The Penn's Grove record., 1895-06-07
TOWN
Silent Tragedy overtakins Villages In
the North Central States.


client Tragedy Overtakins Villages In
the North Central States.
The Doom of the Small Town." is
she title of an article by Henry J.
Fletcher in the Forum, wherein the
writer points out the silent tragedy that
is overtaking the small villages in oil
our north central States. One BY one,
family by family, he says their inhab-
itants slip away In search Of other
homes;a steady but hardly perceptible
emigration takes away the young, the
hopeful, the ambitious. There remain
behind the superannuated, the feeble.
the dull, the stagnant rich, who will
risk nothing, the ne'er-do-wells who
have nothing to risk. Enough work
ers remain to till the soil, to manage
the distribution of food and clothing.
and to transact the common business
Of life; but the worlds real work Is
done elsewhere. All these small com-
munities had their period Of active
growth; many of them, indeed, grew
too fast; some dried up and persisted.
Their people look back sorrowfully to
the time when the railroads were built,
when the mills were grinding, when
town property was worth more than It
cost That happy period was from
ten to thirty years ago; the general de-
cline Of the small municipalities Of the
West became most noticeable during
the decade from 1880 to 1890.
ne n oQ1 founchlpo apy,parofad q,
the States Of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois.
Iowa and Michigan, IA have remained
stationary in population between 1880
and 1890; 3,003 have gained and 8,1A
have declined, and this in face Of the
fact that the population Of these States
gained largely during the decade, the
increase In Ohio being 474,000, in In
diana 214, 900, In Illinois 74S,000 and In
Iowa 2S7, 00O.
The chief productive industries Il
small Western communities have been
the manufacture Of agriculture nipple
ments. of brick and tile, cooperaga,
grist mills and Touring mills, foundries
and machine shops, saw-mills and mills
whose products are made from logs
and bolts, the making Of furniture,
wagons and carriages. Twenty years
ago all these trades flourished In every
village Of a thousand or more popula.
ton. 1 have been familiar from child.
hood with one such town where the fol.
lowing branches Of manufacture were
once In active and profitable operation:
Four Touring and grist mills, three
saw mills, five wagon and carriage
shops, three wooden mills, three furni.
ture and cabinet shops, n foundry
and machine shop. two cooper shops,
besides many smaller industries. All
the -four mills are silent to-day, though
two new mes have sprung up in their
places, operated by steam instead of
water power; all the saw-mills are
gone; all the wagon and carriage-shops
are deserted, or at best do a little re-
pairing; two of the wooden mills be-
long to the past and the remaining one
does a small business; and cabinet
making Is hardly any more a REQ
ognized trade. One by one these little
centers of Industrial activity succumb-
ed to the inevitable; every one of them
tells a story Of heroic struggle with con-
ditions which they but dimiy under
stood and were powerless to resist Yet
this region Is a portion of the State Of
Iowa where crops never fail and where
nature has done everything to encour
age a prosperous population.
One Of the serious consequences o.
the drawing away Of the youth and
energy Of the villages and towns Il.
found In the benumbing effect II has
upon those who remain behind. There
Is little incentive to start new enter.
prises, and especially Is there small
encouragement for boys to learn skin.
ed trades. Hence the prospect before
the boys Of these villages Is depressing
In the extreme. There Is practically
no chance for a boy to become skilled
In any trade except In the building
trades, the blacksmith shops, and In
the commonest handicrafts. The late
awakening to the value Of manual.
training schools Is confined almost ex-
clusively to the largest cities Nothing
Is done In the smaller towns to teach
manual skill Or general experiences In
the usespf tools, and the idea Of any
public effort to encourage the educa-
ton Of highly skilled mechanics In any
department is not even thought Of. A
boy may learn to hold a pillow. to SHOW.
ell dirt, to do common carpenters work,
to paint q house, to shoe q horse, he
may learn how to clerk in a store, to
become q lawyer, or to sell hfe-insur
ance; but the country towns ara abso
iuteiy dead to the needs Of ~cultivatins
the mechanic arts, and teaching the
American youth that general knowL
edge and special skill. without which
our native workers are being 30 rapid.
ly driven out Of the higher branches OF
industrial activity. In Switzerland.
Germany, Belgium, Holland, Austria,
the village boy or girl with an aptitude
Hnds A school near by In which he mhy
pursue the lines Of study proper to.
lay the foundation for any art or call.
ing, and in most cases he may then
enter a trade school from which. after
years Of the most thorough, practical
and technical instruction, be may be
graduated. q finished master Of his
chosen trade.
What Is to become OF the American
rural and village population, which Is
shut out from even the benefits Of such
manual training as may now be had
In the high schools Of the most progres-
sive citiesf We are fast creating q
peasantry. which. In another genera,
ton, wnl seem rude In comparison
with the peasantry OF Europe, unless
we adopt some enlightened method Of
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