New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1909-08-13
FINE APPETITES THESE
Fresh dir Children Get Fat and
ROsy an the Country.

~
no one knows me now. They say have grown
SO fat and that l am tanned so that look like a
negro"
Why. I have got so fat that | can't even button
my shoes
That is what two little girls wrote 10 the attend
ants at one OF the Fresh Air homes after they had
returned to the city. II isn't at all surprising either
when the amount Of bread and milk which IS eaten
AT the homes is considered. At Litchfeld the sup
plies run high as two hundred loaves of bread
and two hundred quarts Of milk day quart OF
mix and loaf OF bread for each child there be-
sldeS The other good things the bill of fare
with similar situation at every other home it is
small wonder that the contributions TO the fund are
rapidly used up Thousands of these little children
with ravenous appettes must he fed, the man
aSer Is often hard pressed TO find money enough to
satisfy their demands
one Of the most interesting sights the Fresh
Air Home is that of the children in the dining
room. Al n quarter before the hour set for the
meal the children are summoned by the blowing
or horn A rush is made for the washhouse.
Where their very dirty little hands and faces are
cleaned In surprisingly short time. Then they
Inc up before the door in their respective COM
panies. four companies each of boys and girls
When the boys have marched through door
ana the girls through another and they have seated
themselves at the long tables covered with white
shining oilcloth and with plenty of bread milk
and hot soup stew. they all bow their heads and
sing the grace: God is great and God is good and
We thank Him for this food"
During the meal the attendants are kept busy
constantly reflling the rapidly emptying dishes
Ihey are Of course allowed to talk freely, and the
room Is filled with the hum of young voices In order
tnat the clamoT may not become too great the chill
dren signify their desire for something more to eat
by raising their hands One finger extended mean
ing milk; two. bread and three. soup or stew. The
dining room is always orderly though the parties
vary IN character. some being more noisy than
others
Al the end Of the meal all rise together and
march out There follows Immediately a wild rush
Tor swings. see-saws and basebaHs. which enter
tam Inc children until the afternoon programme
hegins' when the attendants take them of for a
walk or swim The appetites of the children
seem 10 increase the longer they stay AT the homes
record OF sixty-fve loaves of bread in one day
was made by one party at the Shepherd Knapp
Home toward the end OF IT'S visit there After one
or two such meals it is not surprising that the
children begin to grow healthy and fat immedi-
ately and show the results OF regular habits and
good food within very few DAYS
Three hundred and ffty-four children were sent
into the country by The Tribune Fund Yesterday
Ashford Hill received 2l5 OF these boys and girls.
who have been waiting patiently all during the hot
summer weather for the vacation which prom
ised 20 them many weeks ago. Early in the morn
ing To- went 10 Pittsheld. Mass and on the same
train "a girls went TO ST Heiens Home Thirteen
boys and girls charges Of the Brooklyn Children's
Aid Society. went 20 sherburne y. Y. OF tho
parties which returned 200 children back from
Ardsley. 81 from PittsAeld. 50 from Interlaken.
Mass. and On from Alfred. y. Y.
letter from attendant at one OF the homes
recounts OF the benefits which she nodded
the children received by the visit In the country.
When the second party arrived noticed such a
physical difference between 10 and the party which
had gone. Life In the country does much for them.
The wind bTightrus the color OF their cheeks. and
the rapid and awful increase in their appettes hs
them out. Their eyes brighten with the care-fTee.
happy simple Ufe. The temperature may have
fallen several degrees on the third day, but most
OF IN. children by that time around barefooted
IN the wet grass or rain, feeling happy and com
Portable The thought OF taking cold Is in the back
ground Of their conscious life by that time.
The party Of children had such pale. slckly
faces. hollow checks and dull cyes Every child
seemed snsmic- They ate very little or nothing tho
FIRST day. They felt chilly. much that some
OF them two dresses. After few days thu
had Redeemed and tanned their faces. The
child that comes is by no means physically the
child that goes.