BABIES IN CHINA | AdventAI

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Dec 2, 1889

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 15, No. 46.

BABIES IN CHINA.

A GENTLEMAN who made a tour through China on a bicycle tells of some curious things he saw in out-of-the-way districts which travelers do not usually visit. One of these was a company of babies picketed out in a field like so many goats or calves. Each baby had a belt about the waist; into this belt behind was tied a string about ten feet long, the other end of which was fastened to a stake. The stakes were set so far apart that there was no danger of the strings getting tangled up as the babies crept or ran about. Some of them were creeping on all-fours, some of them were making their first attempt at standing by balancing against the stakes, while older ones were running or playing in the grass. All seemed good-natured and happy, and though they gazed at the queer-looking stranger and his wheels with an expression of surprise, they did not cry or seem in the least frightened. Nobody seemed paying any attention to the babies, but as the mothers were seen working in a rice-field a little way off, they would of course have come to them had there been any need. The babies had plenty of fresh air and sunshine, and were perhaps as well off as some more petted ones at home.—Selected.