Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1895-05-30
PINGREE's PATCHES.
GREATEST SCHEME INVENTED TO
HELP THE POOR.
Interesting Account of Its Inception and
Thorough Trial In Detroit - Relieves
Without Degrading and Saves Taxpayers
Moncy--To 1se Adopted by All Big Cities.


Money--To 1se Adopted by All Big Cities.
The "Pingree potato patch has conc
10 stay. The people of Brooklyn are
getting ready to have several "Pingrcc
potato patches" right away. In yea,
or two every big city that has III army
Of poor and hungry people will have
"Pingree potato patches. +"
For pure hcneGcence and downright
practical results the scheme which May
CT HaZen S. Pingrce of Detroit intro
duced about year ago seems to be
most falTcaching, and its results, if in
dications arc worth anything, will be to
introduce an entirely new method of as
sisting the unemployed who are willing
| to work No scheme or plan ever origi-
mated by man of Michigan achieved
| such Il success i'll its first year, and today
| the name "Pingree potato patch" ia
| known from ocean to ocean i'll America
and even III some of the etfete munich
| palities of Europe.
The winter of 1894 was u hard one
for Detroit's poor. The municipal poor
fund was beggared and the emergency
iund for that purpose spent Icing before
the winter was over. When the spring
came. there was still an army OF unem
| ployed, and the city was stared i'll the
f;.;e by the question of how to take care
Of them and to provide for the next Sc
yt,ce winter
During his official life the mayor has
p,oduccd many schemes and sensations,
b,lt his greatest one, and the one which
VIII always make his name q thing of
fond remembrance to the poor WAS de-
valopeil on .]nMe 6 last. Wiseucres
laughed and shook their heads, the city's
best authorities on economics and mn
nicipal matters jccred ut the idea. and
even the wide awake newspaper men
did not believe it would succeed and
said so. Bur the mayor had carefully
conncd the statistics, Was sure OF his
Facts and figures and answered sneels,
smiles and scotfing With the same conf
placcncc that he would have greeted
com!nendation.
On the afternoon of June 6 last the
mayor came bursting into his office.
called the Office boy and told him to
Fetch the assessors quickly. The assess
orS came, and this WAS the question
shat was asked of them: Chow many
acres of unimproved ard untitled land
are there i'll the city limits?:' They
Guessed, but the mayor knew better than
they did, and he sent them away to find
out. Then the newspaper men We're adj
nittel and the same question WAS asked
5000 togo, 600 acres.
II will tell YOU" said the mayor.
''There ARE within the city limits of De
troit over G,00O acres of unused arabic
land that could be cultivated without
trouble or much work. Now, if the own
ers of these lands will only lend them
10 the poor. we can get the charitable to
supply seeds and plows, and the poor
can work tic land and get whatever
product they are able ont of it,.
: This was the start Of the now famouS
"Pingrcc potato patch plan. After tho
: newspapers had given it publicity ln;uy
of the landowners of the city came for,
ward and offered their idle and unocc,,.
: pied acres TO help ont the scheme, and
9 applications for land to till began IL
how i'll from the unemployed poor who
We're willing TO cultivate such land ii
they could obtain the necessary seed II
plant and the implements of cultivation.
f, Hundreds of acres We're offered. some
: of it SO far ont of the city that it wa;
not available, and then came the ques
$ tion of getting money for the seed. There
G was some hesitation about starting /;
subscription for plows and seeds unit
: Mayor Pingrec himself said, CHOW, I'vt
y got Il good horse that I'm using every
day, but I'll give that horse TOWARD
starting this thing along, and we'll sci
c it for what we can get" The horse wa.
II sold, and it melted $3.50 Then the PEG
: pie began to see that the mayor wa.
! really i'll earnest, and the plan began Il
" take. He personally laborcd with thu
t various employees of the city, and the,
c all contributed.
: There was soon land enough i'll sight
! but there was a lack Of funds to suppl,
the seeds and farming implementsneed
cd. The mayors subscription of hi
= horse was but u drop i'll the bucket.
4 The mayor issued personal appea
4 to the pastors of the city asking them t.
y get their churches to contribute to TIN
:. good cause, and they very generally re
=. sponded.
q By this time tho "Pingrce potato
a patch" had grown beyond Mayor Pin
gree's available time to handle, and Ii
o o appointed a commission. When the worl
Of this commission started, the commit
tee had Oh hand G. total of 43O acres O
ground scattered all over the city.
: AS fast as applicants were registered
> they were assigned to as much groun'
as the commission believed the appli
cants could work. AS far as practicabl
the land was allotted near the appli
; cant's home, but i'll some cases this wa