The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1919-01-01
AMERICALAND
OF OPPORTUNITY
report of the Children's Aid Society
for 1918 Gives an Idea of Their
Work.
Associated Press

NEW YORK, Jan. America as
a land Of opportunity even for street
waits orphans and foundlings was re-
called by the recent death in Sitka,
Alaska, Of John G. Brady, former
Governor of that territory, and the
fact that when a young child Brady
had been taken from an almshouse
and placed in the custody of the Chill
dren's Aid Society of New York which
educated him and placed him on the
road to fame and fortune.
Hundreds of other cases similar to
Ex-Governor Brady's it is said, could
be cited by the organization which
for more than half a century has
been taking homeless boys and girls
off city streets and sending them to
farms in the West where they grew
up to be self-reliant, trustworthy and
honored citizens. A certain delicacy
surrounds the publication of the
names of the more noted of these
former waits, but the report of the
Children's Aid Society for 1918 shows
the following harvest of careers" up
to date:
One governor of state, one gov t
ernor of territory (John G. Brady
Of Alaska; two members of Con-
gress, two district attorneys, two
sheriffs, two mayors, justice of the
supreme court; federal Judge; four /
state judges, two college professors,
seven high school principals, two
school superintendents, an auditor
general of a state, nine members of
state legislatures, "a clergymen, one
cashier of a life insurance company;
two artists, Senate clerk, six rail-
road officials, eighteen journalists, 81
bankers, 10 physicians, 35 lawyers, 12
postmasters, 3 contractors, 81 teach
ers, 4 civil engineers 'and a vast
number of other business and profess
sional men, clerks, mechanics, farm I
ers and their wives and other who |
have acquired property and filled po-
sitions of honor and trust"
Among the American forces sent
overseas, it is pointed out in the re-
port, are twelve commissioned officers
and about 1000 soldiers and sailors
who were once wards of the Children's
Aid Society All were rescued from
the streets or from asylums and cor
rective institutions. r
The Society, since it's foundation ON q
January 8, 1855, has placed 32.031 +
orphans and deserted children in good q
homes in the country where many of +
them were later adopted. In addi- !
ton SLATE older boys and girls have h
been sent to farms in the West where /
they have been put on their feet and, h
becoming owners ranches, have shown n
their appreciation in later years by S
taking orphans into their homes. !,
1t has been estimated that the cost
Of salvaging child from the streets,
according to the plan of the Society, Ia,
is $50 which not only defrays the II
cost of placing the youngster in a B
comfortable country home but pro- Al
yides for supervision so long as it is v
necessary. The society keeps in touch T
with the boys or girls thus sent out
and has on file thousands of grateful
letters written by them after they
have grown to manhood and woman
hood, n
An instance of this gratitude was z
afforded in the report of 1918 Of Ed
win G. Merrill, treasurer of the So =
,iety, who acknowledged bequest of p
$1,000 from the estate of DR., Michael fl
A, Jordan, physician and educator ci
of Logansport, Indiana. Dir. Jordan fl
many years ago was a friendless or Of
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