lEx Htbrtfi SEYMOUR DURST When you leave, please leave this hook Because it has heen said ,l Ever thing comes t' him who waits Except a loaned book." Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library (in i 01 Si ymour B. Dursi Old York Library LOUIS VICTOR: HIS SICKNESS AN J) HIS CUKE. LOUIS VICTOR IX "THE SHEPHERDS FOLD" AND IN "ST. LUKE'S HOSPITAL" : JAN. 23, 1878, TO JAN. 30, 1880. Carefully Compiled from Original Records. SANITARY CONDITION— MEDICAL EEPORTS. The whole number of children supported in the two Folds by Mr. Cowley from 1867 to 1880, is 700. The sanitary condition has been very satisfactory. There have been no cases of diphtheria, scarlatina, or other epidemic or contagious diseases, among the children. The hygienic management has been such that all the newly-admitted members have improved in health and physical appearance, in proportion to the time they have lived in the Fold. ... I always thought they appeared well, and compared well with the children I met in their own homes among respectable people. I saw each one cheerful, cleanly, and neatly dressed. They were all trained to help each other, and seemed to take pleasure in doing it. Such was the testimony of Dr. F. W. Hunt for the seven years before Louis Victor became sick. Yet in the face of this health record, two mem- bers of the Charity Board reported "overcrowding." Accordingly Mr. Cowley requested a medical inspection by non-Fold doctors, who reported to the Tru|tees : In the course of our examination, we have inspected every sleeping-room ; have noted the number of beds, etc. ; and have inquired specially into the means for ventilation. As the result of our examination, we have formed the opinion that the building is not at present overcrowded ; but we think that the present num- ber of children (fifty-one) is as large as can be properly accommodated. During the progress of our inspection, we were gratified to observe the healthy appearance of the children, and to learn of the unusual exemption from sickness and mortality for several years past. Charles Kxl^ht, M.D. Charles W. Packard. M.D. As a fact, but three deaths had occurred in thirteen years out of 700 chil- dren : never a case of fever or contagious disease; never a serious accident. Louis Victor alone failed to reach the usual standard. When some persons, for motives and reasons best known to themselves, had insinuated the ex- istence of evils in the management, the Trustees appointed a Committee of live to examine everything. That Committee of five gentlemen unanimously reported that After a careful investigation of even-thing pertaining to the Fold, inside and out, we are prepared to assert that not one reasonable complaint against its management, or any cause for lack of entire confidence in its administra- 2 tion, exists, or can be shown to rest on fact, or upon any evidence worthy of the least regard. The house adjoining that in which Victor was received, was the residence of a well-to-do family of live persons, who fell sick, and one of them died of diphtheria ; yet only two Fold children were at all affected, and but for a short time, caused by the bursting of sewer-pipes in the cellar. FOOD SUPPLIES DURING LAST TWO YEARS. Of bread, the baker Schneider swore that the average for 1878-9 was about ten loaves a day — the last three months the weight was one pound and three- quarters a loaf, before it was two pounds ; that he was directed to leave all they needed (folios 938-910) ; sometimes saw the children at their breakfast — they looked very good; they had bread enough — it was made of the best quality of wheat and rye flour, half of each ; supplied $425 worth of bread (folios 942-957). John Merkl supplied $195.74 worth; H. H. Ritterbusch about $80 worth; donations of bread, $20 worth. Total of bread, $720.74; and much of it being "left-over" bread, the average cost was but six cents a loaf, showing more than 12,000 loaves of bread. Other provisions : 400 pounds of rice, clearly proven. Median's bill for meats, $87. G2; other meats and provisions cost $191.40. Seven donations of fresh fish for all," each supply enough for dinners twice, given by Carman, Middleton & Company (folio 1108); also a quintal of salt fish and a box of boned codfish (folio 1107). At one time sixty pounds of mutton and six large chickens from Mrs. Murray; again a hundred pounds of meat and poultry from the same lady. From Mrs. Meehan, four ducks and two chickens. Duryea & Co., twenty pounds of corn-starch ; also on July 2, 1879, twenty pounds of corn-starch, Twd dozen fresh eggs from a friend ; Baker's cocoa, twelve p6unds; also July 30, 1879, twelve pounds cocoa. The St. Louis Packing Co., thirteen cans of corned beef; also Oct. 14th, 1879, twelve cans of corned beef. Brinkerhoff & Co., Aug. 1, 1879, one barrel of soda crackers ; also large box of assorted crackers and one box of oatmeal crackers. Mr. Harris, one barrel of soda crackers. Next in time that famous chicken, &c, from Miss Callahan, "which Louis had all to himself." Then in November, 1879, the mutton, fresh pork, corned pork, beef, &C-, from Mrs. Murray, so thoroughly dissected and distributed by Mr. Phelps and Fanny McCurdy. Codfish and potatoes were the ordered and regular dinner for every Friday — not called meat or vegetables ; some meat, ham or salt pork, was supplied with every dinner of beans and peas. Tomato soup was frequent in the season ; meat soup and sundry vegetables, simply called soup. Nor were clam-chowders unknown. And Mrs. Cowley used those forty pounds of corn-starch largely in preparing "ice cream and custard puddings" for those children who had "forgotten" or "didn't remember." No witness for the prosecution "remembered" the cocoa; yet the proof of twenty-four pounds of Baker's cocoa is indisputable. At half a pound each time, it would give cocoa forty-eight times — an excellent substitute for milk. The two barrels of syrup and molasses, and that furnished by Ritterbusch in current account, also supplied the place of milk. The seemingly small quantity of condensed milk was the same in proportion as that furnished 3 other institutions for children. The lady in charge says their Fold cat never would drink the liquid milk bought at the grocer's. Several of the children had coffee for breakfast, and a fifty-pound chest of tea was used at lunch and supper. From April, 1878, to Oct. 29, 1879, the bills of C. W. Peek & Co. amounted to $70.60, representing two barrels of marrowfat beans, three barrels of split peas, two barrels of farina, one barrel of pearl barley, three barrels of hom- iny, and four barrels of Indian meal, or about 3000 pounds of such food. It sustains the sworn statement — "always four different kinds of cereals" (f. 1231). Then Thurber's bill was twice that of Peek's, and Ritterbusch's was more than both ol them, or $132.10; so his affidavit and the following official statement of supplies, amply prove : Statement of Committee of Audit of the Shepherd's Fold, upon examina- tion of the vouchers and unpaid bills from Jan. 1st, 1878, to Jan. 17th, 1881' — Estimate of H. K. & F. B. Thurber's bill for said 1878 - - $100.00 William Schneider's bill of bread, as sworn to in court - - 425.00 John Merkl's bill for bread, as per day-book and affidavit - 195.71 H. H. Ritterbusch, as per pass-book fortwo years and affidavit 432.10 Value of donations of groceries and provisions ----- 87.62 Thomas F. Potter, butter and eggs, May 6, 1878, to Oct. 28 - 24.30 J. C. Clark, groceries, pass-book, May, 1878 ------ 15.82 C. W. Peek, April 11, 1878, to Oct. 29, 1879 ------ 55.15 D. Scott, fish bills - - 12.13 William Atkinson, fish bill ------ 4.86 Mrs. J. T. Meehan, meats - 87.05 J. W. Lang, baker ----- 3.07 G.C.Chase & Co., tea 13.50 Thurber & Co., Sept. 10, 1879, to Jan. 3, 1880 ------ 26.76 D. Talmage & Sons, 310 pounds of rice - 20.00 Tsheppe & Schur and others, medicines - - 2S.20 Other meats and provisions, b3 7 cash payments 191.40 Condensed milk during 1878 and 1879, 730 quarts at 28 cents 204.40 Total cost of food during two years ------ $1927.10 the larger portion of which at wholesale prices. Similar report to the above was made to Bishop Potters Committee of Inquiry in^March, 1881. [Attest] Charlotte S. Thomas. The number of children averaged twenty-five a day during two years, and the cost of what they ate and drank was $1900, instead of Mr. Phelps's $600. The wrong done to Mr. Cowley and the Church was that proof of these si^,- j)lies of food was not demonstrated in Court. They show that the doctors were deceived by the hypothetical questions of Mr. Phelps; that judges and jurymen were misled and deceived ; and that the Fold children fared quite as well at table as those of other charitable institutions. It is $1900 vs. $600. Judges and jurymen were equally deceived in the photographs taken of