The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-11-28
SPECIAL HEALTH PRECAUTIONS ARE
 NECESSARY NOW
(By JOHN RAYMOND.)

 Hartford. November, 23.-More than half of the children in the 1 United States are reared in cities precautions must be taken to safe guard their health and to build up , resistance against disease.
 The leaders in the fight against tuberculosis, Americas greatest dis ease menace, believe that one of the most valuable instruments evolved by modern educators Is the open-air school To provide more of these schools, where so much effective pre- ventive work is done, is one of the purposes of the educational campaign now conducted by the sale of Red Cross Christmas seals, for which the intensive ten day drive this year be- gins December 1st, when more than 60,000,000 seals will be offered for sale at penny each.
 The open-air school idea orfginat-
 ed in Europe. In this country 1t was
 first successfully operated at Provi-
 dence, Rhode Island in 1908. Hart
 ford was the third city in the union
 to introduce the movement and since
 that time Connecticut cities and
 towns have erected such open-air
 schools New Haven, Manchester,
 Bristol. Greenwich, Meriden, Bridge
 port and seve1al others now have
 highly developed institutions.
 The original purpose of the open air school was to secure outdoor life for the delicate child. Then came the plan of providing a shelter against indictment weather, to extend the pc
 riod beyond the summer months. Later came the idea of bringing the "outdoor'' into the school and throw ing the windows open wide.
 On account of the large number
 of physically debtlitated children in
 the public schools, the first effort has been to care for those who are anen1ic, under nourished or whose general appearance indicates lack of resistance to disease.
 The success of this experiment led Boston, Pittsburgh, Chicago and New York to open similar schools The re- suits of these experiments were so satisfactory that schools and classes have sprung up by the hundreds all over the United States.
 The ferry-boat "Southfield' af- forded New York the first opportunt- ty to try out the new educational idea. This boat had been used by Bellevue Hospital for it's tuberculosis patients and among them were a large number of children. One day these children banded together and informed the doctor that they want ed to have a teacher and attend to school When this action was report ed to the board of education it was felt that so unusual a plea should have favorable and prompt response, so in December, 1908, the school on the ferry-boat was officially made an annex of a public school nearby.
 The Elizabeth Mccormick Open Air Schools are considered by many educators as models of their kind. These were founded by MT. and Mrs. Cyrus Mccormick in memory of their daughter, Elizabeth, who died at the age of twelve. Open the year round. they are restoring health and happi- ness to hundreds of children who would otherwise become frail, sick ly waifs.
 Cleveland, Detroit, Memphis, St Louis and other middle western cities have adopted the plan with excellent results. Progressive communities everywhere either have these schools in actual operation or desire to have them. As preventive measures they have proved their worth many times over.
 The crusade against tubercu1osis has pointedly challenged attention to the needs of school children ever since it's inception. -c is difficult to figure the number of open-air schools in the United States at pre- sent. Some authorities place the roughly at more than 1000 l Whether these are fully equipped l "preventroiums" with diet kitchens l and special sleeping and studying | equipment, or merely an ordinary class room with windows thrown | wide open, the educational value can- not be challenged.