Page:What to do for Uncle Sam; a first book of citizenship (IA whattodoforuncle00bail).pdf/86

82 all alike, can be seen planting and harvesting. These are Uncle Sam's children, the orphans, dependent upon the public for support, not through any fault of their own, but because they have no fathers and mothers.

In almost every town there is an orphan asylum, and there are other large buildings where Uncle Sam's helpless ones are housed. There is a large house where old people, like your grandfather and grandmother, sit out in the sunshine and talk about the days when they had homes of their own. There is a hospital where the sick are nursed, and cured. There may be a school for the blind where children learn to read with their fingers, and are taught to use their hands in carrying on trades by means of which they can earn money. Perhaps there is a Soldiers' or Sailors' Home near you in which men who are old, or otherwise helpless, and mustered out of Uncle Sam's honorable service, are made comfortable.

Such a public home as one of these is usually a very well made and beautiful building. It has a huge kitchen to which meats, and vegetables, and fruits, and eggs, and milk are sent to be prepared for the table by trained cooks. There is a library of good books. Doctors and nurses are provided at the town's or state's expense, and all that can be done with public money is done