Show TREASURED GIFTS TO AID THE WAR wedding rings coffin plates thimbles pins silverware among donations PROCEEDS TO HELP AIRMEN work under supervision of aviation committee 6 especially peel ally to equip doy boys who have received commissions commission by ERNEST POOLE from the committee on public information washington D C it if war hns has darkened tho the world with hate it has tits also opened will windows d aws in ill tile the minds of millions of people whose outlook was once narrow but whose now go on oil wings out over tho the nations of tile the earth and this Is especially truo true unions tile tho people of tho U united states abo in now new york tile tho other day I 1 visited a crowded little room upstairs at fifth avenue the room was filled mall packages and with boxes large ind and small of the alie trinkets mid and treasures trea surca sent hero here from homes till iu over the U S A to bo be sold in order to licup tell the inda who tire going to fly boyer over there in france prom from tho the window looking down I 1 could see sec long lilies of shops where in the old days before tile lie war poured endless crowds of shoppers I 1 pictured fifth revenue back through the years rina and I 1 thought of countless shopping hopping streets in cities and towns nil all over the land where in generations gone by people have bought christmas presents wedding rings nad birthday gifts I 1 thought of the numberless keepsakes keep sakes that have bato boon been stored up in american homes arid and that have grown dear mid and intimate now front from these homes in new lIn england gland and in new york and chicago in denver seattle and san francisco and galveston If memphis emphis and now new orleans these samo same small household treasures have come by thousands every week to this room and the busy women of tho the committee sort them out and sonic arc anro sold and the rest aro are melted up and sold and with the proceeds clothes and other comforts aro are bought for the lie nien men of the air service uncle saru sam supplies uniforms to the lie men but not to tho the officers when A boy gets ills his commission lie he must at once set about getting clothes and tor for those who cannot raise tho the price tho the aviation com i steps in and also for those privates who aro are being rushed off to franco france each week and who lack many extra things that will make life less arduous the committee again acts as a kind ofa of a foster mother equipment for an officer liere Is the equipment tho the committee supplies to an 0 ducer t I 1 set bet of underwear I 1 leather helmet 0 v 1 pair avla aviators tors gloves t 3 j I 1 leather feather lying flying coat coal I 1 trench coat v i I 1 pair leather leat lier breeches 1 1 pair avla nv latora tors boots rn I 1 1 pair woolen socks 1 iv i I a pair aviators goggles I 1 woolen set sweater helmot helmet socks wristlets wrist lets and gloves glaes the committee has made a splendid start formed only a few months ngo ago as a part of the national special aid society oc lety it has already collected tind and sold cold wor th of trinkets and line has i spent that amount on n clothes it to Is I 1 hard to keep up with tho the growing do mands tor for tho the word has gone out among tho the flyers and they keep coming to this room but ns as tile ho demand la Is increasing so Is tile the supply for tile committee tins has sent its ts appeal out all over tile tho country send jewelry silverware gold and odd bits nothing Is too small nothing too large from our store of trinket sand treasures let us give help to the wings of 0 tho the united states gold cold and silver solid or plate donated to tho the committee are melted in tho the united states assay office arid and the proceeds used to help tile the aviators send bond old or new jewelry watches chains table and toilet ware vases candlesticks souvenir spoons coins cigarette cases uni umbrella brella tops eyeglass moun mountings tinga thimbles dental gold and platinum any bits can be melted articles in perfect condition will be placed on sale what wiy wil you give be patriotic open your lour heart and your treasure box long ago the treasures reB begun began to arrive from new england arid all through the east down to tile tho old plantations from new orleans and denver from mining camps in tho the mountains and front from lonely jarma farm from arizona ranches front from booming oklahoma towns and from forest hamlets in tile the northwest tile the trinkets have conic come pouring in and some adrae take the mind far back into years when the nation was thinking of far dir different terent things daniel boone family relic A set of fine old silver spoons from tho the family of daniel boone a gold modal medal prize won by 0 it Is for elocution in 11 college in gold Iv wedding edding rings or of every conceivable kind and size dze rings with will words inside rings with clasped hands huge sent seal and signet ings olti old fashioned