Louis Victor on Jan. 6th, and alleged to be correct representations of him when he left the Shepherd's Fold on Dec. 26th. Yet he had not then been confined to his bed, and would not stay in bed. His appetite was hearty, and he had eaten well of solid food for breakfast and dinner on the day of his removal. He ate heartily on Christmas day, and every day for the pre- vious two months. He disliked baby food, and wanted a meat diet like adults. This he had had for months, when Mrs. Cowley wrapped him in a large warm cloak, and took him to St. Luke's Hospital (that is, from 157 4 East Sixtieth street to the corner of Fifth avenue and Fifty-fourth street) on a pleasant December afternoon. On the way he asked to " get down and play in the snow"! He*had a clear, strong voice, and when taken to the ward of said Hospital, several of the children came to see him. He asked them their names, and repeated to the nurse of the ward some verses he had learned, and also a hymn. Then seeing some dishes brought into the room, he said " Dinnie ! dinnie ! " and Mrs. Cowley being still with him, asked that "something be given him, as he usually ate lunch between meals." The nurse then gave him a plate of light pudding. Thus he was not dangerously, perhaps not seriously, ill when placed in said Hospital : for the disease of rickets was leaving him, and his diarrhoea, though troublesome, had so far been controlled. LOUIS IN THE HOSPITAL. On Dec. 27th his hospital treatment began. He was allowed no solid food — nothing but boiled milk and salt, with lime-water. He cried for meat, but they gave him none, continuing for several weeks the boiled-milk-and- salt-with-lime-water diet, and paying no heed to his cries. At length he was given injections of blood and a little raw meat cut up fine. But before this, on Jan. 6th, Dr. Ridlon had reported him to the Society, and Mr. Gerry ordered his photograph taken, he being then twelve days in St. Luke's. The records show that during those twelve days Louis had from seven to nine passages daily, and on Jan. 8th Dr. Jacobi found him in the Hospital " in bed, not able to sit up, suffering from diarrhoea and pretty extensive inflamma- tion of his left lung; emaciated, intellectually reduced, and askihg for food all the time " (469-474). This after being in said Hospital fourteen days, and his photogroph being taken only two days before ! Reason and experience revolt from believing that his condition then was the same as on Dec. 26th. " The child was suffering from that chronic diarrhoea and the pneumonia" (474, 483). " His diet would not produce pneumonia. Without knowing his history, could not say what caused his intestinal disease" (477). "The child could not have existed on the diet" assumed in the hypothetical ques- tions (482, 478-480). So said Dr. Jacobi, witness for the prosecution; and the evidence shows that Louis Victor never had such a diet. Starvation, if followed by proper treatment, would not leave a child crying for food after fourteen days of good feeding. Yet his diarrhoea was then severe, and he had pneumonia ! Dr. Eidlon was mistaken in his diagnosis or in his treat- ment. Dr. Jacobi testified he could not live long on a milk diet (495, 496) ; if diseased, he might be treated with a milk diet (503, 504). Yet boiled-milk- and-salt-with-lime-water was his only diet for several weeks ! Dr. Spitzka saw Victor on Jan. 30th, or thirty-live days after being in hos- pital (518). He was then very much emaciated ; the muscles and tissues of the body, of the extremities and chest, were very much diminishe I in vol- ume, and the abdomen immensely enlarged, owing to the ravenous appetite and the large amount of food that the child had taken (520, 521). No traces of permanent injury were then present in Victor (525). Dr. Spitzka was of opinion that the appearance of Victor was due to malnutrition (528). It proceeds from the absence of nutritive articles, or from an incapacity to assimilate the food (530). He knew nothing of Victor except what he had learned of others (561-567). 5 Dr. Hamilton saw Louis Jan. 13th, when nineteen days in hospital. He •was very much emaciated, scarcely able to sit up a few minutes in his bed (597-599) ; then suffering from diarrhoea, as informed ; did not examine his lungs ; his attention was not called to the pneumonia of Jan. 8th (G12, 613) — a very singular omission in Dr. Kidlon ; malnutrition is bad nutrition; the person himself may be at fault, eating very heartily of nutritious food, and a subject of malnutrition, not assimilating food (61G, 617). That was the condition of Victor on Jan. 13th (618) ; was informed by the house surgeon (Dr. Ridlon) of his diet; suspected innutrition. "I saw the whole line of his back ; it struck me then — the peculiar curve. I bear still in mind exactly the curve; could describe it with a pencil and piece of paper" (625, 626). This curvature of the spine is one of the indications of rickets ; also vora- cious appetite, emaciation, diarrhoea, etc. (Dr. Small's Manual, p. 800). Dr. Stephen Smith heard read the description testified to by Dr. Hawes : H I regard that as very characteristic of it [rickets]. Among its most prom- inent indications — large joints, pigeon breast, large abdomen, diarrhoea; the previous nutriment would not make any difference as regards swollen bones and pigeon breast; frequent between one and three years of age, or even * suppose he was ten or fifteen years of age.'" To the Court: "Bones are enlarged and curved, become softened, may occur at any age" (1005, 1011) ; 41 might have rickets so slight as to be scarcely traceable " (1011); "diet should be nourishing" (1012). " Properly prepared, I regard Indian meal, bean soup, pea soup, hominy, rice, meat, eggs, lettuce, tomatoes, and food of that character, as nutritious (1015). With a sore mouth, it could not chew meat properly for digestion ; it could take blood of meat " (1015). After being i i hospital about three weeks, Louis was given injections of blood ! St. Luke's Records show this. Dr. Jacobi : " Beans and peas contain a large amount of nutrition, a good deal of nitrogen ; cannot say if meat contains more, pound for pound ; eggs contain as much " (507, 508). Sir H. Thompson recommends bread and butter, fruits and vegetables, fish, mil£, and eggs, for children; and he says "It is a vulgar error to regard meat in any form as necessary to life. . . . Cereals, vegetables, and fruits, with some fish, lead not to indigestion" ("Diet in Relation to Age and Activity," in The Nineteenth Century). Dr. Hall says "A laboring man can live well and keep well on good bread made from cereals, and well-cooked beans and peas. Beans are very valu- able food. Bean soup is the best bean food. We have known bean food to cure many cases of scrofula [and rickety affections are scrofulous — Dr. Small, p. 800]. The oil removes blood poison. In the late war any amount of hard marching and desperate fighting was performed on a bean and wheat diet. The legumes contain albuminous, nitrogenous, and oleaginous ele- ments in a large degree, and are therefore givers of heat, and builders up of muscular and nervous waste" (Dr. W. W. Hall in papers of Health Food Company, written in 1876). Dr. F. Seeger, with whom one of the Fold boys had lived for some time, was emphatic in his opinion that the diet, as fully described to him, was very nutritious. Here we encounter a most significant fact. It touches young Dr. Ridlon, 6 who for only two months had been house physician at St. Luke's, and upon whose report 'the prosecution society had Victor photographed after he had suffered from the waste ^f seven to nine passages daily during the eleven days of his hospital treatment, and he still crying for food ! No ordinary child, suffering only from semi-starvation, and without disease, would cry for food and have seven to nine stools a day after proper treatment contin- ued for eleven days. In Victor's case it continued, according to Dr. Jacobi, for fourteen days ; according to Dr. Hamilton, for nineteen days ; and accord- ing to Dr. Spitzka, for thirty- five days ! These are the three physicians called by Dr. Ridlon ; yet he himself was not the chief doctor of St. Luke's. This puts a new, if not suspicious, appearance on the case. It clearly was Dr. Ridlon's first duty to call the head physician appointed by the Hospital authorities, and those who were known as visiting physicians. Yet those called by Dr. Ridlon were outsiders, unfamiliar with the ways of St. Luke's, and wholly dependent upon the representations (as seen in their testimony) made to' them by Dr. Ridlon, whose diagnosis was at fault, whose report of previous diet was incorrect, and whose self-confidence was only equalled by his inexperience. His treatment of Victor had been unsuccessful for more than twenty days ; then he changed