Mary is a wistful little girl 8 years old. She is next to the youngest of a large family. Her father is old, shiftless and decrepit. Her mother who is much younger and more enterprising was the virtual head of the house which position she was accustomed to emphasize by copious oaths which Mary and the other children strove to imitate.

The immediate cause of Mary's coming into the care of The Vermont Children's Aid Society was the fact that Mary's mother chose to consider her rather negative spouse as non‐existent. The law, however, looked at the matter differently and Mary's mother soon found herself in the clutches of its long arm.

The home from which Mary came was filthy in the extreme and she had never been to school. Mary is now in a good boarding home and is learning rapidly in school. In fact, she is at the head of her class.

From the first, she adapted herself well to her new surroundings. She is happy in her boarding home although she sometimes longs to see her little brother, Bobbie.

Bobbie is 3 years old and is still with his father. As Bobbie sorely needs a mother's care, the Society expects to take him as soon as the courts will permit and then hopes to find some big hearted people who will give the little brother and sister a home together.

Nothing will bring out Mary's dimple and her little crooked smile so much as talking about seeing Bobbie again.

Margaret, who is a full orphan, is 12 years old. Her father died 12 years ago and her mother just last year.

All Margaret's brothers are much older than she and all, except one, are married and have large families. They are fond of their little sister but they are poor and their wives are too busy with their household duties and the farm work to give Margaret the attention that she needs.

During the past six months, Margaret has been passed along from one brother's family to another until she hasn't known where she really did belong.

Margaret was out of school a good deal last year caring for her mother in her last illness. She therefore fell back one grade in school.

She is a bright girl with a pleasing personality and her heredity is good.

She has some musical talent but has never had an opportunity to cultivate it. She has considerable imagination and is a very companionable child.

When found by the agent, her teeth were in bad condition and her clothing unmended and uncared for as if no one had had the time or interest to look after her.

Margaret is now in a good boarding home supervised by The Vermont Children's Aid Society. She is doing well in school and is greatly loved by her teacher.

The Society hopes, soon, to find a permanent home for Margaret with people who have the means to educate her and the time and interest to give her the personal attention that she needs to help her to develop into the fine woman that she is capable of becoming.

Perhaps I shouldn't tell you about Annabel. Such stories are depressing and my only excuse for telling this is that it illustrates what happens if we leave these children too long in their degraded surroundings.

Annabel is nearly 16 years old. Owing to the efforts of the agent of the Southern District, Annabel is now in the State Industrial School at Vergennes. When Annabel's case first came to the attention of The Vermont Children's Aid Society the agent thought that the Society could do something for this girl and hoped that she might be committed to its care as a dependent child. But investigation revealed conditions so shocking and of such long standing that there was nothing for Annabel except institutional care.

Annabel is of good mentality and of very pleasing personality but she has been brought up from babyhood in an atmosphere of vice and she therefore has had her sensibilities deadened to all good things.

Without doubt, if an investigation had been made fourteen years ago, conditions bad enough to have warranted the removal of this child from her parents would have been revealed and Annabel might now be a delight and source of joy in some good family and an asset to the community. As it is, Annabel will be of age in two years and is, even now, planning to return at that time to her old surroundings. We are glad that for two years she is to have expert care in Mr. Wilson's splendid institution but can the effects of sixteen years of neglect and bad environment be counteracted by two years of care however expert?

I am telling this story to illustrate the fact that a large number of our cases of neglected children are foster children that were carelessly placed in wretched homes by their parents or others. It is hard to understand why immoral women, degenerate women, and ignorant women‐‐some with large families of their own‐‐want to adopt children but it is a fact that they do want them and they do adopt them.

About nine years ago, a high‐grade feeble‐minded woman, the wife of a feeble‐minded man and the mother of two feebleminded boys saw a newspaper advertisement of a baby girl for adoption in another state.

She went posthaste to the address given, which proved to be that of a maternity hospital. She had no trouble in getting the baby. Certain papers were signed and she came back on the next train with the baby without even seeing the child's mother. This baby girl we will call Elizabeth. Shortly afterward, this woman's married but childless sister took another baby girl from the same hospital. This baby we will call Jane.

So much for what took place nine years ago.

Now for the story today.

The part of Vermont where Elizabeth lives today is not much like Burlington, Rutland and the other cities and larger villages of the State with their active churches and their splendid schools. There is no school in the town where Elizabeth lives and there has been none there for several years.

The tumble‐down church long unused with its decaying timbers and caved‐in spire is symbolic of the morals of the region.

Here we find the weaker‐minded members of the former community who were left behind when the more vigorous and enterprising ones moved to the cities and larger villages.

Hither, too, lawless spirits from outside have come because they feel that they are, here, beyond the pale of the law.

Baby Elizabeth grew up in a place like the above.

She is 9 years old and now has four feeble‐minded foster brothers. She has never been to school until this year and is only in the first grade.

The family has always lived in filth.

At one time the mother was accustomed to go away all day and lock the children in the house. Once one of the children was discovered to be almost frozen to death.

Nurses and others have penetrated from time to time into this wilderness and have lodged complaints but the few reputable citizens were fearful of having their barns burned if they angered these people and so nothing was done to remedy conditions.

A crisis came a few months ago when the husband secured a divorce from his wife on statutory grounds. He has the four boys with him today and they are living in filth and ignorance. The mother has dragged Elizabeth with her through the mire of her lawless relations with various men.

When first found by the agent Elizabeth was living with her foster mother in a house of evil repute with several men of criminal record.

At present, she is being boarded in a fair home in a neighboring town by the Selectmen but shortly will be removed from her mother by court action. It is impossible to say just what we can make of Elizabeth at this late day but we intend to give her a chance.

Jane is a fascinating little girl 9 years old, and has not been so affected by her surroundings‐‐bad though they have been. She lives just now in a little village, has had two years of school and is in the second grade.

She is, however, wretchedly clad and terribly dirty.

She is kept home from school a good deal to look after her little 4‐year old foster brother, Jimmy. Now that Jimmy has arrived Jane is not so kindly treated as formerly. Her foster mother is now beginning to go the same way that Elizabeth's foster mother did and we hope soon to be able to secure sufficient evidence to remove this child also.

These are only two of many equally pathetic cases to be found in certain parts of rural Vermont.