The Abandoned Infant on Third Street

April Fool's Day found a victim in the person of Robert Knipe, the well-known real estate dealer and one of the most prominent churchmen in the city. At 8:15 o'clock last evening he found a tiny baby, perhaps three days old, on his doormat. It was about 8:15 o'clock when a messenger boy came with a telegram. Mr. Knipe went to the door, and after directing the boy to the right address, shut the door and lay down on the sofa. Mrs. Knipe was reading. Suddenly she stopped and listened. 'What is that noise, my dear?' she said. Mr. Knipe started up and replied: 'Why, as I live, I think I hear a child crying.' Mr. Knipe reached the front door and threw it wide open; there on the rug at his feet lay a little bundle from which came the unmistakable cries of an infant. He picked it up and said: 'Yes, it is a real live child.' Mrs. Knipe asked, 'What am I going to do with it?' Mr. Knipe replied: 'Clean it and keep it.' But the infant was a pitiable object, wrapped in a dirty black shawl and wearing a small red calico slip. Neighbors were called, but voiced concerns about the child's parentage and the stigma of desertion. Finally, Mr. Knipe telephoned the matron of the Orphans' Home, who agreed to take the child. Mr. Knipe walked the infant to the home, where it remained quiet. 'If I had known something of its parentage,' said Mr. Knipe, 'the little one should have had a home with me.'