New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-08-05
AIR HOMES NEEDED
Appeal Goes to Press Through
out Region Hereabout.
LETTER OF FUNDS MANAGER
Plea for Little Ones Hungry foS
a Holiday Before the
Summer Ends.

Newspapers throughout the towns and
smaller cities of New York, New Jersey
and Pennsylvania are lending their col
uInns this week to the work of the Trib-
une Fresh Air Fund A few days ago a
letter of appeal for homes for the Fresh
Air children was sent by DR.. Devins. the
manager of the fund. TO the editors of the
region surrounding the metropolis, with
the request that they bring the claims OF
the work to the-attention of their subscrib-
ers.
Generous in their response most of them
reprint the letter and comment faVoraoiy
upon the cause for which 1T speaks Al
ready replies and Inquiries that show the
result of the appeal are being received
The letter is reprinted here, in the hope
that some to whose attention 1t has not been
brought may hear its call. 1t is addressed
ITO those who love little children, and
| is as follows:
please, Teddy, amt there somebody ash
take me an Nellie along with the Fresh
| Airs this summer" little lad
barely ten, who sells papers as soon as
school lets out waits for our answer.
Say, mister yer know we can all sleep
in one bed if yerll only take us. Willie
and Joe amt never seen the country, an
!
60" This time it is a little
mother" barely in her teens. who pauses
at the washtub in a dingy kitchen and
hastily wipes away tear.
Ten thousand children of the tenements
turn to us pleading as only a child who is
hungry of heart and body and soul can
plead for a taste of Gods out of-doors. One
question burns on the lips of each and all;
one pitifuI appeal for just a short sweet
Joyous holiday before the summer draws to
a close.
Children who have never seen the glory
of the sunset, the white splendor of the
moon over quiet fields or the majesty OF
the stars. To you these are only sum
mer day summer night; to these chill
dren for whom plead the wonder-book
of nature unfolds mysteries every
hour: sights and sounds that are never to
be forgotten; days and nights to be lived
over again for many dreary months to
come.
Then can we open wide the gates OF
heaven on earth TO this pitiful army OF
boys and girls who. If our mission fails
will be left the sumner long to the wretched
life of the tenements, the sultry breezes
of the hot city and the burning playground
of the street? Is there a field white with
daisies or bright with OulleTCups SloSo a.
hand? Then share its beauty with those
who are strangers to the wild flowers Is
there a brook near by? Then give some
little child the supreme bliss Of padding,
that into a cramped and stinted life may
flow its rustic music.
Are there feathered songsters in the tree
tops? Robin Redbreasts on the grounds!
Listen: there are children-hundreds, thou
sands Of them-who never in all their
lives have heard the call of a bird to It's
mate: who think of the sky as narrow
strip of murky blue high up between tail
buildings and of the grass as small spots
of green made to look at in city parks
with signs everywhere to keep on
Finally. it is your privilege to add to
natures tonic the magic potion OF love- 10
mother for a short two weeks some little
girl whose own mother lacks the time 10
IooI, on the heart side of life in the strug-
gle for bread and shoes; TO take some little
lad who never got right start in life and
give him an understanding of right and
truth,
You know what it means TO hear the
prattIe of childish voices in the home; the
sound of little feet on the stairs; the smile
of childish lips at the close or day FER
hans Won have missed these things since
your own little ones grew up-perhaps you
never knew. Be that as 1t may, mere IL
your golden opportunity to aid in this MIN
istrv to the children. Faithfully yours
JOHN BANCROFT DENlNS'