THE ' OREGON - SUNDAY JOURNAL, PORTL AND, SUNDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER ' 5," t!920
Scientific Cultivation of Oregon
Babies As Applied By
The Congress of
Mothers
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By Earl C. Brownlee
"TVID the baby in your household
measure 25 M Inches from "Up
to tip" at 6 months? Did It, at
the same age,, weigh 16 ft younda
and have a chest -circumference of
17 U Inches?
If it did It undoubtedly will qual
ify as a "reg-ular fellow" among
Oregon voters some years hence
voters who promise, withal, to con
tttltute a human family of unusual
physical and mental proportions.
- Intimate study of more than 12.
675 of Oregon's new generation,
the little folk between 6 months
and 5 hi . years of age, has revealed
on a scientific basis the physical
superiority of the babies of Oregon
as compared with thoqe born In
Eastern states.
That number of ' children has
been tested by the Parents' Edu
cational bureau of the Oregon Parent-Teacher
association since the
institution of Its broad, successful
and purposeful activity a little more
than seven years ago.
But the facts and figures that
prove the physical advantages of
children borr In Oregon's delight
ful, healthful climate are not con
fined to a study of the sons and
daughters of pioneers. They en
compass the young hopefuls of 22
nationalities those who by their
birthright are coming Into a her
itage of America's wonders and her
privileges.
A review of the work of the bu
reau,, which Is conducted under the
direction of a committee headed by
Mrs. A. F. Klegel and directly in
charge of Mrs. A. Bayly as super
intendent, is one of the most in
teresting studies possible, for it
concerns humanity .at that one
stage in life's game where the odds
re even, where every tiny tad toes
the mark equally for the race into
the future.
To say, however, that the start is
equal is to employ an "average"
meaning, for Mrs. Bayly'a statistics,
gathered through seven years in
the study and care of Oregon's ba
bies, shows that the average baby
scores, according to the severe tests
of the bureau, 91 per cent perfect.
There are many, unfortunately,
who score farbelow that figure and'
their showing brings down the
much higher scores of many others
when the average is struck. It is
to remove that word "unfortunate"
from such stories as this that the
bureau was created and for which
it is laboring with continually In
creasing success.
The scientific examination and
coring of Oregon children under
i yeara of age is only one of the
many works of the parents' bu
reau, and, as a matter of fact, ona
f its lesser purposes. It was cre
ated primarily to educate mothers
and fathers in the care and culti
vation of their sometimes frail
charges that they might produce
super men and women as their
contribution to the population of
the state and nation.
Oregon's average scoring of 91
per cent has brought expressions of
surprise from the East, but those
expressions have had an awed and
admiring tone when they have re
sponded to the Information that a
very great number of Oregon babies
score as high as 97 per cent, with
an unusual number showing phyi
ical perfection with scores of 100
per cent. '
The Eastern eugenic test basis is
totally uneuited to the examination
of Oregon babies, Mrs. Bayly de
Clares, for it is designed for child
ren of lower physical standard and
It would be manifestly unfair to
the parents of sturdy little tots
like the average Oregon baby to
submit to a test where it would
fairly "burst the tape."
The measurements of the Ore
gon etigenlca test for a baby of 6
months are: Height, 2Sft' to 27 H
Inches; weight, 16ft to 19 pounds;
circumference of chest, 174 Inches;
circumferance of abdomen, 16
inches; chest, from given line in
front to back, 4H
inches; lateral
diameter of chest, 64 inches;
length of arm, 10 inches; length of
leg, 11 Inches.'
But that is only one part of a
test that covers every physical and
mental feature of the child's de
velopment. There is provided an
equally exacting test of the eye,
ear, nose and throat; an oral and
dental test that omits nothing and
a general .physical survey that In
cludes the actionof the body or
gans, covers nutrition, skin, scalp
and even posture and gait.
The Oregon tests are the com
bined, product of the studies of 11
ggakz'z'S JUaX
doctors. Its tabulation has been
copyrighted by the bureau and held
out as a model very generally.
.For the first five years of the
bureau's work there -was a warm
public reception, but nothing com
pared to the present demands. Ap
proximately 30 babies are tested
erigenically each week by a staff
of volunteer doctors at the bureau's
office in the courthouse. Seven
doctors and dentists are present on
eaich of two days every week for
the free performance of this serv
ice of bringing into being, through
proper advice and scientific guid
ance to parents, a race of splendid
Americana.
The test is only the inception
of the bureau's Interest In the
child. It has prepared an exten
sive library of authoritative works
for parents and prospestive par
ents. It has equippad a "ecture
rdora and provided ecturcYs for
frequent addresses on all phases of
child life and rearing. It has at
hand such advised persons as Mrs.
Bayly and its staff of volunteer
doctors to give advice and counsel
and it is prepared to assure the
proper medical and 'surgical at
tention to the offspring of parents
financially unable to provide the
best.
tits eugenic tests are merely a
means toward an end. The means
is a sincere, thorough study-of
child life, and the end is the dis
covery, and tha, first step toward
correction of the physical and
.mental defects of the state's chil
dren. As Mrs. Bayly explains it:
j "The perfect score babies whose
pictures get into the . papers are
a( means of advertising the work
of the bureau so that parents will
be attracted to our laboratories and
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there permit us to do what we can,
by way of advice and personal at
tention, to aid them in solving the
greatest of problems the problem
of human life.
