New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-08-21
CAVE JEWELLERS IN CITY
They're the Children OF the
Poor, Housed in Sunless DenS.
COUNTRY IS REDEMPTION
Outings Their Only Chance to
Combat Sinister Influences
of the Slums.

This is the high tide OF the vacation
season. Almost everybody who has not
already taken his summer outing is TAX
ing II now. II he is TO have one at all
And nowadays there are few who can ar
ford It that do not get in at least a week
in the country somewhere.
! The hotels In the mountains and at the
seaside and the boarding houses every
where are full TO overfowlng with those
seeking rest and recreation and change
from the city. Grownups and children,
tanned and happy. throng the beaches,
sail the lakes or tramp through the
mountains. as fancy dictates.
! But what about the poor. and especially
! the children OF the poor? What about
| those who cannot afford to provide them
I selves with outings? Are they roaming
the woods and fields. drinking in the
, freshness and purity Of the country?
One thing Is certain about these poor
they need the country and its attendant
benefits more than any other class. The
I well-to-do, the rich. feel that they must
recuperation before entering upon another
/ year Of city life. Yet for them the condi-
! tons OF life are easy when contrasted
with the conditions which are imposed
upon those who live in crowded tenement
houses.
This is the age when the value Of clean
Illness and pure air as prerequisites 10
good health-both mental and physical
IL appreciated as never before. Men VEN
tilate and fumigate and make things sani-
tary-those who can. In addition they
take to the open, 10 the out-of-doors and
the sunshine, as humanity has not done
before them for many years. They know
, that disease Is the result OF dirt and dark
ness
Yet despite this tendency OF the age
and It's knowledge OF cause and effect,
millions of human beings live In novels
and alleys where the sun never shines.
and where the air that must be breathed
is rank with odors and laden with dis
ease. Their dwellings have no light, no
ventilation 10 sweet cleanliness, no fresh,
pure air.
Think Of the lot OF child born and
brought up amid such surroundings.
What chance has he to grow strong and
robust in body or keen and vigorous Of
mind? What chance OF success 10 life
has he? What chance 10 steer clear Of
gangs and gangsters and all the tempta-
lions 10 evil with which his birth has
surrounded him?
There is one chance for him, and that
comes when some one helps him 10 a
! glimpse OF a better life. II comes when
some one helps him 10 an opportunity to
, get the foul air out OF HIS lungs and the
disease germs out Of his blood for a
while. so that his faculties may have a
| chance TO work normally
| To give boys and girls born TO the in
| hertance Of the tenement houses these
chances the Tribune Fresh Air Fund
spends thousands OF dollars each summer.
II sends boys and girls out into the coun-
try to live on farms, in the families Of
Americas best cltzens-her farmers--there
70 gain physical strength and an idea OF
honest. clean life.
| In this work the Tribune Fund IS de-
| pendent upon contributions from the pub
lie. Contributions were never more need
cd than now. The work is being ham
pered and curtailed because of a shortage
In funds. Yet il is a work in which Gen
tile and Jew Protestant and Catholic
black and white ought 10 join Five dol
lars will pay for one chIld's vacation.