New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-06-03
FRESH AIR ANNIVERSARY
Movement Began So Years Ago
at Sherman, Penn.
PASTOR SAW NEED OF IT
Thousands of Poor Children in
All Parts of the World Now
Being Made Happy.

ThiTtv-nye years ago to-day the Fresh
Air idea. now grown 10 he a worldwide
movement. benefting annually hundreds OF
thousands OF poor children. was started
1t might be expected that such movement
would take Its rise In the crowded city,
under the shadow OF the tenements. The
idea was. however, first preached In quiet
little corner OF the world over in Northeast
ern Pennsylvania.
June fell on a Sunday in 1877. 1t CHANGED
that the day was one of those rare days
when the whole earth seems to be In tune;
and Willard Parsons, the young minister
of the Scott Presbyterian Church. of Sher-
man, Penn. judged 1t to be an ideal one
for putting into effect a project he had
long been turning over in his mind.
In his pulpit that morning he presented
as his text the familiar words, 'Inasmuch
OF ye have done it unto one Of the least of
these my brethren. ye have done It unto
me-" The sermon that followed was blunt
and to the point.
In the nearby city, he told his people.
were throngs of destitute children. packed
In tenements.. with scarcely room TO
breathe. In the homes Of Sherman there
sponsihilIty was clear. II the people OF
the parish would not accept IT, then an
other text would serve 10 close the sermon:
II was n stranger and We took me not IN:
naked and We clothed me not; sick and in
prison and We visited me not"
The eloouence and logic Of the young
preacher prevailed. The responsibility was
accepted and next day Mr.. Parsons set
out for New York. To return before the
weeks end with party Of nine OF the
neediest children he could find.
Although founded on a text taken from
the Christian Scriptures. and first pro
posed 10 the world in Presbyterian
church, the Fresh Air Fund. as II soon
came 10 he called. never took the bias OF
n secterlan movement That first summer
Mr.. Parsons and his Pensioners carried
on the work alone. and made glad the
hearts of sixty New York children. Since
that time more than seven hundred thou
sand children have been benenciaries of tho
parent Fresh Air Fund, and it is not on
record that ono Of them was ever asked
question as 10 his religion.
The year following that in which the first
impetus was given to the movement The
Evening Post" volunteered to undertake.
through its columns tho task Of raising the
funds necessary for the work, and for four
seasons II did this. Then the enterprise
was taken up by The Tribune. by which
II has been continued ever since.
The Fresh Air idea appealed to the pub
lie from tho beginning. Evidence OF the
need for Just such n work was not far to
seek: Il presented itself on every hand I'm
such vivid form that the most hard hearted
could not resist the plea for help
BY the NTH year Of the movement-the
FIRST IN which The Tribune stood behind It's
activities-the number Of children benefited
had jumped from the sixty Of the first
season 10 $50 for the year lSS2. and the
public contributions I'm support Of tho
years work amounted To more than SCI .0po.
since that time the annual receipts Of the
fund and the number Of children sent into
the country each year have more than
doubled.
The great movement. begun thirty-hve
years ago to-day. has not stopped with
the organization OF The Tribune Fund.
The SUCCESS Of its work has resulted I'm
the organization OF numberless other Fresh
Air enterprises.
From all tho great cities Of the United
States. from the capitals Of Europe. from
South America, from Canada and from
South Africa have come n tho mother or
gsnization inquiries as TO methods and
means OF carrying on such work. with Tn"
result that to-day almost every big city
I'm the world has an organization modelled
after tho one which had it's beginning In
the little church at Sherman. II goes with
out saying that these organizations bring
untold happiness into the lives Of the chill
dren Of the poor
Already this year tho children who need
the country outing are being sought by the
workers Of The Tribune Fund and pre-
pared fer the trips which will begin in ear
nest when the public school season comes
10 a close. The first Tribune party OF the
year was sent away on May q. another
will follow It on June &, and still another
on June g.