The Democratic advocate., 1909-05-21
HELP THE LITTLE ONES
MONEY AND COUNTRY HOMES WANTED
FOR THE POOR OF THE CITY
Appeal from the ChIIdren's AID So.
CIeiy Of Baltimore
For the Advocate.

For the Advocate.
II Is now nearly fifty years since
the Children's Aid Society began It's
sork IN the state. In point Of age Il
ranks fourth In the country. II
sprang into life IN 1880, 10 mest the
needs Of thousands of neglected and
dependent children. whom the great
Clvil War and the consequent terrors
q poverty were sending over the
bills TO the poor-houge." 70 grow up
In surroundings indegcrlbably bad
IN New York, some one conceived the
Idea Of placing these children IN good
private families. The work met with
so much success that Philadelphia,
Boston and Baltimore In rapid sue
cession inangurated the ChiIdrens
AID Work Among the first homes 10
open to the unfortunate children OF
Maryland were those OF Carroll coun-
~, and from that time pntli now, Ii
has been among the fiTst In this good
work To-day we count these homes
BY the score. Some 81 them have
sheltered and given ali the rights of
childhood to four generations, and 10
return have the good conscience which
comes ~ a result Of helping those
who are powerleaE 20 cast OF tho yoke
for which they are In no sense respon-
sible. II is not infrequent that fos-
ter parent quits the busy work on
farm. drives miles and miles to fiud
a good home for little homeless wan.
deTer
THIS moment ! am thinking of a lit
tio Russian lad, deserted on tho
streets Of Baltimore ~ q worthless
/ father, unable "a. speak o word Of
English. a man and woman whose
names would be familiar 10 many peo-
pie In the county Though they have
two other orphan children IN their
hoIne) enfoided him right IN the fam
ily He has acquired command
Of the English language. and has de-
veioped into strong. intelligent
youth. In every way he II made 90
share In the rights Of d son.
over nve thousand such children
have grown into manhood and woman
hood. and are now respected citizens
! In all the walks of life, who we're fore
doomed until the sOcleiy'a helping
miniRterles made themselves felt. n
they we're all coDKrsgated togsthsr
/ they would make city larger than
/ Westminster, and u theae. with their
offsprinK. were assembled IN usle
place. they w0uFa constitute city 81
~ least twenty-five thousand -Four
hundred and forty-Hix children. over
~ per cent of Bil the dependent child
+ rem IN the state. are now IN the care
Of frsi class homes throughout the
stats. under tbs supervision Of the
( sooety.
A friend visiting Dariis last month.
little hoy IN one OF our country
7 bones. wrote us AZ follows Ilarts
seems % be the Joy aud pride Of hla
4 foster parents. they love hlm nR their
own. and the child does not know
+ that thcY arc not his parents The
dear little fellow atill with pneumonia.
When the visitor called he waa sleep
iuR Ia n little white iron bed aud bsa
Z hed clothes were inlmacuiata They
have had q nurse for him for two
weeks. but Mrs. r. hardly ever leaves
I his bedside Mre, =. said that when
ever she IL sick or not feeling very
I well. Hartis win pat bis hedallppera
on bis bed AZ night before he goes 10
I bed aud says Mamma, II you arc
/ hick Ia the night be aurn and call me. =
/ lie IL such q thoughtful child. always
Z eager TO do some little Kindness for
/ others. Bartis IL now fully restored
/ 10 health
I Elizabeth. writing 10 her mother, a
I hopeless invalid from Carroll ''Yeg-
/ terdny we had an entertainment at
the school called Arbof Day. dag for
birds. trees and flowers. The child
1 rem ail had their recitatluns 90 say.
After We had done saying them we
had peanut hunt for a prize. The
I prize was pound OF chocolate candy.
One 0f the boys got II. He had 10.
/ and ] had II. Don't you thiak I was
getting close 10 that pound of candy.
Last OF all the teacher treated the
/ school. Each one got candy, peanuts
and an orange an for no money We
have a lot Of chickens now, some
ready to fry"
Another boy In Carroll county
home writes us "Its all flowers out
here" He Is the seventh to have a
| pltiful handicap lifted by this excel
/ lent family
Advocates Of child placing In prl-
vate families have had many oppon-
enta IN the past, who preferred orphan
asylnms instead. but the family
method has al last been fully Justified
by its works. The recent White
] House conference on dependent chill
] dren, called by President Theodore
/ Roosevelt, was ite final triumph. Jew.
/ Gentle, Protestant and Catholic, Sec
/ tartan and Non-Sectarlan institutions,
we're represented In the conference.
Without a single dissenting vote they
adopted the following Home life
} Ia An 44rk
civilization II Is the great molding
| force Of mind and character. Chiid-
1 rem should not be deprived OF Il ex-
/ cept for urgent and compelling rea-
! sons. As to the children. who for snf-
ficient reason must be removed from
their own homes. or who have no
homes, It Is desirable that II normal
In mind and body, not requiring
special training, they should be cared
for In private families wherever prac-
1 ticable. The carefully selected foster
home Is for the normal child the best
substitute for the natural home"
The Children'e, Aid Society still
looks TO Carroll for its continued cof
operation and support. We want sub
| perior homes for the hundreds of boys
and girls who come to ps homeless.
Each application made by responsible
parties VIII receive the careful con-
slderation Of ts,1 society, and II 1t af-
fords the special advantages needed
! by some child in our care. that child
| Will be placed with them as soon as
practicable, We also want a number
OF good boarding homes. who Will
take children for $3.50 TO $500 per
week Those who In the name Of the
Christ viii be neighbor And burden
bearers with the struggling sister Of