linked bracelets broo brooches ciles goggles glasses and dilver hilyer plates front from collins removed nt at ali the ume of tho the funeral and set up over the t parlor mantel pins of all kinds told gold pencils De nells ild 04 earrings of jet inrid silver and gold and all kinds of pre pie falls clous sto queer old vins plus b boxes axes of them a necklace kince of rupees from india treasures ruh from froin china anil and jotting ericso down fi an front from tile ho open box in front of me I 1 looked up tip and noticed it jeweler who enes in ili every day to look over the wi belies here there were throe three soup b bocca aes full fill of them from curious tiny gold affairs to large solid old thue pieces of steela steel a regular of u wait of tbell lie le salil alit to toe fiust have been made just after tile flood ile pried into their works and grow brew ab lie Is 14 not tilt the only purchaser dashing young dinolo e ases conic liero here to among the old und and to supplement their costumes coy for scenes of american flays days rone gone by b to go on with my iny inventory here was a set bet of largo large gold studs with a dog embossed on ench each tind next I 1 took out a garnet ring and then a delicato fan of ince point from the wall near by hung it silver guitar underneath wa was s at sot act of silver egg stands from un old lady in the west who flint slie she had bought them in chiala Clil nii sonic of these rarer articles tire me sold to new york merchants hut but with the great masa of trinkets there lit 1 no co time for that alint for things come lu lit by the hundreds a day over in a corner was another box of colnai cifilli plates one dating back to when wo had another war on our hands hand 8 with 11 somewhat similar alin lit in yew vew from A box nearby I 1 took out scores of slender lender fc delicato gold chains and lock ets of gold arid and ennines cn en ninel on oil tile table was a small box boi full of tiny gold fillings taken from froin teeth fill all over tile the land in ili a corner stood a whole barrel of clocks I 1 looked into a box of gold spectacles way anny of them with gold chains anti ami here was a silver thimble worn thin which camo came from an elderly lady out in north dakota she had find put this tiny note inside 1 I have used this thimble all mya tny life and I 1 never thought anything would induce me ino to part with it two tiny gold gola wedding rings ring around the room were pitchers and trays of brass and lewter and copper plate there were heaps of silver knives forks arid and spoons and a tuble table of ebl there were three more boxes of thimbles and carefully wrapped in paper were two tiny gold wedding rings tent sent lit in by a midget couple on oil a vaudeville circuit somewhere w out west an old gentleman sent seat lit in a heavy match chain 1 I run am so old now lie wrote that I 1 guess that I 1 can take a chance on not losing my watch in the lie years ears that are arc left hero Is another letter that came with a box of jewelry 1 I am sending you sou today under separate sc cover my treasures treas urea and trinkets for many years I 1 was an actress and this collection represents gifts of my professional friends who I 1 know would be delighted it they could only know the final use these were put to may blay they help to build an airship that will shine bright er than all the footlights combined that I 1 have over ever faced wishing you glorious ir success access we will win will ill I 1 and here Is another letter please accept these heso little trifles which hilve have boon been tile the source or of much pleasure to me in past years most alost of them have little romances attached to their being given several of their givers have been called home homb and as I 1 look at tile tho little trifling things I 1 nin able to send bend you I 1 feel proud indeed to think I 1 may do oven even tills this bit to help tho wings of tile the united states prom from long ions stooping lna over the boxes I 1 kept looking up lip from time to time almo as tho the aviation boys bois came in to apply for e equipment now there come came three husky lads who were hoping to sail that lint week ind arid they seemed crazy to get off one had find conic come from illinois ono from arizona Ar arlenn lonn and the lie other one front from vermont I 1 lot let my mind travel to their heir hunio home towns and to tile tho to fins and villages and teeming cities nil over the arid and where tile tho vision of the tha people tins has been blasted open as in a storm to widen out and cin braco the whole world on tho the wall I 1 saw a poster with airplanes like a flock of geese in black silhouette against n yellow sky baky mid and I 1 thought of the hopes and imaginings magIn Ings that would follow these lads front from all over this land from the people who have sent these things their mind minda A will never be ba the same for they have glimpsed a wide wide world which Is now swiftly changing |