The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-11-04
ALTRURlA'S BEGINNING.
HOpEFUL Souls TO WHoM All
OIHERs ARE A~NARCHISTs.
Rens.y asd other sirniIar ana Birsin,iIar
Notions 20 Have q Trial N California;
Happy ~ the Outset OF Their venture.

mysterious journey as II sounds. I left San
francisco at { 40 In the morning, and At IL :45
on the same day l was In the land Of the Inn
possible. There is no money in that land. and
no competition. There Is neither wealth there
nor poverty, and every man takes his brothers
band and says: I'VE will not work against
zach other, but for each other" There is no
sucli thing as a servant, and you can't get in
aebt thers II you try. A woman is reoompensed
for mendinR her children's clothes just as a
man IL reoompensed for making shoes, and a
mans wife gets the same reward for cooking his
dinners as he gets for digging the potatoes that
she cooks.
There are a lot Of strange ideas, strange Gus
toms, and strange promises In Altruria, and the
strangest part OF the whole thing Is that It's a
real place. as real as Petaluma or santa Rosa,
end almost as easy to reach. | went up there
the other day. and the way | went was this; |
iaieeEids OF riEpened hops and through the Vine.
yards, and finally into the. redwoods. The sun
strst SiSuaYa out between the browning fields as II
II were n vain woman and went, yelled, but IL
tool , rs at lr ss5 into t ths sfse q 4 t ths SsSl f f4ssS,
crude Altruria. but still Altruria.
There" said ths m9 TS:fs sd, boy who drove;
.smpin' soom'ers round here, 1 guess"
The mill has not been used for some time, and
with young iichens. We heard voices inside the
mill room and we wen, In. 4 tall strong man
stairway carrying something on his back. Put
It In the corner Of the room" said a woman's
out Of the shadow as We, entered.
I'VE are looking for the Altrurians" said;
shadow. =" you've found EN-; I'm one of them"
Where Is your settlement" / began.
%ThsTs; = tsn'S ANY here vet e, he, he said %Gl,n " but III
you down thereof you say So.
did say 50, and we started of down a way
irudgcd along with Q sturdy tread. He was
good to look at, in his way. He was strong
Els thick hair was touched with white
here and there: His shTewd, conrageous blue
think. somehow, Of the eyes Of a Very happy.
very young person. who is expecting something
D SG.is Fits e the a"p Fas% Of fv sIsi,o mln asd he H made %isn nd
stt,mpt to disguise his feeling, although he was
lad. looking first at the artist, then at me.
Were just like other folks and we move just
ind ss%'a any II injecting re pSsl ranks. ,ws're everyday
was a little surprised at the word anarchy.
eGd ! suppose | i lO oEs h. surprised for his keen
know II. but that's what you are. I guess that's
ssStins % fsl h RsSeli a ans SSs siisSisys tsss yhS SFs
The y, only; only right ! is; and , proper way TO to live: We'll we we
Fer. i |" the ,'v valley y"t TO see how we N' can q" !"
by trying to help each other. We're going to
and square business basis. I'm going to help
my nelshbor and I'm going to expect my neigh
The artist raised his eyebrows at me acr oss
the mans head. The man saw the look.
morediy. well, we're Altrnists, YOU know,
and you AnaIehists cant quite understand us
At We S,' came Ho suad SSnS i to s i Gy S az d lfyile clearing.
Vr i, Wat 4. the Sos t9Ss q an sI' 4 sIoP Pbs l hIII:: low house,
There was no doubt OF that. The porch was
sf9Sy srs nn with boz SS1s @b snd SS5Tel; ,u and u bundles sisEs:
standing near the steps. and stoves. and beds
and chairs were hsaped in quite a little noun
end Of the house, and two or three men were
unloading /. A man toiled up a little rise Of
help unload, and v Ilittlls girls were tying on
any fish there. a baby erawled in and out Of
the door. and inside Of the house there was 9
smells like dinner, said the man who came
%S%3ndsrsd out Of ,he door Just g We approached;
sns % caught SeS up r 6. S eSiPf$R. Dear w %e." She ss ari Gs.
EE ;Glifns hug u '0% HSaa cam maj sh Msi e ef more NO ssS %sy sP TO
get hurt" Ugh, ugh" said the baby, imita,
ting her iather ana striking her mothers knee
Ladies" said the man Who had brought us.
baby down and tried to look delighted. But she
was as dismayed as an everyday housekeeper
We're all e%luttsred up" she said. You'll
SAT down on the clothes basket, and the art;
from the big oak trees in front 81 The Rou asAS'u
w came yesterday" said the woman, and
sren OF op'y Us .u here e'hs oWs sss'ien mere ETo sre f seSeai
mean. There are nine children. We're only the
s sSEsnU sts sHsfGc' s ySp t fsG re:t WIFI Mfs EaaS s0iniF t sS Sst
We married folks arc all living IN the house
now a room apiece for each family. and the
single men nrG cumming ont I'M I'm the mill huf
That wGn'; last long. There's a house or two up
tn' vGE'e 'Ie 'S Mi.li we ven can R Ssya in o a day S% Sr tS Soos sgt
Escn, family can plan its own.
ry We I S.0w how my i mines : s; g to Look ALREADY;
We're Going. 20 build a hotel up there on %o the
siSaRs SOME r" Of our " MEMBER n%S bsRs'R Who ' GSn'ti E iiye i knG fSs
colony can come here instead Of going to a sum
ava and turn ali this land here into s1s GARDENS q41ss
Thgrr's lots OF water everywhere. you see. oh.
y l, sHS% wRRf HTSRE's how to be comfortable in a
T.1 i't,lc woman looked out over the peaceful
village there ss plainly as / saw the oaks and the
.redwoois in the forest beyond.
t,ore' and we're going to have a fruit cannery,
Won won't begin TO build these things very
boon, though, supposeT" | said, coming down
10 the practical.
poon as the men get round to II. They wifi get
things strengthened out pretty soon, and then
lufg II ~ 10 bullulnR. lou htt. our own people
do all the work, So we woa't have TO wait Tor
contractors"
You have the money then to begin with ?"
"Oh, yes; we have money. ! nj we're not going TO
have II long. We don't believe in il. Ofcuursc,
when you start an entirely new idea IL takes
time 10 get things regulated, We won't need
much mOney to build houses here, though. We
ers among us. and Just as soon as we get The old
mill 10 going we'll cut the lumber from our own
trees, and there you are, We may have to buy
= few nails from the outside world. but that's
.oont AL In a few years we won't have % buy
going 10 take care Of ourselves here. There
won't he any rent TO pay or any gas bill 10 meet,
any other day IN Altruria." Z
81 understand about the rent" | said. You
this land together, all OF you people, and {
you will all own your own houses, but the gas,
how, and the coal; how about the first Of the
month when the coal bill comes in -
The little woman laughed. "IkRow how you
feel, she said. II thought the same as you do 4
I'LL ] studied the thing up. You're so used TO
Without IL. \ on can. About coal, now. We've {