New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-11-14

from the wretched tenement homes Of this city
received the benefit Of The Tribunes hospital
ity. OF these. S744 children were sent on visits
to the country for a fortnight going in 17S diff
ferent parties that required escorts and being
entertained in 364 different towns, The remain
der, % ,220 mothers and children, enjoyed day
trips up the Hudson. The fortnightIy outings
alone cost the fund s24,1O1 %. average of
81 IS q child, while the day excursions were all
provided by one man. and do not therefore need
to be considered in the expenses Of the general
fund.
But to say that 364 towns received The Trib-
une's temporary wards is a dead statement. To
show clearly the extent of territory covered Dy
the work. map is introduced Each dot In IL
represents a town to which the fund sent chill
dren this season. 1t places before the mind at
glance the stupendous revelation of seven States
cooperating with The Tribune in the fresh air
work, seven States dotted from border to border
with little colonies of the great citys poor chill
dren, receiving 81 health giving. uplifting vaca-
ton in the Christian homes of the green country.
1t means that from every corner Of those seven
States the young metropolttans have brought
back to their city homes not only health and
recreation but the inspiration of broader out
look life.
But what is to be said of the work involved in
sending 9,744 children into 364 towns scattered
over the country from Lake Erie to Boston Har-
Dor? Let the reader guess at the aggregate
number of miles travelled. One visitor to the
managers office more venturesome than the
others, said 100000. 1t took his breath away
when told that the total made 23S7. 1O4 miles. To
make it clearer, if all these children had been
travelling on mileage books the conductors
would have lifted" 1887 .104 miles from the
books. That is, IL the Tribune's guests OF this
summer had converted their Journeys into one
huge relay race. they would have encircled the
world more than one hundred times, Or, had
the dream of Jules Vernes been realized. they
might have made the trip between here and the
moon ten times.
Looking at the subject in this light. one gets
conception of the enormous task placed on the
management of the fund Here is army Of
ten regiments to be enlisted equipped. divided
into 17S parties and then sent out across the
State in carefully planned routes. divided and
subdvided until the little troopers, many of
them scarcely old enough to be away from their
mothers. carefully landed in homes in 364
different towns. Then. each party must be re-
turned again. Every day through the summer
from six to twelve parties were somewhere on
the road requiring the attention Of the manage
ment. II may be truly said that every one of
those 2,3S7 104 miles has involved the personal
watchfulness of some one or more of The Trib-
workers.
With such a task carried out without mis-
hap. miscalculation or failure of plans. it is
felt that not one of the twenty eight years in
which the fund has been running has been more
satisfactory than this. Such record is espe-
cially gratifying when takes into account
the many possibilities for errors and accidents
in wrecks, delayed trains missing ferries,
or connections, or accident to individual children
in any one of a thousand ways. A few years
have shown greater figures; many have shown
less; in none has the work gone more smoothly.
The first consideration of the years work is
that of the money to pay for it. The public has
responded literally, always to the call for
financial aid and the management has been able
to proceed with comparatively little fear Of en-
barrassment. There were through the summer
e54 contributors TO the fund. Their several con-
tributionS little or great, were all acknowledged
in The Tribune at the time; and all will be
again. in the pamphlet edition of this annual re-
port. Meantime it is desired here TO express
again due appreciation to every one of the nine
hundred and ffty-four. The following Is the
financial statement for the year:
TRIBUNE FRESH AIR FUND.
RECEIPTS.
Receipt of balance from The Tribune
Fresh Air Fund of 1908 .............. s27 e1
Receipts duly acknowledged in The
tribune ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. 1857 As
Special contribution to The Tribune
Fresh Air houses. .................. $500 90
Total. Observation-Disclosures. S24.145 80
EXPENDITURES.
Blank books cards and draft book. s24 As
Postage NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. 124 80
Wages of advance agents in finding
homes for children. ................. 400 81
Wages of caretal1er at Middletown and
Claverack. n. Y..................... 125 90
DR.. Vinton's bill examining physi-
clan ..-...-........... ESQ 90
Miss Knoxs bill for investigating and
preparing children for the country $500
Ashford Hill, n Y................ 22s 90
Cost Of maintaining homes at Ashford
Hill, Chapel Hill and Shokan, where
1859 children were entertained two
weeks Especial contribution of $4,000
not included in acknowledgements. 9s75 70
Travelling expenses for S,144 children
and escorts. Observation-Disclosures. 1895 s5
Total. Observation-Disclosures. s24.1O1 "a
Balance on hand. Observation-Disclosures. s4415
New York, September q 1904.
We, the undersigned. find upon investigation
of the books and accounts of The Tribune Fresh
Air Fund that the sum of S24 las SO has been re-
ceived during the season of 1904. which included
a balance of S27 81 brought over from the sea-
of 1908, and also the sum of $780, a special
contribution the Tribune Fresh Air Homes
and that the expenses have been S24,101 "a &C.
cording TO statements and vouchers submitted
to by the Rev. Willard Parsons, the manager
of the fund, showing that the balance on hand
Is s44 Is.
we also find that the entire expenditure has
been made for the actual work of sending the
benefciaries of the fund TO the country and for
the maintenance and care Of the homes at Ash
ford Hill, Chapel Hill and Shokan. except
tain necessary expenses for postage, blank
books. etc, shown in the statement herewith.
MORRIS X. JESUP.
CLEVELAND II DODGE,
Auditing Committee.
But STA. children. s64 towns. z.sS7.1O4 miles.
SS41O1 "a are separate elements To bring them