BABY SENT BY POST.

NZ Truth, Issue 117, 14 September 1907, Page 8

BABY SENT BY POST.

jCHILD AS "EXPRESS" PARCEL^

Clever Ruse— Found by Photo.

,oNie Parents are Found for the Child.

I One L of 'iSe m o sti -striking ruses of j recent years for the abandonment of !a baby has been almost successfully carried out m London. The story of how the infant, a daintily-clad baby girl, was left to tha tender mercies of the world a few nights ag o is a dramatic one. The ruse was carried out at a comparatively late hour at night by a well-dressed man and woman. They succeeded m getting a post, office messenger to take- the baby as an "express message" for immediate delivery. It was a clever trick cleverly effected.; WORKING THE DODGE, 'A' well-dressed man, it appears, entered the West Strand Post-office one evening, wrote a hurried note on a telegram form, and placed it m an envelope. Turning to the counter he requested the clerk to send the message by express messenger to the matron m charge of the Lying-in Hospital, City Road. Having paid the necessary fee, the well-dressed man made a hasty exit. The special message was handed to a commissionaire. As he left the Post-office the author of the important -despatch accosted him— "Are you taking that message to 'the City-Road Hospital ?" "Yes," answered the unsuspecting official. "Well, I have a cab here, " explained the excited customer. And m spite of half-hearted attempts on the part of Ih-3 messenger to explain that he had been given -Id for omnibus fares,, he was inveigled into a cab. Then, to bis astonishment, A BABY WAS THRUST INTO HIS ARMS. "This is the parcel." said the mysterious stranger. Although he did not tci'uit-3 understand, the commissionaire felt that everything must be m ovcler. He had seen his employer m conversation with the Post-office clerk. He knew that he had to go to the City-road. Above all, he was conscious of the fact that he was m ! a cab with a letter and a parcel to deliver. Though the parcel had developed into a singularly active bafey, the commissionaire— aanistomedi to daily surprises m tho ordinary routine of his business — proceeded on his mission. The "gontlemaoii" saluted the' infant m perfunctory mianner, and' tha lady who had handed the bundle of babyhood to the messenger. parted with it m a storm, of passionate kissing- And tho cab drove off. The note (written pn a telegraph form) which accompanied the child and the commiissicnr.ire to the City-Road LyingUospital read— "Please take m baby until to-morrow. Am writing." It was addressed to the matron. Naturally tho City-road Hospital authorities WERE ASTOUNDED to receive such a message andi such a i charge. After consultation among iheod officials, the baby was refused, j and the commissionaire advised to take it back to the place from whence it came. So back the unfortunate man went; to the Strand Post-office. Then tho police were called. The comjmiissionaire had to pilot the little charg6 to Bow-street, and from this centre of wisdom the baby derelict was forwarded m the arms o f a- nurse }to the Strand Work-house. And there, foredoomed apparently, to eternal charity, this six-weeks-old girl remains. The only incident -which relieves the story from its sordid continuity of crime is the fact that the jladv who handed the infant to the | commissionaire m the ca>b broke down at the end m a passion of kisses. This woman— presumably, the mother— well, dressed m a light fawn costume, handsome, herself apparently not more than 24, parted with the child with a certain reluctance. The man — it is to be supposed the father— a W'ell-dresssd, tall, fair 'man, of under 30, also kissed the little thing' they were sending to the workhouse. The foundling is a Girl. A pretty little baby, about six weeks' old, with dark grey eyes and quite a lot of dark brown hair. She arrived at the workhouse clothed m a long night gown, hand-worked with silk, and wore silken shoes. A petticoat of thick wool and a pink and white shawl formed' other important details of the outfit. These things have been taken away. In place of them she has been given a workhouse suit ! of coarse material. BASKETS FULL' OF BABIES. It is a singular fact that this is the second child which has fallen under the care of the guardians m a week. On Tuesday a very poorly-clad three months' old boy was brought to the workhouse. He was left by a woman at the Charinp- Cross Railway Station, and found by Mrs Kate Youles,' of Wilton Mews. Milton-street, Grospenor Square. Such stories as the above naturally recall the starting of the Foundling Hospital, m Guild-ford-street. At one time a large bnsket hung outside the main gate for the reception of foundlings. Considerably over 100 babies were deposited m the basket m the course of one day. A foundling who lived to beiconie a worlhv banker m the North lof England being m after-life anxious to make some inquiry into his long'in, applied lo the hospital, when 1 all the information he could obtain was that it appeared from the hooks ■that he was put into the basket at the gate naked. "EXPRESS" BABY RECOGNISED. Mrs Lawrence, of North View Villas, Kingston Roaii, Ewel, Surrey. | called at. the Strand Workhouse, m Shcffield-RtraM;. on Monday, and asked to sco the child. Mrs Knight, the i matron.* had the little girl brought j forward immediately. As soon as Mrs Lawrence .saw her she identified the baby as the c-iiild of a larly and gentleman who had ' Keen lodging with hrr as man and wife. The two arrival at, Mrs Lawrence's house at EweU about six weeks ago. and accompanying them was a nurs-? from the Queen t luvloUr's Lying-in Hospital, who carried the-bafoy. On Saturday last 1 she was-ciftht weeds' old, ami the mo-

ther and fatter left Swell last Tuesday- Mrs Lawrence identified the little castaway ty a photograph m the papers, and she says that a photograph of the childi, very rhuch like the one published, was "taken at Ewell. Wfoea the baby was shown to Mrs Lawrence at the workhouse, it was wearing the same clothes that it ihatl on when handed to the astonished Post-office messenger. Mrs Lawrence is positive that the baby is the" one that stayed with her for six weeks. Many letters wexe received at the Strand Workhouse offering to adopt the Post-office foundling- One young married couple called to see the matron, and were very disappointed that they were not able to take the baby away >wdth them. The letters come from all parts of Ijondon and the provinces, and the notepaper is of all qualities. returned: to parents, ■The "Post-office Baby" has been restored! to its parents, Mr and Mrs Cowling. It was agreed, at a meeting of the Strand Guardians that the parents should not he prosecuted. One of the Guardians agreed to pay all the costs or th-e maintenance of the child during its stay m the Workhouse. The parents, travelled to town by the first available train from Walton-on-Thames, having seen from the morning that their identity could be no longer concealed, and went straight from Waterloo t o Bowstreet. ■ They begged to be charged andi dealt with summarily. But hour after hour they pleaded m vain. The poor law officials and the police could not decide upon a charge that could he reasonably preferred, for the baby's life had not been endangered. ■A PATHETIC LITTLE TALE. The story told the Guardians had a pathetic strain. Cowling, it apnears, was for some years m tie Post Office' at Walton-on-Thames. He is 28 years old, and his . wife, who also was formerly m th© postal service, is 22. Four months ago tlley got married, and within three months the child was 'born, a fact thay managed to conceal from the relations on both sides. Mrs Cowling's baby was born at Queen Charlotte's Hospital, and before her recovery her husband was transferred to an appointment at Ewell, Surrey. There she joined him with their little girl, and they lived together for some time as already stated. Suddenly orders came to return to Walton, and they did not know how to conceal the child from, the neighbors there who knew them. The frenzied mother walked about all night to hush the cries of the little one. The couple resqlvcdi t o part with their child, and with that end m view came to town. They heard of someone at Kingston whovwas willing to adopt a child,, and went to see the people. Finding; the place filthy, they felt they could not leave their offspring, and came back to town with the intention of asking the matron at Queen Chailotte's Hospital to take her m. 'By the time they had come to this resolution they realised that if they went there they could not get back to Walton that night, and, losing their heads, they hit upon the above mad expedient-