Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-11-20
TEACHERS WILL
HELP ORPHANS
Conference Adopts Schaeffer
Suggestion to Gather Data
Through Schools

rams LOT the immaculate care ana
placing of from forty thousand to
fifty thousand children who have be-
come either orphans or half orphans
since the recent epidemic of influ-
enza invaded the state will be outlin-
ed or a committee which will make
a careful survey of the entire state
in order to ascertain the exact num-
ber of destitute children and the
ways and means that can best be
adopted for their care in the various
counties throughout the Common
wealth.
1t was decided at the conference
yesterday to conduct this investi-
cation by means of a special ques-
ionnaire which will be sent to every
school teacher in the ten thousand
cne-room schools throughout the
rural districts of the state. The
teachers will be asked to report at
once all children in each district who
have been made orphans or half
orphans by the recent epidemic and
TO report also the exact financial
state of the family and whether or
not the county authorizes are in n
position to arrange for the care of
those who are destitute.
In the larger communities and
and cities the committee will be
aided by the machinery of such
organizations as the Division of Civil
liam Relief of the American Red
Cross, the State Council of Ma
tional Defense and the Pennsylvania
Society for the Prevention of Tuber-
culosis. Representatives of these
organizations attended the confer
ence, explained the workings of the
ptsra n izntinpS anH rIadgnd fhair Slln-
port to the important work of car
ing for these orphans.
DR.. b. Franklin Roger as Chair
man of the conference was authoriz-
ed to appoint the committee which
will be composed of representa-
tives of the statewide organizations
that are best equipped to carry on
this work. DR.. Roger stated that he
would announce the appointment of
within the next day or so.
In his address to the conference
DR.. Royer laid special stress upon
the necessity for prompt and inn
mediate action in relieving and car
ing for those children who have re-
Gently become dependent upon
others than their parents.
The distressing epidemic of intlu-
enza, said DR.. Roger, has left in its
wake a tremendous toll in the way
of orphan children. In Schuylkill
county alone il has-been estimated
that more than three thousand chill
dren are now orphans; the data is
not yet at hand permitting us to
say how many of these children are
without father and mother. For
several weeks strong appeals have
been coming to the Department or
Health asking that something be
done to arrange for the care of these
In order to determine ap-
the size of the problem
with which Pennsylvania has to deal
at this time IL seemed advisable
have representatives of statewide
agencies convene here at Harrisburg
so that each might outline in the
presence of the other agency repre-
the work that that parti-
cular association is pprepared to un-
dertake. We do know that If the
estimates for Schuylkill county OBJ
tain throughout the greater por-
ton of PENNSYLVANIA that there will
be more than fifty thousand orphans
left in the wake of the influenza
epidemic.
1T would appear after conference
with executive officers of the State
Board of Charities and Education
that there is no division of the state
at present equipped or
organized or legally authorized to
handle the problem. We do know
that there are number of organi-
cations practically all of them repre-
sented here to-day that have some
form of statewide agency to do
work along the lines of Child We'll
fare. There are also a number of
agencies that have been organized
for work in connection with the
war that are also actively interested
in the problems of the child"
A considerable portion of the con-
ference was devoted to a discussion
of the best means of caring for the
orphan children. Whether an effort
should be made to place them in pri-
vate homes or through some one of
the many forms of institutional care
in orphan asylums, privately endow-
ed institutions or county aims
houses.
The State Board of Charities an
that a survey was being
made of the various institutional
homes and asylums throughout the
state to determine the number of
vacancies existing at present and
that so far reports indicated that
there was only room for about twen-
ty one hundred additional children
in these institutions. Edward Will
son of the State Board OF Charities
urged that the problem of the care
of these orphans be left entirely in
the hands of poor directors and
county commissioners of the various
DR.. Nathan C. Schaeffer, Superin-
tendent of Public instruction made
a suggestion \, hich was finally adopt
ed that the school teachers through
out the state be utilized TO obtain
accurate data regarding the total
number of actual orphans and
other necessary .aformation. DIR.
Schaeffer also urg hat an effort be
made to place .iany cases as
possible in privat, mes instead of
in industrial schools and orphan asy-
lums. Other speakers at the con-
ference were DR.. 5. NJ. Hamill, repre-
senting the Pennsylvania Council of
National Defense and the Division of
Child Hygiene of the State Depart
ment of Health; c. c. Jones, Divi-
sion Director of Civilian Relief of
the American Red Cross; DIR. Eliza
beth d. Bricker, Department of La
bor and Industry: Miss Mary Dogue
Of the Mothers Assistance Fund; u.
BarclSley Spicer, Pennsylvania So
ciety for the Prevention of Tubercu-
Iosis. John Yates of the Associated