The Czechoslovak Review/Volume 1/Five thousand from one man

FIVE THOUSAND FROM ONE MAN.

 

That American citizens of Czech descent should contribute generously for the liberation of their kinsmen is a matter of course. When an American of the old colonial stock makes a large donation for the same purpose, it is an event deserving of notice.

The largest individual donation made so far to the cause of Bohemia’s independence was made by a stranger in blood to the Czech race. Mr. J. V. Frothingham of New York gave five thousand dollars to the fund employed by Masaryk and his fellow exiles to bring the claims of Bohemia to the attention of the world. It was not Mr. Frothingham’s first philanthropy. Shortly after the war began, he organized and supported at his expense a Red Cross unit composed of Bohemian and Slovak physicians and nurses for service in Serbia, before that unfortunate country was overwhelmed by Germans and Bulgars. A second expedition he sent out was torpedoed in the Adriatic by an Austrian submarine.

The Bohemian race has few active friends among the big men of America. Poles, Serbians, Armenians, even Albanians, find many sympathizers among generous men and women of this country who feel that they are doing something worth while by extending a helping hand to a weak or oppressed people. But if friends of Bohemians are rare, they are so much more valued by the people which they help. The long list of men from America who made the campaign for Bohemia’s independence victorious will be headed by the Anglo-Saxon name of Frothingham.