The Famous Canadian Quintuplets

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 311, 17 December 1936, Page 7 (Supplement)

The Famous Canadian Quintuplets

’’ Dr. Allan Roy Dafoe believes the nfelr scientifically-planned and constructed play yard, or “show yard,” ;ot the Dionne quintuplets has proved complete success and justified the •ffbrts Of the children’s guardians to Surround them with safeguards de- ‘ signed to promote "the natural course if their development.” ■ • On a single recent afternoon, he < laid, seven thousand persons gatherbed to watch the quints do their “daily ' ; dpzeil** Without being either seen or heard hy the children as they played under ’the direction of- two nurses. Cars bearing the license tags of thir-ty-one Statefe and nearly all the provinces qtCanada were lined up along the country road for more than a imlle. ■ '■ U Previously the quintuplets had been exhibited in an open lot surrounded ? by a Stout woven wire fence, like .'animals in a zoo. The crowd would ten to twenty deep before the , space, scrambling and ■ pushing for places. It was a great open air entertainment, and the visitors would J laugh and make friendly remarks, ■‘and many of them would try to at- ■ tract ;,the; attention of youngsters, r The" whole affair was taking on too »much the character of a “big show” , to’ Suit the Government managers and .guardians. The five sisters themselhaving passed the knowing age of ’two years; were being distracted ' daily by the thousand or more curi ; “Olisfaces and excited voices, and .-•were beginning io react, at least two • of them playing the “show off.” ~, "Our whole problem up to now,” , said Dr. Dafoe, ‘‘has been divided betwneen providing funds for the extraordinary maintenance of the babies and at the same time avoiding

any undue exploitation that might reflect on their well-being at any' future time. From the first, the public’s personal interest has been so overwhelming that some provision had to be made for gratifying it. Had they been denied actual first-hand evidence of the little ones, all kinds of rumours might have sprung up.” Something Had to be Done. “Visitors have come in such increasing numbers, however, that the handling of the problem has become more and more difficult. Their interest has been whole-souled and not mere idle curiosity, and we tried to gratify it and at the same time avoid .the spectacular. One step in that direction has been adhering to a policy of not making any charge of admission. A small fee, we felt, might even increase the attendance and also tend to brand us with showmanship, although proceeds from such a step might be devoted to some worthy cause.

‘Having created a precedent in permitting the public to see the babies at play - , for example, we found ourselves confronted by a new and even more important problem, which concerned .the children themselves. * Our babies have grown up, so to speak. They not only walk and talk, but they have become inquiringly conscious of their surroundings. Something had to be done about it. Either 'the crowds of visitors would have .to be eliminated, or the babies would have to be made oblivious to it. In any and all cases, the welfare of the quintuplets has been the paramount' consideration. In this, one of the 'world’s outstanding biological

phenomqna, we should destroy’ the value of our whole experiment—if you want Io call it that—if we permitted. external interests and infliiences to impress themselves on the natural course of the children’s development. “The new playground, built after long and “careful consideration, satisfactorily meets both sides of the , question, at least for the time being, it is a new deal for the babies and a square deal for the public, whose friendly encouragement from the first has been a factor in seeing this extraordinary manifestation of Nature' through its preliminary stages. We are the legal guardians of the quintuplets, and mean to acquit ourselves of our trust in a way' they will some day appreciate and approve of. As long as we can accommodate the pub lie we shall continue Io do so, but never at the expense of the babies and their welfare.” Special Playground for 'Vowing, The new playground is inside the fenced-in two-acre yard. Some 200 ft beyond the fence a large pavilion has been erected. Outside the barrier a guard rail has been set up, permitting a line five abreast to form and pass along to a gate at one end, thence by a. cross path to the en-

trance doors at one end of the structure. Aulomalic turnstiles allow several hundred spectators lo pass inside'. Once in.sl.de, the crowd .splits, into two halves, each division lining up against the windows facing the inner court in a 200 ft. convex corridor. The windo'ws are constructed of a special shatter-proof glass with a tine wire netting Stretched over the far side, which gives a clear vision to the visitors while the" children can barely’ distinguish blurred shadows. Silence is ’enjoined and generally observed and carry on naturally. The time permitted to stand and watch the children depends on the size of the throng. The authorities estimate they cun circulate seven Io eight thousand ’through I he works, allowing a two and - a- half minute pacing time, within the space of the pla.v hour?' 'i'he feature of the new playground is a semi-circular pool into which a fountain, stream of water play's. On warmish days .the live girls appear in their ultra-modern bathing suits, each of a. different colour, will, their broad little backs exposed, and with a voluminous ho w at I he side. They 'wear sunbonnet bathing caps to match, which they tear off their

heads within the first five miirut.es ami proceed to fill with water. Each has a. gaudy bathrobe ,so long that it drags in a train, into which each of them is stuffed and taken away at the end of the hour, two or three of them usually' lying down and having to be dragged off the scene. The Market in Relatives. If it rains the' game is called off, and the crowd has to be content with a rain check, 't his is a hardship in the majority of cases, since there is no accommodation for more than half their number withjn two hundred miles, let alone food enough to feed them. A spell of rainy weather would be hard on the hundreds who come from Texas and California, for instance, lor the rule is adamant that nobody shall see the quintuplets “unless weather permits.” Another new feature is a brand new woven wire fence around the home of Mr and Mrs Oliva Dionne, just opposite, where the quints, were born. The parents complained that two many curious folk forced their way into their private lives, asked embarrassing questions, and sought advice that was out of their power to give. Mdmes. Legros and Lebel, however, the midwives who assisted Dr. Dafoe at the delivery' of the quintuplets, are not so modest. They have enlarged their souvenir shop near the laboratory entrance and

wrap each parcel, so to speak, with choice information. Another innova lion is the erection of the largest hot dog-iqe cream souvenir cabin of its kind about hall a mite aw; y which masquerades under the name of "J. Dionne." As a maker of fac'., Julian Dionne, a. cousin rented the conces sion rights to the use of his name for £ JO a year. Other relatives of the famous father and his batch of ch 1 dren are running eating places or offering their names in the open market. Dr. Dafoe, on the other hand, is not

r commercially inclined nor does hei like cheap gain or fame at the ex* ' pense of his “babies,” as he them. “I stopped all that nonsensewhen they' began offering me 10 pet cent of all moneys that came t< them,” he said. •' ’ f “You can make me their court' physician, I informed the Govern? merit or whatever you want;to call it, and I'll give up my practice, and devote my professional life to then£• You can give me fifty’ dlolars a weefc —and that ends it.” And while lA Dafoe says he means. ' 1