it, and gave what Dr. Stephen Smith said should have been given earlier (1015) — the juices of meat, or blood. Dr. Ridlon gave injections of blood and raw meat cut up fine after a three weeks' diet of boiled-milk-and-salt-with-lime-water ! Whatever may have been his previous treatment, Louis Victor should not have been restricted to a milk- and-salt diet for three weeks together, while he was crying for meat. And the photograph taken of him twelve days after such treatment, could not have been a correct representation of him when he left the Fold, Dec. 26th. It assumes that a child of only five yeacs, who was subjected to a radical change in his diet (from solid food to milk and salt and lime-water), and also suffering from the waste of seven to nine passages daily, would not lose flesh and become more emaciated in the course of eleven full days of such condi- tion. And all the while he cried for food ! Yet there was not a 'particle oj evidence in Court, nor before the Church Committee, that Victor ever cried for food when in charge of Mr. Cowley. LOUIS IN THE SHEPHERD'S FOLD. Victor was brought to the Fold by his father, and admitted by Mrs. Cowley without medical examination, Jan. 23d, 1878. The insinuation of Justice Brady (Error Book, folio 18- r )0) that he was placed in said Fold at the solicitation of Mr. Cowley, is without proof and contradicts the evidence (1056-1061). The mother had been dead long enough for the father to have married again, and have another child born to him, whom he left an infant in England when Louis was only two and a half years old. The father was frequent in his visits to Louis at first, but did not call to see him after June, 1878 (1063). He came a stranger, and disappeared after five months. Mr. Cowley knew nothing of him, or of Louis's mother. Symptoms of what developed into rickets appeared in Louis in 1878 (1067- 1071). He became tired much sooner than other Fold children, who com- plained of him. There was no parent to explain his ailment. Dr. Spitzka 7 says that as soon as a child begins to walk, rickets appear (540). Louis was not vigorous in July, 1879; had quinine, eggs, fresh vegetables, wheaten bread, and butter (1073-1077); an egg for breakfast, two tomatoes at Lunch, one at night, sometimes lettuce; canker in his mouth (so says Miss Callahan the teacher, 864, 922-933). He was taken to Dr. Hawes in August (854-859, 921), who swore he had "pigeon breast, large joints — a disease called rick- ets; prescribed cod-liver oil and syrup of iodide of iron" (880-882). Mrs. Cowley showed the usual interest in him and others (884, 885); visited the institution the last of October, 1879; the child was emaciated, abdomen en- larged, pigeon breast; he had diarrhoea; ate ravenously, and did not digest his food (887-894) ; saw him three times, once after October (912). The photographs taken twelve days after Louis was put in St. Luke's, were shown to Dr. Hawes. He did not think he was as much emaciated as represented ; did not show the swollen condition of his legs as he recollected them; " it is decidedly more emaciated here [indicating with his finger] than when I saw it " (the child, 889) ; gave him the same attention that he would to one he expected to be paid for (886) ; he saw Louis four times — twice at the Fold, and twice in his office (1322, 393, 120) ; and so Mrs. L. G. Mooney testified. Dr. Hawes was sent for the last of October. He assumed the medical care of Louis Victor, and was thenceforth responsible that his orders were obeyed. " If the doctor," said Mr. Cowley to the Church Committee, " had prescribed gold-coated pills or a pound of tenderloin steak daily, I would have supplied them. I carried out his prescriptions." Dr. Hawes swore he prescribed the proper remedies (891, 892) ; gave only general directions as to diet (901) ; did not report the result of his examination of Louis's water ; former treatment continued without intermission after the Doctor's visit. Mr. and Mrs. Cowley had had long experience and great success with others. Their judgment was approved by other physicians, and a child in their care was said by Dr. Hunt to be more likely to get well, if sick, than if sent to a hospital. Yet because of Louis's taking cold easily, and so having diarrhoea, they consulted about his removal to a hospital three weeks before he was taken to St. Luke's ! " They could not conceive his sickness could last longf while he ate so well " (754-756). He ate ravenously after being thirty-five days at St. Luke's (520, 521). This proves disease. Fanny McCurdy swore : "About every day for weeks before Louis went away, Mr. Cowley sent him a cup of coffee in the morning, and some ham cut up. Every day something was sent him. He may have eaten at the table up-stairs" (299, 300, 337). "Louis had a chicken, sonie buns, cakes, candy. WJiatever kind of meat Mr. Cowley had, he cut off some and sent to him ; I never saw him send it down, but it always came down " (359-361.) " He got it every morning " (362). " In September Miss Callahan gave him cake, and Mrs. Cowley gave him tea " (363). " He had night-clothes " (374). " Po- tatoes were cooked for the children" (397); "know of the doctor being called to see him twice; he had cod-liver oil, china, rhus tox., aconite, syrup of ipecac." (380-384, 393). "The doctor came twice to the house. The children had salt fish once, fresh fish twice; they had potatoes. I had the key of the store-room" (344, 350, 351, 379). "I got four cuj>s. Mrs. Cowley told me each cup was about four pints, and would make two quarts [that is, the four cups would make sixteen pints, or eight quarts] 8 of Indian meal, peas, and beans" (345,346). "Prepared the usnql quan- tity of beans the day the children were taken — two quarts of beans" (388). This is evidently wrong: for on measurement,, the water being poured off, there were eleven quarts ! Such was the testimony before the Church Committee. A portion of that food, two slices of brown bread, and a modicum of diluted condensed milk, for about a year, Mr. Phelps assumed, in his hypothetical questions to Dr. Jacobi (478-480), to Dr. Spitzka (532, 533), and to Dr. Hamilton (002, 603), to be the daily food of Louis Victor — hence his sickness. But his own witnesses had sworn to rice once or twice a week (Bessie Lawrence, 147) ; fish once a week for dinner (143) ; a cup of molasses for the mush (153) ; tea and coffee for those who did not drink milk (159, 299); sometimes eggs (445); a ham bone often put in soup (259, 445); meat and poultry on all festivals and holidays; meat for supper once (464, 465), and once or twice ice cream (466). The facts show three times as much food. And Louis's change of diet began in July, with eggs and tomatoes, and then Dr. Havves's treatment. So says the teacher (922-932), and also that his breakfast was cooked at the same time as that of the family (932, 1303-1306). MES. COWLEY'S NEW TESTIMONY. After careful reference to dates of purchases, of medical supplies, of con- sultations with Dr. Hawes and notes of his prescriptions, Mrs. Cowley states : "I took Louis Victor to Dr. Hawes the first Monday in August, 1879, and after examination he said he had rickets— it was constitutional, and would take time to outgrow it. I told him I had no experience in rickets, and should depend entirely on him. He prescribed cod-liver oil and syrup of iodide of iron, to be given Louis three times a day — one before, the other after, meals. I had two quarts of Schieffelin's cod-liver oil, and that was regularly given him. The iodide of iron I got at the druggist's. I was then absent about three weeks, and found Louis better on 1113' return. In the latter part of August he and all the Fold went on an excursion to Hart's Island, and enjoyed it much ; he ran about the steamer, and was very happy. The canker had left him, for which I had given arsenicum and china, and washed his mouth with a borax solution three times a day. He ate three or four tomatoes every day, with eggs and some nice thing he liked, besides his regular meals. [All the witnesses agree on this.] On the 1st of Septem- ber we all went on a second excursion to Hart's Island, which Louis enjoyed more actively than the first. I continued the oil and tonic treatment till October, and before the 9th of that month I again consulted Dr. Hawes about him. He then prescribed emulsion of cod-liver oil, and continued the iron. On Oct. 9 I got two one-quart bottles of Scott & Bowne's Emulsion, and thereafter gave Louis of that thrice a day, and continued the iron. At the end of October, I sent for Dr. Hawes to come and see Victor, who had diarrhoea. He came, made a full examination of him, and ' prescribed a mixture of opium and some aromatic' The former prescriptions were con- tinued, and he requested ' a bottle of his water to be sent him for