St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1879-07-25
Our New York Letter.

AID FOR NEW YORK'S LITTLE ONEs-A
SPLENDID CHARITY-wORK OF THE
AID sOCIETY-LAw AND THE COURTS
WORK AND PAY OF JUDGEs-A VEL
Low FEVER SCARE.
NEW YORK, July Is, 1879.
To the Editor of the CaIedonian
1t is fact, and a most creditable fact,
too, that among the many charities to
which New York gives princely dOna-
tons year by year, none appeal so ir-
resistably to the hearts of the liberal as
those for the benefit of the children
Summer after summer excursions are
given which give fresh air to the little
ones who live and die in the tenement
houses, ignorant of what green grass is,
and of what the country is like. Every
human being has warm corner in the
heart for the little ones, and the infor-
nation which has of late years been
published of the terrible mortality
among infants has impressed upon the
patrons the fact that the children need
care more than the grown poor. Espe-
cially in hot weather, when the we'll
TODD citizen sends his little ones out
into the green fields or down to the
seaside, the children of the poor sicken
day by day of the summer complaints
of children, and in the close, hot rooms
of the great tenement houses they
have little chance of recovery. Stone
pavements and brick walls throw back
the glazing heat of the sun by day, and
are scarcely cool at midnight. 1t is
then that a few days, or even some
times a few hours, of fresh air and of
plain country living make, for thou
sands of babies, all the difference be-
tween life aud death.
In years past there was no chance for
the children of the poor to get away
from the city. Thousands of them died
literally for lack of the commOnest gift
of nature-fresh air. But after time
it came to be realized that nearly one
half the deaths in the city were of chill
dren under five years old. 1t was known
that the majority of fatal cases among
the children liz the summer time were
of cholera infantum and the intestinal
diseases, and the doctors declared that
in very many of these cases fresh air,
especially at the seaside, was almost
sovereign prescription. A week would
save life, and often, if taken in time,
a single day on the water would check
IA dangerous disease. When, knowing
all this, the public realized how slight
the cost was of sending the children
out for il day, summer excursions for
poor children were quickly organized. |
They were successful, and the good
they did was so immense compared to
the cost, that they multiplied rapidly. |
Then seaside homes began to be the
fashion, and at the present time there
are several such.
The Children's Aid Society is the
most active and effective institution
engaged in this humane work. Its Off
GERS are interchangeable, and the amount
OF good it does in the prevention as
well as in the relief of sickness and |
suffering is very great. During the
of 1878, for example, the So
clety employed fifteen physicians and
thirty eight ''visitOrsn as they term the
persons whose business it is to search |
out and report cases of sickness and
restitution. During that time the in
provided treatment for 2,279
sick children and parents, 6,24S visits
were made by the physicians, 8, 76O by
the visitors, $500 prescriptions were
hlled and $4,000 bOquets of flowers
were given to the sick children.
This distribution of flowers is a pe-
cullarly graceful and grateful charity.
The Society has dollhouse of it's
own, and many donations are made
from outside. Said the Superintendent
IN recent interview, "We give out to
our children about one thousand plants
IN the early summer, which we let them
keep and care for. We tell them what
to do, of course, when we give them
out, and then in the fall we have a
floral festival. The children have to
bring the plants back, and prizes are
gwen to those that have done the best.
From this dollhouse, where we keep
these plants in the winter, we get some
OF our bouquets. Others come from
some of the florists of the city. and some
from Sunday schools and from kindly
people in all directions. From Jersey.
Connecticut and Long Island thew send
them by mail and by express. ONLY
yesterday received great box full of
WOOD vlolets, IN perfect preservation,
ny mail, from some unknown person.
ana no one who has not seen the poor,
SICK children brighten up when bou-
quets are given them can realize how
mgch good cluster of simple flowers
will do"
1here are other branches of the work,
Ine barge excursions, the Sanitariums
anu seaside homes, of which 1 have not
space 10 speak, but which may form
the subject of future letter.
Cnastine Cox, the negro who murder