LONDON LETTER FEW BABIES FOR ADOPTION

Press, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 26394, 12 April 1951, Page 3

LONDON LETTER FEW BABIES FOR ADOPTION

Great Demand In Britain (From NEVILE WEBBER, London Correspondent of "The Press") London, March 30.—For years a 37-year-old New York engineer, Henry! Hernandez, and his wife searched in the! United States for a little baby girl to adopt, but without success. They were! near to despair when the couple read that in Austria there were many! children waiting for foster parents. With no further ado Mr Hernandez! jumped aboard a plane and set off for Vienna. Yesterday, he passed through London airport in triumph, for in his arms was a six-months old. blue-eyed baby girl. His journey had cost him 1000 dollars and two weeks’ salary but he did not grudge a cent of it. “She’s perfect,” he said. It is not only in the United States that babies for adoption are scarce, as Mr and Mrs A. Carty, formerly of Silverstream and now residents in London, will testify. For months thev have been searching for a little girl and have written to and visited dozens of orphanges and institutions.

Always the same story of sadly shaken heads and the information that there wasn’t a chance. As time went on Mr Carty began to grow rather bitter. He could net understand why it was that orphanages should be caring for so many children and yet not be willing to release them for adoption in a good home, where they would have every advantage of a happy family life. At last his wife wrote a letter to the “Sunday Express.” The response amazed him. Within a few days they received over 50 letters from private individuals and now all their worries are over. They have found a suitable little girl and are delighted with her. I Following this up I asked at several I orphanages if Mr Carty's observations about their unheloful attitude were correct. All indignantly denied them. “The demand for babies is so tremendous, especially for baby girls, that we now have a waiting list stretching into 1953,” said one official. “There are far too few babies to go round all the eager foste.r parents who are offering. Why? We think the biggest single factor is because couples who took evacuated children during the war have decided they would like a kiddie permanently.” She added that the children cared for by orphanages are nearly all older children placed there and partly maintained by the parents or relatives. In almost every case there is a proviso that they must be left in the institution and must not leave the country, whfeh makes it impossible to release them for adoption. An added difficulty is that under the adoption laws of Britain no child can be taken abroad without the completion of very elaborate legal safeguards. The opinions of the orphanages 1 communicated with were supported by the Home Office. An official there stated that adoptions in Britain have climbed steadily from 3000 in 1927 to an almost constant peak to-day of 18,000. Party for 1066 Invaders' Descendants It looks as though some interesting historical research will be going on in the next few months to try to decide the true descendants of the 40 companions and knights-at-arms who accompanied William the Conqueror to England in 1066. These descendants have been invited by the Mayor of Caen to attend the celebrations in August this year to. mark the reconstruction of the town after its wartime bombing. The editor of Burke’s Peerage says he doubts whether of the 7000 families recorded in its pages there are 20 who can prove their descent from the original party. Among those who may be eligible are the bearers of such names as Basset, Beauchamp, Beaufoy, Brereton, Carteret, Corbet, Crispin, Drewe, Fitzgerald, Fitzgibbon, Fitzrandolph, Harcourt. Leigh, Malet, Souter, Tristam and Wanse. Motor Workers are Best Paid