examina- tion,' which was sent. Having no report from such inspection, I continued the former treatment, with a nourishing diet : that is, Louis had whatever ire, had, and some dishes specially 'prepared — meats, fish, or eggs twice a day. with vegetables, tea, coffee, or cocoa, and white bread and butter— the same 9 as that of the officers. It was quite up to the standard of similar charities, and was better than that of the city institutions. About Nov. 15 I saw Dr. Hawes again, and reported non-assimilation of the oil. He said ' Give him a teaspoonful instead of a tablespoonf ul at a time.' I made the change, giv- ing him the emulsion six times a day, and continued the other treatment. Then I got fifteen vials of homneapathic medicines, and gave him china, rhus tox., &c, for diarrhoea, which another physician had suggested, but con- tinued the oil and the iron preparations. About Dec. 10 he was taken to see the Christmas decorations at Bloomingdale's and other stores, and was out about two hours. He was much interested, but took cold, and the diarrhoea returned. I sent for the doctor ; Louis was properly treated for diarrhoea. He was not then so sick that it was necessary to keep him in bed. His appetite was good. I did just as I had done for children of well-to-do parents, and always received their kind thanks ; just as I did years before for my sister's chil- dren ; just as I had done for more than twenty years for my husband, before a physician could come to see him, and my actions never failed to have the doctor's approval. I know I did right by Louis Victor, and I believe he was getting well of rickets before I took him to St. Luke's. Never have I forgotten the peculiar impression which Dr. Ridlon made on me. I felt there was something not right about him, and I reported his peculiar man- ner to my husband. It was only because Louis would not stay in bed, and that he took cold easily, which increased the diarrhoea, that I consented to put him in the Hospital. According to my understanding, all his ailings in the Fold prove rickets, and that Dr. Hawes was right in his treatment." Thus it is evident that Louis Victor received proper food, care, and attention from Mr. "Cowley, and that he provided a competent physician. The standard is our public institutions. All conversant with the diet and care supplied to children by the city, will see that the food and treatment of Louis in the Shepherd's Fold were as good, or better, than he would have had in the city charities. That is the public standard. How was a child of five years, not confined to his bed, but up all day, treated at Randall's Island ? jHad he a nurse as competent as Mrs. Cowley, and a physician of larger experience than Dr. Hawes, and a general regimen better than Louis received at the Shepherd's Fold ? If not, who dare charge neglect against Mr. Cowley ? The photographs show rickets, and Dr. Hawes shows that Louis was getting well of them. But his taking cold caused diarrhoea : hence his transfer to St. Luke's, and for no other reason in evidence. CARE AND OVERSIGHT. Miss Valois was an assistant from November, 1877, to Jan. 6, 1879. Then followed Miss Callahan till Sept. 22d, being absent part of July (1234, 1235) ; she was in charge of the children at meals and in school (814-846). Then followed Miss Gardner from the latter part of October to the Tuesday before Thanksgiving (1289). She prepared Louis's breakfast, which consisted of toast and eggs. Mr. Cowley told her to give him meat, fish, eggs, or what- ever the officers had — some specially prepared for him (1302-1305). Miss Gardner was requested to give Louis his breakfast before she ate her own. Next came Mrs. Mason, who was there two weeks in March, and " from 10 the last of November to three or four days before Christmas" (041, 042). "There was no other child sick. My visit was to assist my sister. Gave medicine to Louis at night; took care of him nights ; slept in the room ad- joining his; was about three yards from where he was ; left my door open at night. Mrs. Cowley gave him remedies in the evening; saw her prepare them " (042-047). "Louis had the same care as parents take of their children ; Mr. and Mrs. Cowley gave him the care that parents would — as I should " (053- 055). " I never heard him cry while I was there, or complain of hunger- no, nor any of the children" (057, 058). "My last visit was three weeks" (033). She left only four days before Louis was taken to St. Luke's. Mrs. Ferris was the owner of the Fold house, and " went over it fre- quently, and observed everything kept clean — a good supply of bedding and towels" (700-708). " Mrs. Cowley was very attentive to the children, even to a cough " (701, 702). "Louis Victor looked up to Mr. Cowley as a father; he acted towards him just as a parent would. Mr. and Mrs. Cowley were very kind to him" (710-724). Mrs. Ferris lived in the front room of the second floor from May 1, 1879, to May 1, 1880, excepting brief absences in Summer, and had her spare goods locked up in the hall room of the top floor, where a child was falsely said to have been imprisoned, and fed on bread and water, for punishment.- This was fully examined into and disproved before the Church Committee. Mrs. Ferris, a grandmother, and by faith a Baptist, gave very favorable testimony of Mr. Cowley. Never had she heard any complaints from any child, and the larger girls often stopped in her room on the way to bed ; their relations were quite familiar and friendly. She said that her cousin inquired for her what objection there ^Yas to Mr. Cowley in the Finance Department. He reported '5 None whatever, but there was out- side envy and jealousy of him. They didn't mean he should have the two Folds." This lady appeared before the Legislative Committee at Albany to urge the investigation asked by Mr. Cowley. Beside much valuable aid from Miss Gahagan and other ladies, Mrs. Cowley had the help of eight of the twenty-five children — girls from twelve to near sixteen years old ; and there were only five children under five years of age, the youngest being Georgie Prideau and Bobbie Wood, the bright little ones who passed the inspection of Dr. Kanney. The order and system in the Fold made each helper's duty easy. Mr. Cowley had charge of the larger boys, who showed they loved him; and he met all the children at least once a day, at evening prayers. Louis was always able to be present. NEW TESTIMONY OF APPROVAL. Mrs. H. R. Sherer, housekeeper for many years at Mr. Haight's, "had her little niece, A. M. Stewart, in Mr. Cowley's care nearly five years. She was very happy and healthful there, and was much attached to Mr. and Mrs. Cowley. She was in the country at the time of the trial, and went to bed crying with grief at what was said in the newspapers, exclaiming ' I know that's all false ! that's all false ! ' When an inmate of the Shepherd's Fold, she used to visit me often, and I went to see her. I was always please;! with the treatment and care she received. She was a year or more with Louis Victor. I would be happy to place any child in care of Mr. and Mrs. Cowley." COST OF FOOD IN ODE CITI CHAKITIES. rants. Tl 11 Minnie Myers testified that she was about four years in their care, and was very much attached to them. She knew Louis, and says that he was well eared for in the Fold. She was there from November, 1875, till she left in 1879, and was kindly treated and cared for all the time Mr. and Mrs. Cowley had charge; a part ot that time she was in the Children's Fold, and then in the Shepherd's Fold — for she would not remain in the Children's Fold after they left. She always had plenty of good food, and knew none there that didn't. All were quite well except Louis Victor. When Miss Myers appeared before the Committee, she had not seen Mr. or Mrs. Cowley for more than a year, as she did not know where they lived. She was posi- tive as to ther- being enough of good food for all. So satisfied was the mother of George Prideau with the care which her boy received, that directly upon his removal by the prosecution, she sent a written request to Court that "her child should be at once returned to Mr. Cowley's care : for ho had never been so well as with him, and had never passed a Winter without suffering from severe croup, but up to that time George had been perfectly well." He was rather younger tnan Victor, was one of his companions, and passed Dr. Ranney's scrutiny. Mrs. Mason, who was employed in the family of Bowie Dash, Esq., ap- peared of her own volition before the Church Committee. She had two chil- dren in the Shepherd's Fold, and gave most favorable testimony touching the care and treatment they received from Mr. and Mrs. Cowdey, and her appreciation of their kindness. Both were young children, and companions of Louis Victor. The baker, the milkman, and the grocer, who