For those who desire more specific knowledge than that afforded by the story of the undertaking as a whole, it is sufficient to give one or two details which will enable any one interested in further examination of the matter to obtain reports and information from headquarters. For Philadelphia these headquarters are at 1112 Girard Street, from which the companies of children, registered and numbered, are sent out. A letter addressed “Officers of the Country Week,” at this number, will always receive prompt attention, the work having received formal organization some years since, and owning a regular board of untiring and devoted officers. They have come to include now not only children, but tired shop-girls, young mothers worn with care, and working women of all orders, and there is opportunity not only for those who are willing to open their houses without charge, but also for those who must cover expenses, the Board paying wherever necessary, a sum per child, sufficient to cover these. For New York there is perhaps a trifle less system, but a work equally beneficent, and for all information regarding it, it is sufficient to address either “The Tribune Fresh Air Fund,” The Tribune, Park Row, New York, or the Rev. Willard Parsons, care of New York Tribune.
Contributions or inquiries either will be welcomed, and matters are now so perfectly systematized, that distance to be traveled proves no obstacle, and even the remotest village on the lines of the great railroads may have its share in this most beautiful and essential form of service.
LEARN TO ENJOY PEOPLE.
BY MARGARET MEREDITH.
There is one surpassing beauty of manner which, I think, might be attained by cultivation—that of taking an interest in people who are talking to you, with the subtile added charm of seeming at leisure to enjoy them as long as they choose to stay.
With some it is natural. I was struck to-day with the sweet graciousness of a young girl, ill dressed (for her) and very busy, who almost deceived me into wasting ten extra minutes of her precious time, by the satisfied air with which she sat down beside me in her parlor and welcomed my inopportune appearance. It was not politic, to be sure, for getting her cake making done, but, ah how politic for winning admiration!