Omaha daily bee., 1916-06-18
By Helen Astor.
(Mrs Vincent Astor.)

TH1RTEEN years ago Miss Mary
Morton, daughter Of Vice.Presi.
dent Levi P. Morton, established
Holiday Farm. at Rhinecliffeon-the.Hu d.
son, in New York. The home grew out
Of need which Miss Morton recognized
that child who had been i'll might
still be a victim Of the illness II dis.
charged too soon from hospital.
A child that had been Ill may have be.
come reasonably well, but yet be weak
too weak to Withstand the onslaughts
that conditions of crowded tenement life
make upon the physical constitution. A
patient should never be discharged from
a hospital until completely recovered
and provided with a fund Of resistance
against the environment that menaces
health.
But this desideratum cannot be
reached by overcrowded city institutions.
Those who are no longer acutely ill must
give way to those who are suffering
more than themselves. Those who in
favorable conditions will recover must
give way to those who must have care or
die. Therefore those in the lesser state
Of need must make way for the greater.
1t Is upon this proposition that Holiday
Farm, Home for Convalescent Children,
was built.
Last year Mr.. Vincent Aston, desiring
to erect a memorial for his father,
Colonel John Jacob Astor, who was lost
in the Titanic disaster, conceived the
idea Of building new home for the in.
stitution and Of enlarging its scope. The
home was erected at cost Of about
100000.
Holiday Farm is eighty.flve miles from
noises, the tainted air and the feverish
momentum Of city life, yet within three
hours from the home OF the patient by
train, or less, If, as sometimes happens,
the automobile of one Of the owners Of
country homes near Rhinebeck is offered
for the return of the little one.
The.weak point Of convalescent homes,
as of hospitals, is that the patients must
too soon give place to others. The dis
tinguishing characteristic of Holiday
Farm-what makes 1t unique-is that
the little ones who have been i'll remain
until they are well, no matter how long
that is II they are quite well after a
fortnight, very well. II their recovery
requires two months, three, four, six,
hey remain unmolested until the cure is
beyond question and they possess fund
If reserve vitality.
Boys are admitted from the ages Of
tour to nine. Girls from four to fifteen.
When the girls have recovered their
health an effort is made to find home
for them in the neighborhood which has
given them health. On the domestic staff
of many homes within radius of twenty
miles from Rhinebeck are young women
books Of Holiday Farm.
But If the children must return to
their homes: those who are actively in.
terested in The Home for Convalescents
have arranged that they shall do so with
memories of simple, pleasant and health
full living. The terraced lawns slope to
a brook which runs through the farm.
The grounds are shaded by tall, old
trees. Twelve swings, gliding settees
and sand box, an out-of-door glass-irl.
closed playhouse beneath a tree whose
branches sweep the ground are there for
their amusement. For the play spirit Is
encouraged for The building Of health.
The old house which originally sheltered
the institution provided for twenty little
invalids. The larger new one, erected on
the site Of the DID, has capacity of
fifty.
Most convalescent homes close in Oc-
tober Holiday Farm is always open.
Pale little children learn there the de.
lights of coasting and sleighing.