saw the children daily, were emphatic, in their testimony to the Church Committee, of the well-being and healthy appearance of the children. Teachers of the Sunday-school also testified — as did the Rev. Mr. Tracy, whose church and Sunday-school they mostly attended during the last two years— as to the smartness, the bub- bling spirits, and the good appearance of the Shepherd's Fold children. # OTHERS WHO SAW THE CHILDREN. Mrs. Rebecca Collins, a preacher in the Society of Friends, and a Mana- ger and one of the Vice-Presidents of the Home to which the children seized on Jan. 17 were sent the same day, testified to the Church Committee that she "saw the little ones from the Fold sitting at the table eating bread and milk, and they looked very happy. It was not long after they had been re- ceived in the Home. On the other side were the larger children at a table partaking of their meal. I saw this girl that they testified had all the work to do— Fanny McCurdy — and I should not think that she had been abused. They all seemed very happy. They did not seem to have been subjected to hard treatment; were not at all haggard in their looks; they were cheerful. Mrs. Baylis, our Secretary, told me that she did not see in those children what was reported in the papers. They were fair-conditioned for their rank in life. They were very much like the children we had in the Home." Another lady, a communicant of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, who also frequently saw the children in the Home, testified that " those of the Shep- herd's Fold appeared to her to be equal in every way to the children of 12 other institutions. She saw no reason from their looks why they ohould be removed from the Fold." Mrs. J. J. Thomas testified to the Church Committee that she " knew the children, and had seen Mrs. Cowley's devotion to them ; and if there was a fault with Mr. Cowley, it was that he could not do enough for the children, instead of doing too little. They were all cheery and happy; seeme I to have a home and a mother's love. They were more bright and happy than any similar set of children I ever saw, and I have had to do with many insti- tutions. They were all bright and happy, with the exception of Louis Vic- tor, at the time of the raid. I was a visitor of the Fold up to that time, and on the Committee which examined and proved the bills and vouchers for supplies." Mrs. J. T. Spencer, a lady of the Heavenly Kest, testified: "I saw the children at the trial, and they appeared different to what they did at the Fold. As they passed out, Miss C. B. Dennis, who had been with the Fold from the start, said ' Fanny McCurdy, Emma Bowman, how dared you tell such a lie ! ' and they sneaked away. They [the Fold children] had been kept clean, tidy, and properly dressed. After taken away in January, 1880, I took a woman to clean up the house, and the floor was as clean as a floor could well be. The woman said ' It does not need cleaning.' The kitchen table was also clean. The children were bright and happy, and came to my house." Mrs. A. C. Bettner testified : " I never left the Fold without being pleased and contented with everything I saw there. I saw the children in a familiar way, as they came close about me while teaching them music. My impres- sions are entirely favorable, and I so expressed myself to those who tried to prevent my coming before the Committee." Miss Charlotte B. Dennis, 1005 Madison avenue, a lady conversant with the Fold during its whole history, under date of June 17, 1885, writes : "Some years ago we admitted a very poor and forlorn marasmus child, who was a great care for many months, when Mrs. Cowley took her into her own family. She was tenderly nursed for nine weeks, and so rapidly im- proved that she gained a pound in weight each week till convalescent. Then she was returned to the Shepherd's Fold, and continued to improve till she became one of the fattest there. "This child is the Emma Bowman who was a witness for the prosecution in the trial of Kev. Mr. Cowley in February, 1880. To his kindly care indeed she owes her life, and few of .us who first knew her in the Shepherd's Fold, ever expected her to live to maturity. And the woman with whom she had boarded before we opened the Fold, brought a written statement from the dispensary physician, saying that 'she could not probably live but a few months at longest.' Under Mr. Cowley's charge, she became as healthy and robust, and with as good prospects of life, as any girl we ever had. Yet her limbs had been no bigger than a candle, and Mrs. Cowley knitted stockings specially for her, as none could be bought long enough in the foot and small enough for the leg. Her body was so greatly emaciated that she was laid on a pillow to prevent pain and injury. She was taken from the Almshouse May 17, 1867, and was in care of Mr. and Mrs. Cowley till Jan. 17, 1880." Mrs. L. G-. Mooney, an active member of St. Stephen's Church, visited 13 Fanny McCurdy when in the institution in Seventh avenue and Fourteenth street. She wrote to Mr. Cowley thus : "I called upon Fanny with my friend Mrs. Travers, Dec. 4, 1883. Some of the remarks made by her seemed of so much' consequence that I wrote them down on my return home. I was prevented by illness from seeing her again. The impression on my mind is strong that her false statements about you were prompted entirely by fear ! She knew she had done wrong, and was afraid of the consequences ; so sought to throw discredit upon you. Mrs. Travers, who listened intently to our conversation, expressed the same opinion to me at the time. One thing I particularly noticed about Fanny : before she was aware I knew you — she could not speak too badly of you. But as soon as she found I knew something of you and of the case, she im- mediately changed her tone, and began to find fault with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty. I felt exceedingly sorry for her. She gave me the impression of one who would like to do better, but whose nature was so weak that she would not stop at falsehood to shield herself from shame. After several inquiries about the other children, she was asked ' Do you re- member a lady calling on you in Fifty-seventh street, and inviting you to go to a situation ?' ' No, I don't.' Then reminded it was in the Fifty-seventh- street pmon, she answered ' I do remember.' Then I asked 'Why did you prefer returning to the Fold and call it your home, if you were so cruelly treated by Mr. Cowley as you said you were ?' Answer — ' I wouldn't have said as much as I did against him, if I hadn't been put up to it. I don't recol- lect ichat I said — it is so long ago, and I was so frightened ; but whatever it was, it is too late to alter it now — I must stick to it.' When told that Mr. and Mrs. Cowley had suffered greatly owing to her testimony, the tears filled her eyes, and she said ' I am earning good wages now, have saved S25, and could send them some money if they wanted it.' When told that Mr. and Mrs. Cowley always spoke kindly of her and the other children, she said ' I am very thankful to them for taking care of me when I was little. I have an awful temper ; I can't help it — I got it from my father. I thought the}" ought to have paid me wages. But I would not have said as much as I did against hfm, if I hadn't been put up to it. The officers of the Society often talked privately to me and to the other children, and they didn't do for me what they promised. I vexed Mr. Gerry, because when he asked me if the children got enough to eat, I said they could tell that better than I could. That made him angry, and he never spoke to me again.' I said ' Why did you testify there was no rice given the children, when you say they had rice and all such things ? ' She answered with great excitement : ' I wouldn't have said half I did against Mr. Cowley, if I hadn't been so frightened. I did not know what they would do to me.' [Signed] L. G. Mooney. [X. B. — Fanny was the only witness in court as to quantity of food.] Miss Jeanie Robertson and Mrs. Cowley called to see Fanny McCurdy Dec. 13, 1883, and thus reported their interview: Fanny said that "since those two ladies came to see her, she had taken advice, and was told that when she gave her testimony in Court, she was in care of the Society ; they had called her to testify ; she had not gone herself and made complaints. But they had made her say what she said, and they were responsible for it, not she, and they would protect her," which she repeated several times. She 14 complained of the Society sending her to Brooklyn, then to Connecticut; that when she " found Lillie Hawes, Minnie St. James, and Lizzie Hunter in Norwalk, and the Society learned of their seeing eaeh other, they were all changed, and placed differently. Soon afterward she returned to New