baby'
"
The Nurse in the Chicago Hospital Rubs Printer's Ink on the New-born Baby's Foot
AN Immense amount of unhapplnets
and Injustice has been caused In .
the world by the failure to estab
lish a person's Identity to prove beyond
Question that he was a certain mother's
child and could not possibly be any other.
All this trouble In future can be avoided
hy the new system of "taking baby's foot
tyrlnts," established in a Chicago hospital.
; As long ago as King Solomon's time
(the difficulty that might arise about a
child's disputed parentage was recog
nized. Most people remember the story
about Solomon's Judgment as related Is
'the first book of Kings, Chapter UL, and
If they dont. It should be recalled to
them.
There were two mothers Is Jerusalem
In King Solomon's time, ipersons very low
in the social scale, as we might say. They
came running to King Solomon and told
him an extraordinary story. The first
said that they both lived In the same
house and that' she became a mother
there and that the other woman had a
baby three days later. There was.no
other person In the house at the tune.
The first complainant alleged that the
other woman suffocated her own baby In
the night and, while the complainant was
asleep, stole her living child and put the
dead baby at her breast in its place. When
the poor mother woke up she was hold
ing a dead baby. The second woman de
nied the story and declared that the other
woman had really test her own child and
that she was trying to steal a live one.
All the wise men around King Solomon
thought that this was an Insoluble prob
lem, and the King appeared to think so,
too. I
Then King Solomon, acting very ab
ruptly, told to a fierce soldier, "Bring a
sword, divide tbe living child In two and
give balf to the one and half to the other."
The unfortunate baby, aa many ancient
pictures show, was held up by one leg,
while tha ruthless soldiers prepared to
shop It exactly In two, as If it were an
animal's carcass. We must assume that
King Solomon gave them s secret signal
sot to act hastily.
Immediately there was a shriek. The
woman who had made the complaint said :
"Oh, my lord, give her the living child,
and In no wis slay It." . (
But the other said, "Let it be neither
mine nor thins, hot divide it"
Then the Nurse Takes an Impression of the Foot on a Sheet of Paper.
King Solomon Immediately decided that
the woman who was ready to give up the
child rather than tee It killed was really
the mother and ordered that It should
be given to her.
This story shows that King Solomon
personally administered Justice to the
lowest of his people, and It Is one of the
best examples of his proverbial wisdom,
' for he had prayed the Lord to give him
"an understanding heart to Judge the peo
tfe" before riches, long life or any of the
other desirable things. v
For over 2,500 years that has been re
garded as one of the beat Instances of
dear Judgment Now solenee tells us that
the same problem can be decided with
mors certainty by s simple device, and
that we seed sot depend on the slim
chance of Hading a Judge with King Solo
mon's extraordinary wisdom.
At the Chicago Lying-in Hospital the
nurse in charge takes the new born baby'a
foot In her hand and covers It gently with
printer's Ink 'by mesne of s roller. Then
she transfers an Impression of the sole of
the foot to a sheet of paper. Then she
repeats tha process with tha other toot
Finally she cleans off the Ink with some
alcohol.
The baby may squeal s little, but the
proceeding does sot do htm the slightest
harm, and If he knew how It was safe
guarding his rights he would be delighted.
Other precautions ars taken to preserve
baby's Identity. A piece of tape Is tied
round Its wrist bearing s number and a
similar number is tied to the mother. The
baby's name la also written out on a ptecs
of adhesive plaster and pasted on Its
back. Some very sad cases of confused
Identity have arisen In large maternity
hospitals. Nurses have taken the babies
sway for soma purpose -and have failed
to return them to tbe right mothers. No
such cruel mistakes can occur in this
great Institution. I
Miss Jessie Christie, superintendent of
nurses la the hospital, and Hiss Mabel
Cannon, chief nurse of the blrthroom, re
gard the footprints as the most valuable
method of Identification.
Every child la born with a complicated
system of Itsea on tha soles of Its feet
and the surface of Its hands. These never
change. Though fingers snd feet grow la
slss, the lines (row with them sad tha
pattern remains true to Its Orst form.
Evidently this method of Identification
waa suggested by the system of keeping
linger print records, first Introduced by ,
the late M. Bertlllon, of Paris, and now
used -by every important detective fores
In the civilized world.
It has been found, however, that It la
much easier to take footprints than hand
or Anger prints of a baby. Tbe foot Is
larger and the baby curia Its handa uv so
persistently that It Is Impossible to ob
tain a satisfactory Impression. It must
be remembered that the finger prints used
by the police are usually taken from per-
' sons over twenty years old.
Upon the foot as well aa upon the hand
there Is a complicated system of small
lines, which sweep all over the Inner sur
face, and at certain points, generally on
the tips of the fingers, form a kind of
eentre. These central formations ars
known as whirlpools, loops and compo
sites. Many persons have the earns gen
eral type of line formation, but no two
persons have exactly the same pattern,
snd sny bns with s little experience can
Infallibly Identify s man from his finger
prints.
The police And the prints of the tips of
the fingers particularly1 useful, because
few persons allow calluses to form on
the tips, which srs the most essential
sgenta of the sense of touch. Even when
there are calluses, as Is common In tbs
palms of the hands, the lines still appear ,
through them,
The Finger Print Division of the United
States Navy has classified 1,024 primary
trpes of finger prints end -11,000 second
ary types. The same authority states
that there ars 1.700,000.000 people in the
world snd no two have 'finger prints that
cannot bo distinguished from one an
other. The line patterns on tbe feet and handa
have been banded down from ancestors
of countless thousands of years sgo snd
do not change during the life of an Individual.-
' The monkeys have similar
lines.
