New-York tribune., 1906-07-19
w HERE ARE THEY FROM?|
Question answered Regarding
Tribune Fresh Air Children.


The questions are often asked by those un-
familiar with The Tribune Fresh Air work.
Where do the children whom the Fresh Air
Fund sends to the country come from? What
are their home conditions like? Is every child
that Is sent worthy of chaFityT''
The last OF these questions Is easily answered
Great care Is taken to see that no unworthy
people receive the benefit OF the Fresh Air Fund.
Every child that the fund sends TO the country
Is known 20 one Of the numerous missionaries
who select the children. as being fully worthy
Of aid.
The second question. as 10 home conditions Is
not so easily answered Roughly however. the
children aided by the fund may be divided into
two classes-the children Of the respectable poor.
and the children Of those who might live under
better conditions were it not for their own fol-
lies. But whether the family is poor because
many hungry mouths are clamOEing to be filled
or because the father and mother are both
drunkards and will not support the family. the
effect on the child Is the same: darkness and
disease recognize no differences IN degrees OF
respectability
The respectable poor struggle valiently to lift
themselves from their surroundings. to feed,
elOthe and educate their children and make them
happy, but conditions are against them. FeE-
haps the greatest question which they have 20
face is the rent problem IL q man earning S4A
a week as a driver, or woman earning even
to nav a. rent ranging from $40 to SIS month
before he she can begin 20 buy 1000 anu
clothing for the five or six children the proDisu
of living becomes serious And IL must be re-
Ynembered that the majority or fathers ana
mothers whose children the Tribune hEeSn AT
Fund helps are earning much less tnah sAN =
week.
If the rent paid furnished comfortable home
such as may be obtained In the country 1or Ss
low as SO or So month"; IL would not ne so pau
but this is far from being the case There are
in the apartment usually two or tnree roOtIlS
at the most. One room in front. Wnlcn OAteH
EOv
parlor and bedroom when there Is company -
usually of fairly good size and has one OF I've
windows opening the street. the conuu0n
Of the other rooms depends very much on tho
period when the tenement was cOnSFuCCSu ~
Of them may open on q dirty PACK yaLu: mo- -
often, however, an air smart. s sOtnetlLl.77 60 -
small as to be hardly worthy Of the name. tas S
nishes all the light which the rear rooms ~.
Needless to say, even under the oest cOnuASs'N'
the air obtained is not Of the best
In such places as these live families VerSiTss
from six less to seventeen OF el8htssll. l8 ~ -
the father has plenty of work. they may %
fairly comfortable, but IL he has not starVatl0n
stares them in the face. The condltion OF vic
house and the moral tone Of the home. nOweyeL;
depend entirely on the father ana ~notnsl' ~ iS sn1
often, where or both OF the parents are SlcA
dead. poverty drives the fey 20 seer5
in comparison with which those descrlDeu , [ soetiI
quite pleasant Many are found 4aolng the B[OD
lem Of existence in a single dark room u q
basement damp and unwhOlesome- one woman
with a large family was driven when hef nus
band died, through g constantly decfeeslns ScGAo
Of rents, 70 cellar where IN oSa SlsS Instances
have come to light where whole ramihes were
living in sub-cellars. -. ~.
rent problem comes from g. woman Twins In the
neighborhood Of West Bath street Sne Is
widow, and has several children Wnotn SiG 1, su =,
ports by washing and scrUbbing-. Sne HVes III III
three small rooms, which until snort tlIne 80
she obtained for S14 month AN the rooms T ere
small and two OF them are almost Coteally OaIR'
while there are absolutely no oOnvenlencess even
The toilet being outside. On May she was m
formed that she would have to pay SIG montn
could find place to go many OK tne 14lOLO tS
objecting to children so nov now lS SaI y ~ S Ar
Fund has made 1t possible for her chlldren 20
go to the country. where they are now SCay
ordinary crowding but in certain sections for
an extraordinary Overcrowdtng. In some P1aces
on the East Side man rents ostensloly IoI usIll s
self and family apartment or three 1Our' nv 1
or six rooms. He then proceeds 70 MI up WIN WIN
boarders in addition to his family INSTANCES
have been found where more than twenty PSOPle
are living in one apartment, and that not a large
one. Under such conditions as these ule chaAceS
of the children whose playground Is the street
school in the next block, OF growing INTO heaI'h-
full men and women are poor
The boarding house system or some OF th9
landIadies is amusing 1t is customary, espe-
cialy among the Italians for each LOGGER 10
pay two or three dollars month for his lodging
and the cooking Of his food. His landlady then
cooks whatever he provides Just BEFORE meal
time the range at one OF these places pLessll.s @
strange appearance When the Deds are spread
out it Is said that II Is practically impossible 20
move about the apartment. AS for the children.
they eat what their mother gives them. bread
and Ynacaroni soup being staple diet
In those instances described some effort has
been made to care for the children, or at least
thew have Jared like the rest Of the family.
Nothing has been said OF the instances where
the mother and father are both drunkards. where
the children are beaten regularly, the mother
often suffering at the same time through the
cruelty of father driven half crazy with drink.
No mention has been made Of the girls and
bows eight, nine and ten years old who are
caring for four or five younger children and aEa
almost entirely responsible for their bringing up
Nothing has been told Of the children who have
almost nothing to wear and who would go hum
eyry from day to day IL they were not aided ny
some charitable organization. All the filth that
surrounds some children and much OF the moral
degradation have been passed over. The Tribune
Fresh Air Fund IS providing for hundreds Of
children living amid such surroundings a two
weeks respite, which is often responsible for
complete change in the life OF the child.