THE WRONG CHILD.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 792, 15 April 1910, Page 7

THE WRONG CHILD.

FATHER'S CURIOUS MISTAKE.

At a recent■• meeting of the Middle Ward District Committee of tho Lanark County Council in Glasgow, Mr. Tonner drew attention to a curious case of mistaken identity which bad occurred in their hospital at Mqtherweill Hβ had been informed, be gaidj that a.' child, taken to the hospital had been sent to the wrong parents, and that it was. only when the father went- to the hospital that he found, his own child. . The chairman (Mr. Neilsqn) said that waa the first they had.heard of the matterj but Mr. Fraser, a member of the Host pital Committee, admitted that such, a, tbing had actually occurred. : The.' es, planation was very simple. At a time when the hospital'was very pressed, two children, of about the same age and very much alike in appearance, had been admitted to the hospital within a short time of each, other—certainly not more than half an hour. One child waa certified ■ to. be suffering from scarlet fever,, and in the haste of removing the qhild the nurse lifted the, wrong liame. (Laughter.) Consequently the babies got mixed.- The father took home.'the wrong child, and it was. only when he got homo that the mistake was discovered. Even _the chiid innocently, admitted that his name was "Jacky," while as a matter of fact it was not. The boy was immediately taken' back to the hospital, where the father certified his own child in the fever' ward. Mr. Praser assured the ' committee that measures had been taken to ensure that such a thing would not recur. A membor: Are you going to stamp them when they come in? (Laughter.)