New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-07-08
EFFECT TRANSFORMATION
Young Folk Change Truck Dodg-
ers' Into 'FaraWay PrinCesSeS.'
SUDERMANN HELPED SOME
He Wrote the Play That Sent
33 More with the Hundreds
of Fresh Air Children.

river by a swarm of busy tugboats few
days ago a young woman who had waVeo
her goodhys and sauntered away from the
rail suddenly turned, rushed back ana
shouted to some one on the pier:
I've forgotten to send my Tribune
Fresh Air check Please send one for
me-"
The concern which was evident in her
voice and expression until she saw that
her message was understood indicated that
she looked upon her fOrgetfu!ness as
calamity. And it would have been. for SIX
small girls who are now revelling among
daisies and buttercups would have been
deprived of their pleasure if the check had
not been sent.
group Of young people at Spuyten
Duyvil New York City. were evidently In
splred a short time ago with similar con-
Germ for the welfare OF the Fresh Air
cause TO help 1t along they gave play
and turned the proceeds $3.50 TO-, over to
the Tribune Fund, to be expended Tor
country outings for Fresh Air children.
Possibly when they selected the play TO
be given they had no thought as to the ap-
proprateness Of it's title 10 the end In
view DOuDllf'N hI'll ''N'' ''''''''''
he had less idea of this.
The PARKWAY Princess" was the play
given TO-DAY as a result Of one produc-
ton OF It there are thirty-three PARKWAY
Processes having a royal time In that
princely realm, the country. A week ago
they were Just everyday little truck dodg-
ers in the New York streets. with little
or no knowledge OF n life other than that
Of crowded ill-smelng tenement houses
and busy. traffic filed streets.
These little undiscovered princesses had
never seen so much as the virgin soil that
blossoms into flowers and rpens into fruit
They had lived for the six or eight or ten
years OF their narrow lives In world COW
cred with asphalt and flagstones, a world
whose only brooks are the flth-laden
streams that wash through the cutters, and
whose lakes are the puddles that remain
when the streets have been flushed.
And now, through the kindly thought
fulness of the young people OF spuyten
Duyvil. the royal birthright OF these chill
dren has been discovered 10 them. Now
they know that the earth as God made
It is soft and cool TO the tired and blistered
feet OF the princess who has no shoes. They
have seen this earth tenderly covered
with grass and prettily decked with
flowers, instead OF confined and imprisoned
In asphalt and stone. Now they know OF
brooks OF crystal water and Of lakes and
ponds that ripple at the kiss OF the breeze
and glow with gold and amber in the light
OF the setting sun.
Now these little heiresses, who for fifty
weeks IN the year are shut out from their
birthright. know that the world Is not
all streets and crowds not all rumble or
trucks and roar OF elevated trains
They have stood on the hilltops OF their
kingdom and looked out. with a vision not
bounded by tenements. over far stretch
Ing world OF peace and beauty; and IN
their ears, instead OF the screech OF tho
automobile horn and the tumult OF hurry
ing thousands have been the sweet chorus
OF birds. the lowing Of cattle ard the
sough OF the wind through the trees.
Then. too. being but young. these little
harvesters Of new found Joy have
romped and played and danced and sung
their way through their new domains. They
have rolled down the grassy hills. "paidlt
+ the burns" and 'pu'd the gowans fine"
with the abr ndon OF childhood. until their
eyes have learned n new sparkle. their
laughter new ring and their hearts a
new llghtness
Wlthal they have eaten Of the fat Of the
land and have breathcd air fresh from the
mountains. the woods and the sweet scent
ed meadows.
In another week this half dozen and
these thrty-three, along with fifteen hum
dred others who have been made heirs
and heiresses through the generosity Of
other folk with hearts like those OF the
young woman on the boat and the young
people OF Spuyten Duyvl will be disin-
herited again. But their lives can never
be the same ~ they were before they
knew Of these things OF the world that lies
beyond the limits OF the city.
The pictures. the fragrance. the blgness
OF the out-of-door country world will never
be forgotten. and years from now, grown
meanwhile into men and women. these lads
and lasses TO whom the blessing Of q
Fresh Air vacation has been brought will
be fghting their way out OF the tenement
world, out of poverty and out OF dirt and
misery because they had I'm youth a glimpse
OF something better. For as a noted social
worker once said The Fresh Air Fund
Is the best plaster we have for the unjust
social conditions OF the poor"
4.