Many Mothers, But ...

This child appears happy, but those responsible for child protection in Chicago fear that the multiplicity of mothers may harm his mind, and to this day they have made no decision on keeping him where he is, or moving him somewhere else!

David lives in a building set aside for household management at the University of "Illinois," where twelve members of the third science class take care of him. They took him as a model for study, from an unmarried mother, for the term of a year; and when the committee responsible for child welfare in that county learned of it, it opposed this arrangement, for fear the child might grow up abnormally as a result of the multiplicity of faces playing the mother's part. But the young lady in charge refused to give him up to anyone except his mother, whenever she should ask for him; she herself stands in the place of his grandmother, while the students take turns at the role of motherhood, one every ten days — and they all love him and delight in playing with him!

The government investigator has decided to bring to trial the young lady who took him on her own responsibility, for not holding a certificate establishing her right to keep the child for a year; but she is prepared to fight to the last moment, and to keep the boy! If she loses, the government will take charge of him, and he will be entrusted to a home sheltering waifs, should his mother be unable to take charge of him; and no one knows what the fate of this poor child will be — while he, for his part, frolics on, calm and serene, taking his food from every hand!