York, and Mrs. Bennett sent her to the Home for Destitute Girls, where she was kept a prison er for some time. Then she wrote to her grandmother, asking her to write to the Matron that she [the grandmother] was sick, and wished Fanny to visit her. After this visit to her grandmother, she returned, and the Matron finding her superior to others who applied, gave her a place as cook, and she had worked there up to that time ; was then receiving $12 a month, and was nineteen years of age." The following is a portion of the documents presented to the Governor and to the Legislature, with Petition for investigation in this case : City and County of New York, ss. : Estella Stendenbach being duly sworn, says that she was in the Fold about six years, and was living and happy therein when taken to the Home for the Friendless. That she worked in the kitchen and dining-room about the dishes. That she remembers the large pan in which Fanny McCurdy used to put the beans and peas to soak over night for cooking next day; in the morning when she went in the kitchen, the pan was often overflowing with beans or peas, swelled over night. That she identified the pan shown, and felt quite sure it was the same one used [it holds eleven quarts]. She also identified the cooking pot in which the children's food w T as prepared; it was almost full when prepared; saw it cooking almost full; indicated with her finger how full it was — about two or three inches from the top. That the children were served with a soup-plate full (and if they wanted more, they could have it) and bread ; never went away from those meals hungr}'. Never knew that Emma Bowman was puirished ; some of the children were when they were too bad and deserved it ; never heard about Emma Bowman being whipped and locked up by Mr. Cowley ; she was never locked up by him ; once the teacher shut her up in a hall room. There was no dark room, nor any room in which naughty children were locked; never saw anyone locked up except once by the teacher. Children in said Fold were as well supplied just before being taken away as at any time ; had about the same meals last year as the year previously. Were taken from the Fold to Court, then to a restaurant, then to the Home for the Friendless. In the Home they gave us something to put on, so as not to soil our dresses. The chil- dren went to Court, to the restaurant, and to the Home in the very clothing in which they left the Fold. It was cold weather. Had cloaks provided by Mr. Cowdey — cloaks with capes and lined inside ; they were made of blue tlannel. Had what was considered good dresses and comfortable undercloth- ing; a seamstress cut out the clothing, and ladies helped to make it. Had breakfast in the Fold the morning when taken away, and dinner was being prepared, but did not eat again till in the restaurant, and it was almost din- ner-time when taken away. Deponent has read the affidavit of her mother, Mary Stendenbach, dated Jan. 9, 1«83 ; and all that is said in it about herself, and about the clothing and kind treatment of the Fold children, she believes to be true of her own knowleige. Deponent attended the grammar school in Fifty-first street, and helped in the kitchen and dining-room at meals and on Saturdays, and saw the food prepared, and how much there was in the pot, and the large pot was almost full of the different foods, beans and peas, rice and hominy, Indian meal and wheaten grits, pearl barley and soups; sometimes it was fish and potatoes; on festivals, roasts and poultry and nice things. That all the children had all they wanted at meals, and could have more by asking, and some of the dinner was often left over, and eaten by any who wanted it; 15 that Fanny McCurdy could get all the stores she wanted for the children, and they were not stinted in food by Mr. Cowley. Deponent remembers the large cask of rice and a barrel of rice in said Fold at Sixtieth street, and it lasted a long while ; that it is wrong to say there was no rice for the children in Sixtieth street. Deponent knows that Charlie Fox did not attend Mrs. McClolland's school, but that he attended the grammar school in Fifty-seventh street ; and that Lizzie Vanhagen was only a short time in said Fold, and had not been living in it for a long while before the children were taken away by E. Fellows Jenkins and others. Said Jenkins tried to get her to say things which were not true, when she was in said Home for the Friendless in February, 1880, and he did try to have her say at his dictation that she "knew she did not have enough to eat, and was not kinrsly treated by said Cowley,'* and said Jenkins said he " saw the beans that were in the pot the day the children were removed, and that only a few beans floated on the water " ; but deponent knew that a large quantity of beans had been put in said pot that day, and they had sunk to the bottom, and did not float on the water. Said Jenkins also tried to have her say that said " Cowley was cruel to her and other children, and that she knew it," when she k'.ew that he was kind to her and to all the children, and always had been kind to them. Deponent was not called to testify at his trial. She was fourteen years old, and knew what good treatment was, and would not testify falsely. And she believes that said Jenkins put in the mouth of Fanny McCurdy and some other girls to say some things against Mr. Cowley, and that they would not have testified as they did if he had not instructed them; and she knows that some things were false, and she had no way of correcting and contradicting it till she appeared before said Church Commit- tee, and she had not then seen or heard from said Cowley for about a year. Deponent knows that the Fold children liked Mr. Cowley, and some of them tried to run away from said Home for tlii3 Friendless, and go back to. said Fold. They liked it, and were healthy and happy in it. ESTELLA STENDENBACH. Sworn to before me this 13th day of December, 1883. William F. Hiers, Notary Public County of New York (11). City and County of New York, ss. : Jane McAllister being duly sworn, says that she was employed during most of the year 1S76 at domestic work in the Children's Fold, and lived therein, and was paid for her labor. That she was observant of the care, diet, and general management of its children ; and that as compared with other im#;itutions in which she had worked, she believed the care and man- agement of said Fold to be in many respects better ; and that when under charge of Rev. Edward Cowley, its children were kindly treated, well fed, well clothed, and were being well educated. That in the latter part of said year deponent was sent for by Mrs. Dubois of the Nursery and Child's Hos- pital. That said Dubois and her sister asked her main- questions, some of which she did not understand, and answered differently to what she intended, and that her answers were carried back and forth between Mrs. Dubois and a Mrs. Dundas and her daughter, who were employed by Mrs. Dubois, and were afterwards discharged by her. That by them she was made to say what she did not mean nor intend to say, and which was Altered so as to reflect on Mr. Cowley's management of said Fold ; and that she is very sorry and grieved that her meaning should have been so distorted and misrepresented, and she knows that some of the children were put up .to say things which they did not mean, and things which were not true, but false. That her opinion of Mr. Cowley's management must be judged by what she meant, not by what others made her say, and that he was kind to the children, and treated them well and kept them in good health and properly clothed. That she took her little boy away from Mrs. Dubois's institution as soon as she was able, and put him immediately in the Shepherd's Fold (then in Mr. Cowley's charge), in 1878, paying about the usual rate for such children ; and that she then and thereafter left him in his care, believing that he would be 16 kindly treated well fed, properly educated, and in all respects well cared for in that Fold; and that her boy became healthy, strong, and hardy, which she saw at her frequent visits to him, allhough he had a bad head, a scabby face, and very disagreeable catarrh, when placed in Mr. Cowley's charge. Deponent has never seen nor known anything but kind and good treatment of children by said Cowley ; and that she left her own and only child in his care and absolute disposal, is the best evidence of her good opinion of him, and of his management of said Fold. And deponent further says that said Mrs. Dubois sent her money and promised her a home, and in other ways induced her to speak falsely, which she deeply regrets, and corrects by this affidavit now made by her. Jane McAllister. Sworn to before me this 30th day of November, A. D. 1883. Henry "C. Cooper, M.D., Notary Public (173). Minnie St. James Anderson being duly sworn, says that she was in the care of Rev. Edward and Mrs. Cowley from about the year 18G6 to Jan. 17, 1880, and was very happy and healthy when in their care. That they took a personal and parental interest in her; sent her to the public schools, where she learned the usual studies; and in Shepherd's Fold, French, German, in- strumental and vocal music, also the use of the typewriter, and she wrote her French exercises on the typewriter, as did several of the other children. That she was in good health, and had been in good health for the previous five years, and made such progress in her studies and house duties as to earn her own living; -and besides her support in said Fold, she often received presents from Mr. and Mrs. Cowley, and was always well clothed and was happy with them. That when said Jenkins swore this deponent was not well fed, and that her health was in danger, and that she was not kindly treated by Mr. Cowley, he swore to what was entirely false, and she would have said it was false if she had been permitted to testify ; and that she never felt in better health nor happier than when with said Mr. and Mrs. Cowley. That she has a good situation now, being about eighteen and a half years old, and has thought much about her residence in said Fold. Deponent further says that she was often in the kitchen, usually several times a day, when the meals were prepared ; and that the large iron pot in which the dinners for the Fold children were cooked, was generally as full a* it could be for cooking, and it held more than could be eaten at dinner, and some was often left over. Deponent's duty was in the dining-room, and she knows that Mr. Cowley provided abundant supplies, and that he wanted them to have enough, and often inquired if the children had enough prepared, and said " they must have all they could eat; it was plain food, and the children should have all they wanted " ; and they were not limited to one or two sup- plies on their plates, but could have them filled again and again, of soups and bread, and beans and rice and Indian meal, wheaten grits, meat and potatoes, fish and potatoes. On holidays and festivals and birthdays, they had plenty of roasts and poultry, puddings, pies, fruits, and such things; and the children were always healthy and enjoyed themselves in said Fold. That Louis Victor alone became sick in the Fall of the last year, 1879, and at Christmas was taken by Mrs. Cowley to the Hospital. That he had always been kindly treated in the Fold; at first he had the same food and care as the other children, and when he got sick the doctors saw him, ani medi- cines were given him very often, and he had the same food as the officers, and other food was specially prepared for him, such as poultry and eggs and puddings, and other nice things, sometimes cake and blane-mange and fruits; and great care was taken of htm through the day up to bedtime, which depo- nent saw and knows, and that he was well cared for while in said Fold, and till he went to the Hospital. Deponent further says that she saw the large cask of rice, and also a barrel of rice, in the Sixtieth-street home; it lasted a long time. That there were several barrels of supplies in the store-room, such as bread and beans, and peas and hominy and Indian meal, wheaten grits, pearl barley, rice, po- tatoes, and molasses; the meats and milk were kept in the refrigerator. 17 Fanny McCurdy or the teacher had the keys, and they prepared as much as they thought the children would eat, and if any of them did not get enough, it was their own fault, and not Mr. Cowley's, and he often helped to serve the children at breakfast and dinner. Deponent further says that great care was taken to keep the children and their heads clean, and they were daily washed and combed ; they had a warm bath in the bath-tub on Saturdays, when school did not keep. That Louis Victor was very often washed, and was quite comfortable and happy, sin^in^ and asking the children to sing. That about eight or ten towels were washed everyday, and it was the rule. That on Jan. 17, 1880, the Fold children were seized and taken away by said Jenkins and some officers to Court before being bathed, and were hurried off, and not allowed to bathe nor to make their usual weekly changes of underclothing. In the afternoon of said day the Fold children were put in the Home for the Friendless, and many of them did not like it; some tried to run away, and back to said Fold. But said Jenkins used to come and talk to the children, and got them to like it better; and he talked with Fanny McCurdj 7 , and she used to tell over what she and other girls had said, or were to say, in Court every night during Mr. Cowley's trial, for the purpose, as deponent firmly believes, of instructing and induc- ing other children to say the same things as she had said after she turned against Mr. Cowley ; and that said Jenkins talked with said Fanny and with some of the other children, in order to get them to say things against said Cowley — things that were not true, but false, and that said Fanny knew them to be false, and she laughed aloud when she repeated some of the things she had said against him. Deponent was then about fifteen and a half 3 r ears old ; but she was not permitted to testify at his trial, nor to communicate with him, nor with Mrs. Cowley, and she was unable to communicate with either of them from the time she was forcibly taken from said Fold till Nov. 20, 1883 — nearly three years ; and that it was through the kindness of her employers that she was allowed to see Mr. Cowley even then, and it gave her great pleasure to see him; that she always liked him, and she loved Mrs. Cowley; they treated her as parents treat their children, or better. Deponent knows this by com- parison, as she has been in several different families since she was taken from them, and she never would have left them of her own accord : for they were kind and good to her. Deponent believes that none of the children of said Fold would have said anything against said Cowley unless they had been put up to it, and to say false things, by said Jenkins, who got them removed, and then had some of them sent out of t he State; and that deponent was sent to Connecticut for nearly tvro years, and could not communicate with said Mr. or Mrs. Cowley. And deponent says that little Louis Victor very often ate at Mr. Cowley's table, and that he and other small children used to get cakes and fruits and other nice things from him every day, and that they loved him, and called him Papa. Deponent further says that Mr. Cowley provided various books of enter- tainment and picture-books, and puzzles and games for indcor amusement; and in fine weather he often took them to Central Park, and the children ran about and played tag and other games, such as ball, croquet, hoops, tops, archery, and made themselves merry just like other children ; and they went to Barnum's and the Muse am, the Aquarium and the American Institute, and to Sunday-school and church every Sunday, and several children sang in the choir. In Summer they went on excursions, sometimes in carriages and boats, and sometimes in large steamers, up the Hudson and the East river; and Mr. Cowley explained to them what they saw, and the monuments in the Park, and about the men they commemorated ; and the children wrote out what they could remember, and about the animals, on the typewriter. Deponent further says that the Fold children who had parents used to visit them, and to receive visits from them, and they always came hack happy, and seemed gla I to be in said Fold again, ant! they enjoyed them- selves there. That Charlie Fox did not go to Mrs. McClelland 's school near Forty-ninth street, but he went to the Fifty-seventh-street grammar school for 18 several years, 'and that she herself attended the female department of that school. And she remembers that Lizzie Vanhagen was' but a few weeks in said Fold, and had left itra long time before said Jenkins got thn children taken away; it seems nearly a year; and she believes that said McClelland swore falsely about Charlie Fox, who did not attend her school, and about Lizzie Vanhagen, who had left the Fold long before the other children were taken away, and was in it onlv a few week's. And deponent believes that she was not allowed by said Jenkins to testify, because he knew she would tell the truth, and she has always said she would tell the truth — that Mr. Cowley was kind and good to the Fold chil Iren — but she has never before had an opportunity. Minnie St. James Anderson. Sworn to before me this 1st day of December, 1883. * Francis P. Burke, Notary Public New York County (101). STATEMENT OF REV. EDWARD COWLEY, BY REQUEST. Such a net of misrepresentation has been woven around Louis