The lines srs due to ridges of llttl-,
papillae In the true underlying akin,
which contain the sensory nerves and
blood vessels.
T
Nature's Spring Tonics from Field and Garden
HE new green vegetables, now so plentiful by
a happy stroke of nature, are not only nutri
tious, but also contain medicinal properties so
much seeded st this time of the year.
All Spring greens might well be called veritable
"house-cleaners" of the human aystem. The cellulose,
or waste, In vegetable food encourages the peristaltic
motion of the stomach and lower Intestines; hence
vegetable eaters are very rarely troubled with con
stipation or torpid livers.
During May and June an excellent array of Spring
prodaots Is to be had not only by city Inhabitants who
patronise the markets, but by those living In tbe rural
districts as well. Most of the latter depend entirely
upon their home-raised products and upon wild edi
ble greens. 1
Fortunately, too, wa sre realizing more and more
every day the snperlor advantage of getting our medi
cine from tb markets rather than from the doctors;
for nature, after all. dispenses the best tonic,, and
certainly that most pleasant to take.
Nowadays the careful mother and housewife knows
her dietetics too well to have to administer the tlme-
nonorea outer dose to a protesting family. Instead
oujb ipujsco, ssparagus, rhubarb, dandelion,
she
Spring onions, etc., the food value of which seems
designed especially to take away that tired, droopy
feeling. She prepares them tastily and the unsuspect
ing family takes the dose with a relish.
Since not only the succulent cultivated vegetables,
but many edible wild weeds unfamiliar to the ma
jority of housekeepers are plentiful now, they should
constitute a large portion of the dally menu. In the
Spring category of those particularly rich In mineral
properties and of high medicinal value are dandelion,
both wild and cultivated; rhubarb, poke shoots, as
paragus, lettuce, water cress, soalllons, beet tops, kale,
spinach, Swiss chard, sour dock, sorrel, lamb's quar
ters, purslane and horse radish.
Green vegetables, such as asparSgua, spinach and'
dandelions, lend themselves easily to the combina
tions of milk In the cream soups. These soups are
nitrogenous, easy of digestion, and with whole wheat
bread and butter form an admirable luncheon or sup
per dish for children.
Even s tablespoonful of greens left over will make
a delicious cream soup.
In washing and preparing greens for cooking It Is
well to remember that It they ars thrown Into salted
water after washing It will thoroughly rid them of any
insect me wnicn might otherwise go unnoticed.
Oaavria-bt Ills, by the Star Oomsaar. Oraat SMUla miarkta Saaarva
Asparagus and all delicately flavored vegetables
should bs cooked in very little water, Just enough to
'cover,Tml dandelion and Strong flavored vegetables
require a generous quantity. All greens should be
cooked with the cover partly off. This gives them
better color snd s more delicious flavor. The average
housekeeper la careless aa to tbe time of cooking
vegetables, yet s vegetable la as much Injured by too
much or too little cooking as Is a loaf of bread or cake.
The water should be kept boiling constantly until
vegetables ars done. To let It stop impairs the flavor. .
In cooking greens s ham bone or bacon drlpplnga
which have been saved from time to time will b
found to supply s flavor that cannot be obtained In
sny other way.
Onions nsed discreetly are a tasty addition to sny
greens nsed la salad tons. When shredded and mixed
with mayonnaise they make a palatable dressing and
are very wholesome.
Lettuce, sines it contains alkalies, requires Sa add
condiment Dandelions form ons of tha most whole
some greens, containing as they do "taraxacum,"
which acta on the liver. Dandelion roots are cut Into
slices, dried and used medicinally by many Instead of
procuring their supply from tbs pharmacist ss most
cuy ioik oo-
, These ridges srs reproduced by the
outer skin or epidermis. t The epidermis
Is constantly being worn swsy, but Ss II
Is renewed the lines sre renewed with it
The finger tips have furnished a won
derfufly successful method of tracking
professional criminals. There la an oily
:. secretion is the skin, and when the flngei
tips touch s brass doorknob, a pass si
glass or any smooth, hard substance, thy
leave an impression. It this impression
coincides with one slready recorded si
police headquarters, the police know Just
who the man is.
The cleverest criminals have resorted
to all sorts of tricks to remove tbs svt.
denc. of their finger prints. Some have
gone so far as to slice off their finger tips
- with a knife, but apart from tha shock.
Ing pain this must causa It has the dls.
advantage of destroying the best part of
their sense of touch.
Others have committed their crimes la
, kid gloves, but here again the sense of
touch- is deadened. The cleverest trick
has been to cover the finger tips with
gold-beater's skin, which leavea sensation
largely unimpaired.
it Is satisfactory to know that this So
man peculiarity can bs made to serve
some nobler . object ' than catchml
criminals. .
If the system of keeping baby toot
prints had been adopted long ago, soma
of the most remarkable romances and
tragedies of history would never have
happened, or, at least, would have lost
their dramatic, features.
The famous Tlohborne case In England,
for Instance, could hardly have happened.
In that case a rough man from Australia
turned up and declared that he was the
, missing heir to the great, ancient Tkh
borne estates and title, who had beea
lost at sea. Strange to say, tbe missing
heir's own mother Identified the clslmeat
aa her son. Families were spilt up by
tha controversy, many persons ruined
and finally the claimant was sent to Jsll
for perjury. If the foot prists of ths
missing man had been preserved tha
claimant would have been laughed est
of court .
81mUar arguments apply to ths Charlie
Ross esse In America. For over forty
years an estimable and wealthy family
. waa kept in torture by impostors who
claimed to be the lost boy or to bs able
to produce him. There could have beea
no doubt In sny of these oases if aa lpv
presslon of ths real Charlie Ross's, (asj
prints had beea taken, st blrtb