THE LATEST OF TRADES
IS THE BABY TRADE
New York, Dec. 30.-rThe lat
est trade to cropnp in this great
American metropolis is in babies.
It is quite an extensive trade
so extensive that babies are quite
cheap. If you. aren't too particu
lar about t;he color of the hair or
eyes or fatness of the infant you
can get one for $3. If you are par
ticular it will probably cost about
$10.
This interesting state of af
fairs was disclosed through an in
vestigation into the activities of
one Mrs. -Dora Remmlin, widow.
Mrs. Remmlin readily admitted
that slie traded jn babies.
"Business (isn't as good as it
might be right now," she said,
pensively. "I guess that "is be
cause of the higlucost of livings
The supply is far greater than the,
demand. It's loweringprices like
anything. ' T , ,
Mrs. Remmlin was asked' how
she got her babiesr
"Oh, I get ' then; in various,
ways," she said. JSome of them
I get fronTmothersfof large fami
lies who haven't time nor the
room for their latest. Some of
them I get from infant asylums J-
ana nomes,
"Then I have lines out to cer-.
tain hospitals, and it is possible5
for me to get arb'aby of any age,
from ten minutes -up, in a few
minutes. ' -
"I sometimes have to fatten,
them up a little before the cus
tomer will take them." ' ,
"Has it ever struck you that
your business is a little well pe-1 herd girlswear men's clothest
culiar?" she was arsked.
"Oh, I don't know," she said.
"There are hundreds of women
kin the same business in iew
York. Some of them engage in
the side line of lending out babies
for blackmailing purposes.
"Anyhow, it isn't against the
law. I looked that up. There is
the law against the sale or pur
chase of human, beings, of course,
but I don't sell the babies. I get
my fee for Biy trouble in procur
ing it to order. I am very careful
about that."
"Where does the demand for
babies come from?" the woman
Was asked.
"Chiefly from wiveswho wish
to-foist a baby On unsuspecting
husbands without going to the
trouble of having one."
Mrs. Remmlin lives in three
rooms of a tenement house. One
of the rooms has been turned into
-a nursery for the "fattening up"
orocess. Ihe'babv merchant is
qtiite satisfied with' herself.
The health department was
asked if it intended doing any
thing in tle case.
11 "No,"- safdsga official. "We've
been watching the woman. She is
quite competent to nurse the
babies while theyare under her
care. We cannot interfere with
her."
' The Children's Society is in
vestigating the case and the prob-
able result will be the asking of '
thejegislature to pass a law pro
hibiting baby trade.
o o
In parts of Switzerland shep-