'The little folk who do not score
so high, those whose pictures are
seldom seen, are the ones we want
to get in touch with. They were
the inspiration of the bureau, and
they continue to be the cause of its
existence."
The bureau is open dally from
9 a. m. until 5 p. m., for the con
venience of parentsi. They are
urged to come "and are welcome
with any and all of their problems;
they may see a model layette; they
may procure advice on proper diet;
they may obtain the sum of the
knowledge of older, more experi
enced mothers andtof doctors who
are specialists in their work. And
twice a -week they may have their
babies tested by a corps of volun
teer doctors, where the perfections
and the Imperfections will be
pointed out to them and correction
of imperfections advised without
cost or compromise.
Babies submitted for test are
registered with the bureau and
their examination Is set for the
: earliest available hour. Dentists
and doctors are 'gathered at that
hour and when their work is done
there is.no part of the child anatomy-
that has hot been subjected
to a thorough test.
The work of the entire bureau,
a labor of great scope and wond
erful accomplishment, is supported
by volunteer contribution, largely
by a group of men and women who
realize its bounties. .Inasmuch as
there are no fees collectable, aside
from a 25 cent registration fee for
the eugenics test, the bureau can-.
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not be self -supporting. The vol
unteered services of doctors and
dentists is a real contribution to
the cause of Oregon's future clti
xenry. '
When the eugenics test is com
pleted Mrs. Bayly, personally and
very painstakingly, scores every
card, nd a copy is mailed to the
parents of the child. The original
is preserved in the files of the
bureau.
Those who have studied the
findings of the bureau's tests can
"spot" as soon as it is carried, into
the laboratory a baby that has
been fed contrary to the instruc--tions
of the bureau. There is only
one naturally provided food for the
human Infant and there is no vari
ation from the unqualified indorse
ment of .nature's supply if it is
normal, so fax as the bureau is
concerned. . -
When, for any reason, mother's
milk is not available there is, only
on substitute that these experi
enced child specialists .will . toler
ate. That food is modified cow's"
milk. Patented foodstuffs tor in
fants are utterly and , absolutely
tabooed. They make for superflu
ous fat, weak tissue and f rail
bones, among other things, . and
these are the very defects the f5'
parents bureau is designed to ex-
purge from Oregon's youngest gen- L
eration. ' : r
The bureau has the hearty co- "
operation, of the city bacteriologist. ,
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and frequently calls upon that of
fice for analysis of foods.
Those who have profited by the
advice and the work of the bureau
are of every social strata and every
financial position. They are of
every race and creed and they are
of every physical and mental pro
portion. Mrs. Bayly and her co
workers are ever ready and
anxious to extend all effort and
energy to fulfill their self-selected
obligations to Oregqn parents.
Out of th work of the Portland
bureau at the state fair has grown
the Marion County Child Welfare
bureau, which holds tests at Salem
once each month, and which has
recently installed weight . and
height scales in Salem schools for
the use of children. 1 a i- v
Inspiration has, .likewise been
given to the homo demonstration
's'
workers of the Oregon Agricultural ",'
college, whose agents are now in
charge, of eugenics work In South
ern Oregon; where they are test
ing babies and advising parents. T
' .The scope of the work Is thus
and otherwise rapidly spreading. '
Mrs. Bayly . personally has , held .
tests and conferences in - 26 Ore-j
gon cities, and she has before her 1
at atf times a st of calls to out of
state communities.,
- In 'all her - work, she ; has found
only-one baby that scored as .low
as.-42, yet she , would rather score '.
such a test than a 160 per: cent
test, fpr, it is such, cases the bureau t
seeks to reach in striving toward
human Y perfection. .4 Incidentally,
'Mrs.. Bayly hopes , soon to . score
the eugenics test of an -- Indian
.baby, for thero has' never been an
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Indian mother before the bureau.
The advice of the bureau and Its
specialists is available not only to
mothers but to fathers, and is in
variably strictly of a confidential
uavui vr, . sm mm wui.
cerned. ,
"We feel that the majority of
children are greatly benefited by
the advice received from the bu
reau," urs. a. r iegei, chairman
of the , committee, in charge, de
clares, ; "and ' wlien they enter
school, we -.believe, they are much
trnrirr an ' r,tr winlnn aa
a result.'- ; ; ' y '. '
With Mrs. Flegel on the bureau
' committee are Mra J. F. Chap
man, Mrs. A. King Wilson. Mrs. I.
M. Walker, Mrs. J. F. Risley, Mrs.
. J. . F. Hill and Mrs. Bayly, secre
' tary. Mrs. Risley, Mrs. Walker and
Mrs. Wilson have been identified
''with the committee since- its. in
ception. ' Its objects, ths committee of
ficially says, are: ,
: k "To bring to young wives and
husbands (1) a knowledge of pre
natal Influences; (2) a knowledge
' of infant hygiene : ( 3 ) . literature
and private consultation in regard
to babies, adolescence, sex hygiene
and child training.
"To show (1), by eugenic tests,
correct standard of measurements
" for babies and suggest treatment to
correct defects shown ; (2) to dem
onstrate the proper car of the
-babe,, including food and clothing;
; in short,; to bo a clearing , house
of ' information for parents 1 on
better babies. v