Victor and myself, that I give the following facts : From March 1, 18G3, to June, 1872, my duty was at the City Institutions, with proper salary, and residence there the last eight years. My leisure I gave to founding the Shepherd's Fold and the Children's Fold, so providing a home and Christian nurture for children who fell to my care, numbering about 200 a year. To succor the orphan and abandoned, I revolutionized public sentiment and inspired public regard. From July, 1872, to March, 1873, I was abroad, chiefly to interest British Christians in behalf of British orphans in New York, and with excellent re- sults. In 1874 I procured the passage of a law which gave the Children's Fold 32 a week for each child supported therein whose maintenance was not provided by private parties. This endowment created jealousy and cupidity in some not so privileged, and in 1876 the purpose became manifest to dis- possess me and my friends of the Fold's management. Hence were circu* lated stories about the children, and that I had made a gain out of the Fold ; yet I had no money compensation for all my time and labor. By such trick- ery, with the aid of a trustee, the opposition usurped the management. Then I took charge of the Shepherd's Fold, with admirable success, when certain parties, to conceal and consummate other wrongs, caused me to be prosecuted for alleged neglect of Louis Victor — one of seven hundred chil- dren m my care from 1867 to 1880, of whom only three had died, and but few were ever sick, as the foregoing medical reports certify. None of them had ever complained of food or treatment, or their parents for them. They are seven hundred reasons why little Victor was not improperly fed or neglected by me. My health record for thirteen years had been unparalleled for ex- cellence, inviting comparison with that of any similar institution in the State. I had proved a friend and benefactor of New York orphans. Twenty- one gentlemen sought to obtain my place, being twenty-one more reasons in my favor; or were they moved thereto to get the disbursement of $2'), 000 a year — the support of two hundred children in the two Folds I had founded and endowed ? Such are some of the reasons not generally known by a deceived public why I was accused of starving Louis Victor; and they were enough, as things go in New York. I was forced to trial on chnrges which I never saw, 19 within a week of seizure. The healthy appearance of four-fifths of my chil- dren proved at sight that the indictments touching them must be fraudulent* The stupidity or wickedness of grand jurors was never more clear. They had indicted me as to lifteen of the most robust-looking children of the city — as to fifteen who had fled to me for protection, and who were as free to go as to come. But their late guardians (!) had "resolved to recover them from me." M5* children were seized without appearance of cause, and transferred by an ex parte order to the prosecution at its request, and then they were taught to bear false witness against me. I was deprived of a pre- liminary examination by a magistrate. I was indicted not only without evi- dence, but against evidence, and it was publicly reported that I was to be "railroaded to Sing Sing " ! Since then Recorder Smyth has charged the Grand Jury not to allow an indictment in a case which a magistrate has not examined, so that a similar outrage shall not be committed. Thus with indecent haste and public clamor, I was put on trial on charges oppugnant to my life's record. I was required to tell what part of food, attention, and concern a certain one of my twenty-five children had received. I was to divide and subdivide paternal provision and maternal care. I was assumed to be little Victor's nirse, and was asked how often I nursed him — gave him water, carried him about, placed him in a chair; what exactly had I given him to eat; what precisely had I done for him as distinct from all others in my care ! I thought of the rule per alium per se, and answered "There are twenty different witnesses to be found and examined — twenty different accounts to be collected and analyzed." Yet I was kept in prison by a bail twenty-five times too high, in defiance of the Constitution! But what of that ? The prosecution had resolved to win. Now indeed they ask to let it drop ! But I recall the memory of Rev. John Ury in 1741, and will not be a willing victim, lest another be sacrificed. I ask for correction and restitution— the Christian rule from professed Christian people. Let them beware of their own precedents. Even while investigation by the Church was going on, the New York Committee of the " S. B. C." censured our man- agement, perhaps to influence the judgment of the Church ; yet no member of the S-fate Committee had visited said Fold, or conversed with any of its officers, within tico years / We remonstrated against such false report of our work to the authorities at Albany, and the Legislature suppressed its publica- tion, though already in the hands of the printer. If facts mean anything, those presented in the foregoing pages show all that the public need to disprove the charge that I starved or neglected Louis Victor. They show that he had a kind, competent, and excellent lady to \\ they are blown away with the breath of Mr. Gerry ! If true on Jan. 31, 1880, they were equally true Feb. 1, 1883, and the prosecution should have tried them. But Mr. Gerry prevented that, and so shielded his agents. Here is another reason to be considered, and the records of St. Luke's disclose an- other in Dr. Ridlon. Perhaps the $20,000 annual appropriations to the Chil- dren's Fold and the Shepherd's Fold — $75,000 since the opposition to me began — furnish another motive for usurping my work, and for refusing to repay me, as well as other creditors, from moneys received for the support of Fold children. It is money to which they confess they had no right, ex- cept that by protracted litigation they deprived us of it. And they do it under the auspices of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the State of New York ! Is the Church unable to correct this wrong ? To procure the privileges and endowments of those two Folds, has cost me $10,000 — money which I did not give, and had no right to give, but only invested. To deprive me of it is little less than robbery ; yet those now in control refuse to pay me anything, except what they may be compelled to pay by legal process. Therefore I appeal to the Clergy and Laity of the Church for redress and reimbursement. The orphans and needy children of the Church I have provided for by State endowment, now to the number of two hundred a year. May it not be at the sacrifice of their benefactor ! Edward Cowley, Aug. 24, 18»5. Presbyter of the Diocese of New York. The foregoing digest of evidence, old and new, enables the reader to form a truer judgment of the Victor case than was possible for the Judge and Jury who tried it ; and the precipitation of that trial explains why Counsel did not, because not permitted, prove these food supplies in court. But they were proved and sifted before the Church Inquiry, and a comparison of them was made with the food supplies in similar institutions. The printed tables in annual reports showed that the city of New York fed its well children at a daily cost of less than ten cents ; for all at Randall's Island, the cost was a fraction over ten cents, for the blind it was eight cents, for the poor at the Almshouse it was seven cents, and at the Lunatic Asylum it was twelve cents. The average at these five institutions, therefore, was less than ten cents daily for old and young. Page 3 of this digest reveals an average of more than ten cents each in the Shepherd's Fold. Comparison was also made with private institutions of the city, Protestant and Roman Catholic, which proved equally favorable to Mr. Cowley. The Protectory reported the cost of each inmate in 1879 (Victor's last year in the Fold) to have been $52.77 for food and clothing for those larger and older than the Fold chil- dren. This would not allow of more or better food than was furnished Louis and his companions. Surely, therefore, the Fold children were not starved. That Louis Victor was not neglected when sick, is even less probable, as the new matter in this digest sufficiently proves, showing a terrible miscarriage of justice, and illustrating what the Hon. S. J. Tilden says, that governmental machinery for administering justice is often potent of evil. The Church has only miti- gated that evil by reversing, so far as she could, the unjust decision of a hasty court trial. What yet remains to be done is suggested in the fore- going statement and appeal. See St. Matthew's Gospel, vii. 12. The Compiler. Pamphlet j Binder j Gaylord Bros. Inc. ] Makers < Syracuse, N. Y. < PAT. JAN 21, 1908 j