New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-06-18
SUNSHINE SOCIETY
IS UNDER A CLOUD
Mrs. c. w. Alden Held Re
sponsible for Misman-
agement of Funds.
COMMITTEE ACCUSES;
CARMODY TO ACT
Big Sums Involved in Tangled
Affairs-Blind Babies Homes
Criticised in Report.

CRITICISED IN Report.
CcndemnnE the management OF the In
ternatlonaI Sunshine Society. a charitable
organization which devotes most Of it's
activity 10 the care OF blind babies,
report Of a special comrnttee of the state
Board OF Charities has been forwarded
TO Attorney General Carmody. leaving 10
his discretion the penalty which shall be
meted out for what the State Board OF
/ Charities considers failure to comply with
the laws
| Mrs. Cynthia Westover Alden, presl'
dcnt-general Of the society Is held re
sponsible !or the mismanagement Or az
fairs and funds.
According TO a statement made by Mrs
Alden. as quoted in the report, the sun
shine Society has received about $4,000
since it's foundation. The society's record
of receipts and dlsbursals is incomplete
and inaccurate. Il is charged, ana many
of the most important books have disap-
ueared. so it is impossible to determine
the exact expenditures and receipts OF the
society.
The Bensonhurst Sanatorium here and
the Home for Blind Babies, which the
Sunshine Society maintains ut Summit
y. j.. are being carried on without legal
4 right. the State Charity Commissioners
charge At least s92G2I 80 Of charity
funds given for the care Of blind babies,
i'll needewomen or other needy persons
have been used By the society to run he
Bensonhurst Sanatorium. i, is stated.
. Further charges are made that Mrs.
Alden mas been allowed excess OF credit
on the socictys books; that the manage
ment Of the funds under her supervision
! has been loose and careless. and in some
cases without warrant of law" that the
legality and moral right Of some Of the
society's financial operations are open TO
serious question" and that the business
character and financial ability OF Mrs
Alden and her associates are not such
as 10 warrant the bestowal Of additional
power
the investigation into the affairs OF tie
society was, begun early in the year, when
officers of the organization made appli-
cation to the State Board OF Charltles
for a charter under which it would nave
power to conduct unrestricted business
and charitable operations. Having re-
ceived notification OF alleged mismanage-
ment a committee consisting OF COM
missoneTs William r. Stewart Herman
Ridder ]. Richard Kelvin and Horace
Mcclure was appointed to investigate the
Sunshine Society.
At the office of the International sun
! shine Society at SO Fifth av. it was de-
clared yesterday that Mrs. Alden was not
in town. Martin w. Littleton, counsel Tor
the organization, said that he would
probab bly, issue a statement when he had
read the report carefully.
According to the report Mrs. Alden at
various times engaged in delicate fnan-
cial operation with one George e. Crater
jr., formerly high UP In Sunshine counses
and who has been a successful promoter
Of a guano production company ana an
.amphibious automobile. Mrs. Alden Is
charged with buying from him $500 worth
of stock in the Bensonhurst Sanatorium,
for which she paid him 800 a share
Later. it is claimed, she purchased more
shares of the same stock for her husband
for $50 a share.
The state boards committee found that
the Bensonhurst institution, ostensibiy
charitable hospital, cared for no one Tor
less than $40 to $50 a week.
Mrs. Alden" the report says. al
though president-general and not treas
urer or financial officer of the society,
handled these delicate transactions her
self. Mrs. Alden when she appeared as
q witness before the investigators gave
no reasonable explanation why she pur-
chased 5000 worth Of stock Of the Ben
sonhurst Sanatorium with the moneys OF
the International Sunshine Society, pay
ing therefore 500 a share when
il could have been purchased for at least
$50 or $50 a share, as shown by the pur-
chases she made for her husband
Mrs. Alden, according to the report
could reither tell why she paid crater Tor
the sixty shares of stock in checks Tor
81 400 and 81 600, or why checks were made
pavable to herself and others.
The findings of the committee were as
follows:
THAT the business character and imam
cial ability Of Mrs. Alden and her asso-
ciates are not such as TO warrant
the bestowal Of additional powers upon
them.
In regard 10 the international Sunshine
Society itself the committee concluded;
That of the sum of 5000 paid from the
treasury of the separate Incorporated
international Sunshine Branch for the
Blind which maintains home for blind
babies at Dyker Heights, Brooklyn, into
the maintenance funds Of the Benson
hurst Sanatorium, the sum Of at least
500 was unlawfully and improperly
taken and should be at once restored to
the treasury OF such institution
POLO ENLIVENS 'CHANGE
tfa.:.,, Tooo, Uiof oriouc