Minnie's Sad Death...

Free Lance, Volume III, Issue 131, 3 January 1903, Page 20

Minnie's Sad Death. . .

MINNIE was not like most babieS. Pea'haps that w as w hy the medical students liked her. The average young man considers himself quite charitable w lien he will evenrtol&rate a baby and the nit must be of the cheerful sort that laughs and says ' goo goo" and 'da da". For those that are dyspeptic, and bawl day and night, they have a loathsome- esteem that is proverbial . But, Minnie possessed some hidden charm that endeared her to all the young men, and in fact, made rivals of them. To one not acquainted with the desire for scientific leseairoh that is inherent in the young medical mind, a glance at Minnie's body would have left him with the impression that the students had been in search of the aforesaid hidden charm. One of the baby's eais had been removed, and sewed on a^ain one of the eyes had been taken out, but here, evidently, the amateur surgeon had tackled a job beyond his abihtv. for it had not been replaced , there was a hole in Minnie's neck, but, mind you, it was never made with the purpose of killing the baby, but on the presumption that the little one was on the verge of suffocation from diphtheria, and, had to be revived by tracheotomy. There was a long the right side of the abdomen, but that was for the removal of a troublesome vermiform appendix. One le°- was missing, but here, again, the best interests of the baby had been regarded, for a practiced eye would see that a classical 1 amputation had been performed. Yet Minnie had passed through all this and vastly more, and never suffered pain. Not once did she cry. Few babies can claim such a record. Why should the little one suffer when all sorts of anaesthetics in abundance' were at hand? Minnie had endured other trials and hardships with the same fortitude. She had been "passed up" times without number, trampled upon kicked, and subjected to all the pranks that the modern student can devise. Apparently, the little one had become inured to these seeming abuses. It is better to allude to them as ' seeming abuses.," for had any one of those several hundred young fellows been accuoed of mistreating Minnie he would have resented it as a personal insult. She was all the more popular because of her experience at their hands. Minnie seemed to be an exception to all things that are common to babies. Even the saying that "babies are all stomach and no conscience" did not apply to her. She had no stomach nor conscience, so far as could be ascertained. Her mental qualities were nil. She could not hear, see, nor talk, yet she was impressionable to a degree. Though expansive, she did not develop. Minnie never ate or drank, but, m spite of this fact, she was always plump, and seemed well nourished. A doctor would jump to the conclusion that she was anaemic, but, on the contrary, she was even dusky in hue. Minnie had never enjoyed the luxuries of a bath, and, although this might have barred her from vie exclusive sets 1 , she could not have been justly called a dirty baby. Her legs and arms were freely moveable, but she never used them of her own, volition. She was insensible to the stimuli that would send an ordinary baby into a paroxysm of bawling or laughing, yet resistant and, in her own way, responsive. Queer baby was Minnie. She had no ancestry — -not even ai father or mothei . "Where she came from no one could tell. Medical men like to delve in the mysterious, and probably it was this air of mystery about the little one that accounted in part for their interest m her. Minnie was certainly several years old, Act not an inch had been added to her stature, and not a grain of sense had she accumulated. Her growth physically and mentally must have been stunted very early. Nevertheless, she was the very idol of the students, and, admittedly, the only baby they had ever really cared for. She always received their attentions with seeming indifference, neither favouring with smile® nor repelling with frowns. The baby had been a special favourite with the senior class. At the class meeting she occupied a seat of honour beside the president. She was present at the lectures and clinics, and every night a specially appointed committee saw that she was looked up and secure from the ghoulish, and envious juniors and "osphs." Not a football or cricket game did thie class attempt without the presence of Minnie. She seemed to give them inspiration, and it is a matter of record that they never lost an athletic contest when she was among the spectators. These victories were always followed by a celebration at which the baby — their mascot — was the centre of toast and applause.

But, the intense aftectaon for her which, the students had developed only madei the coining sorrow harder to bear. One night, tow ard the close of the school term fire broke out in the medical college, and the clanging engines brought an aimy of students from their quarteis. As they stood in groups, w atching the work of destruction, a flame shot through one of the windows of the storeroom, and seemed to arouse them suddenly to their senses. "Minnie l Minnie'" cued one bis, broad-shouldered senior, in tenor "The baby is in there, and will be burned. Can no one save her?" 'What's that?" inquired a fiieman, who had heard the appeal. 'You say there's a baby in there ? Where is she — quick 1 It's like rushing into furnace, but I'll try to save heir'" 'In the store-room. You can't help seeing her. Good luck, old man'" And the brave fireman hurried aw ay on his hfe-saving errand, the students croiw ding near to the fire ropes, and awaiting his return m almost breathless' silence. The thought of losing their little friend and companion seemed to weigh heavily on every mind, and now they appreciated more than ever before how she had become a necessary part of their lives. Presently, the form of a fireman was seen emerging from the burning stoieroom. Tremendous cheers' greeted him as he groped his way through the blinding smoke and down the ladder, but the cheers became an angry roar when, it w as seen that he was empty-handed. "Mighty sorry boys," he spluttered, wiping the cinders from his eves and blowing the smoke out of his nostrils. "I looked around as well as I could in there 1 , but there was no baby in sight. There was a frightful smell of burning rubber, and I did not dare remain any longer. I make out the child must be dead." "Oh. you blithering idiot'" veiled the frantic students, "that was Minnie — our baby — that you smelt She was made of rubber'"