What are the best paid jobs in British Industry? According to repent surveys the best-off are those in the motor industry, whose average wage for a 45J hour week is £9 8s 3d. Steel workers come close behind. Miners earned an average of £9 Is Bd, last year and dockers. £8 18s 3d. The average weekly hours of the 6.500,000 workers reviewed were 46.1 and the average wage of men over 21 was £7 16s Bd. In 1938 it was £3 10s lid. The poorest paid industrial workers are those in local and Government service. Their weekly wages drop down to £5 16s and £6 2s 7d respectively. Since 1938 wages have increased by 140 per cent and for a full week’s work, exclusive of overtime, have gone up by 77 per cent. Based on June, 1947 <lOOl the weekly index figure of wages has risen to 116; but in the same period the retail price index figure has gone up two points further to 118. A Nation of Bird Watchers In Britain, to a greater degree than in any other country, birdwatching is a national hobby. The scores of societies now have a membership of over 250,000; but not all of them have the enthusiasm of the 400 who were out pver .Easier in shocking weather ; to get data for a national bird census i It is the first of 17 national projects throughout the year in an effort to estab'ish the habits and migrations of the 200 varieties of birds that frequent Britairtt FiWfri this expedition we have : the surprising news that the first calls came from a curlew at 4.1 a.m., followed by a cock at 4.12 a.m., a pheasant at 4.18 a.m., a blackbird at 5.1 a.m. and a robin at 5.2 a.m. The latest riser was the sparrowm-5.31 a.m. It looks as though the sergeant-major's stern command to be up at sparrow-cheep (or words to that effect) will have to be drastically amended. ' New Clothes for Old With raw wool scarce and costing up to 25s per lb. Britain’s rag-and-bone men are experiencing a boom these days. In London some are said to be making £4O a week from collecting old woollen clothes and selling them to the mills at 2s a pound for unravelling and respinning. Old army socks are worth Is a pair and are in special demand. One expert estimates that there is 50,000.000 lb of wool lying idle in old clpthes cupboards, which, if collected, would make a sizeable contribution towards alleviating the present shortage. It is now being suggested that a national woollen salvage drive—on the lines of the waste paper scheme —should be started immediately. It has become a case of new clothes for old. Not What it Was ‘‘The boat race,” said the discursive old-timer, “is not what it was. Radio 1 and television have ruined it, taken all the fun away. When I was a boy we used to get down to the river hours early to get a good position. There were signalling points in those days, on which were run up dark or light blue flags to show who was leading—l much more fun to watch them than to j cluster round a portable radio set until the crews are right out in front of you. And as for these people who sit bv the fire and watch it all on their television sets. . . . Bah! give me the good old I days when the boat race really wasl something.” The Three “P's” Now ? Are the three “R's" giving way to I the three “P’s”—paint, powder, and' polish? That was behind the question, asked in Parliament last week as to whether the Minister of Education! condoned the instruction on make-up given in some schools by women teachers. Replying that it was not the Minister’s practice to interfere with school curriculums the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Education (Mr Hardman) added: “I think courses or lessons of any kind in good grooming are of great value. I only hope that so far as the girls are concerned the make-up that is used is of a durable quality.” Reprieve for Opera Eight weeks ago a brilliant dramatic opera. “The Consul," opened in London to the greatest chorus of praise heard from the critics for many years. They raved over it, especially for the outstanding singing of the American star,

Patricia Neway. But. as so often happens. th? public have not supported the critic's opinions and attendances have been very disappointing. Regretfully Sir I aurence Olivier announced that the losses were mounting so rapidly that it must be closed at the end of this month. Such was the immediate reaction, however, that bookings jumped by 50 per cent, and now Sir Laurence is to let it continue i indefinitely. Magic for African Witch Doctors

One corner of the vast British Industries Fair I must be sure not to miss next month, is that displaying practical jokes. According to one manufacturer the demand nas never been so great for British tricks and jokes: and he is having difficulty <n catching up with the demand. His most popular item is a practical joker’s cabinet containing soap that wont lather, exploding theatre tickets, a match box that falls to pieces, a gadget that closely imitates the noise of crashing crockery plus, of course, stanidard items like lighted cigarettes to be ' loft on the piano and ink blots. One of his best markets for conjuring .tricks is Afr ! ca. where witch-doctors find a British box of tricks greatly their prestige. Another item I &m curini's to sec is a portable lava- ! tory for children, which, says the inj ventor “inflates with one puff and can ibe ro’led un to go in a lady’s handbag or a gent's briefcase; also forms a useful cushion at spor's events.”

Trident to Toast the Stone of Scone? Was the the't from Queen Anne’s statue outside St. Paul's Cathedral of Britannia’s trident—emblematic of Britain’s sea power—just an act of hooliganism or was it in protest r gainst thg appointment of an American sunreme admiral over our Fleets? The night-watchman ato St. Paul’s suscribes to the first view. “I i heard tho rowdies who took it say they Iwahted the trident to toast the Stone [of Scone,” he observed.