The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-04-26
new FUND SEEKS
AID FOR BLINDED
OF WORLD WAR
Bankers and Business Men
Make Appeal Through
u. S. For Aid.

The thousands of French. Belgian
! and British soldiers who have beer
blinded in the European war are in a
1 pitiabIe condition, according to an ap-
peal Of American bankers, philanthro-
pists and business men, through the
| B. F. B. Permanent Blind Relief War
Fund, $50 Fifth avenue, New York.
The appeal was issued locally, to-
| day, by M. w. Manwaring. city treas
urer, who is sub-treasurer of the fund
! in this locality and who will receive
all local contributions.
! Unable to work at former trades,
| these numerous blinded war victims
cannot support themselves and their
| families. Their governments, over
| burdened with more immediate prob
1en1s are able to do very little for
them, the appeal states.
Six months training, on the other
hand. the bankers, business men and
philanthropists say, can educate al
most all of these thousands of now
useless blind men, in practical, paying
trades in which they can support
| themselves and at least partly supp ort
their families. Work of this kind has
already been, begun by G. Arthur
Pearson, the blind English newspa-
per proprietor and philanthropist, at
St Dunstan's, in England. by NJ. Rene
Val1ery- Radot through Les Amis ,des
So1dats Aveugles'' in the t'Maison du
Conval escence'' in France, and by
Miss Winifred Holt of the Comite
Franco American pour les Aveugles,
Of which the Hon. Joseph H. Choate is
president. The B. F. B. Perm anent
Blind Relief War F'und-seeks to assist,
develop and enlarge these efforts.
The American bankers, business
men and philanthropists who are issu-
ing the appeal include Frank A. Van
derIip, president of the National City
bank August Belmont. Elihu Root,
Vincent Aston, Robert Bacon, Dr.
Nicholas Murray Butler, U. S. Senator
Thomas P. Gore, Myron T. Herrick,
Otto H. Kahn, Joseph Widener and
George A. Kessler.
These gentlemen and their asso-
ciateS intend to organize an American
fund of sufficient proportions to con-
duct thoroughly throughout Europe.
the work which Mr.. Pearson, at st
Dunstan's, M. Rene Vallery- Radot
through Les An1is des Soldats Aveu1
giles, in Paris, Miss Holt of the Comite,
and kindred institutions are now doing
locally.
The. first work of the fund will be
to enlarge and modernize all the pres
ent blind institutions of Europe by
means of financial donations. as well
as assisting TIE work of. Mr.. Pearson
in England, M Va11ery-Radot and
Miss Holt in France. The fund later
intends to organize in various
European 1cities additional modern
equipped blind schools, blind work
shops, blind employment exchanges
and agencies for comrnercia1izing
blind products, So that all this par
ticular class Of war victims may be
saved from their present hopeless and
helpless situation, and may be render
ed self-supporting for life.
SoIf hi
ing daily through a, living death, these
thousands of blinded war victims are
being slowly killed, not by their in
juries, not by starvation, but by the
apparently permanent hopelessness of
their situation. Six months training,
on the other hand, will educate each
one of them in some trade not requir-
ing sight. A single contribution of
several hundred dollars will go far to
make one of these blinded soldiers
seIf-supporting for life the appeal
states.
Among the women who are active
in the funds work in Europe and
America are Lady (Arthur) Paget,
Mrs. Harry Payne Whitney. Mrs. @.
H. P. Belmont, Mrs. John Astor, Mrs.
Peter Cooper Hewitt, Mrs. George A
Kessler, Mrs. r. Valentine Webster.
Acting as honorary treasurers, with
Mr. Vanderlip, are Sir Edward, Holden,
chairman of the London City and
Midland bank. and M Georges Pal
lain, ACKNOWLEDGMENT of the Bank
of France.