The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1897-07-07


inCo ravine Wnere the sun Lad never
penetrated. Inc agent told Lonsbury
that this was TO be the place i'll which
all labor troubles were to be settled
and that upon that side hill should be
established a community which should
be the model OF all governments in time
to come. Longbury was a socialist to
the backbone, but he was tempted then
and there to go back nome and read
about socialism AMI let others try to
prove in an actual community. 1t was
rs unpromising sight as Crusoe on the
island, but Lonsbury could not get
away, so he stuck. The next morning
his wife and Sinclair Marsden came en-
from Akron, Ohio, and they settled in
the mud shack-the first house in their
coming nation
1t was picture of gloom. 1t was
time to plant, but there was no ground
to plant in that was not taken up with
trees two feet in diameter, or shrubDcry.
uC1o was liz Wdl0l 1CdI LIldu lcll d
mile-absolutely nothing for man or
beast to eat or drink. Lonsbury wanted
we'll, but he needed a man to help
him dig it. He watched the opening
at the head of the ravine for the ap-
pearance of another pioneer, and in a
few days White, the shoemaker, and his
Wifp fnI1cr fhoir thronub bo
swarms of ferocious iiggcrs and rapac-
ious woodticks and entered the mud
cabin. Marsden, the mechanic, told
White, the shoemaker, that his first
duty in Utopia would be to go to the
bottom and dig, while he stayed at the
top and pulled up the dirt from a hole
which he hoped might prove to be
we'll. 1t was not much of a prospect
for seeker of happiness and content
ment, but the men dug. They found
water sixty feet lower than the bottom
OF the valley of the side hill. They
then had water, but had little food. yet
they worked, and lived on bread.
HOW THE POPULATION INCREASED
M. F. Rodgers and G. ]. Carnegie ar
rived from Beaver Falls, Pa. They had
driven all the way in 4 morse and buggy
A man would dropsin from day tc day,
and within month the census showed
one carpenter, one machinist, one bar
Der, one shoemaker, one baker, one
wire nail operator, one butcher, one
cooper, one farmer, one blacksmith and
one laborer. The founder did not come
until these had founded the place, and
he left in hurry. Rodgers, the baker,
walked in the shadows of the site of
Utopia and demanded to know what
he expected Utopia to eat, drink or do
In such place. Wayland said all he
could suggest was for Utopia to 20 to
work and erect a manufacturing CITY
that would rival New York. 1t was
fortunate for Wayland at that moment
that Rodgers was baker with nothing
to bake, and far from a rolling pin. The
Wayland manufacturing Utopia was
three crooked Tennessee miles from the
railroad.
The community, which was to make
laws for itself, took a vote concerning
the location of the printing establish
ment, which was all the prospect the
community saw. The only reasonable
location for it's business was at the
railroad station, and the only way to
build the house for it was to get baker.
barber and shoemaker and all hands to
join the one carpenter. The men did
this willingly. The building was fin
ished and in the summer the center Of
socialistic literature had been changed
from Indiana to a way station in Ten
nessee, called Tennessee City. Winter
came on and the colonists nearly per-
ished. The wind blew through the cracks
in the houses, while ratiOns were closer
than in the summer. 1t tried the souls
of the stOutest of them, and many of
the first workers in practical socialism
went home entirely converted and
thoroughly convinced that it was bet
ICA al CuO UOOhS ludll Ill 1cuueSSe0.
INCORPORATION OF THE COLONY.
Lonsbury and his crew planned
town site and cut down the trees so they
could find where the site was after they
had planned it. The streets were called
Ruskin avenue, Liberty Hill and Buena
Heights, and like names fitted the To-
cation when the location should develop
into the new paradise. A tent and
mud hut made the town site, which
the maps made out a beautiful spot.
The citizens secured articles of incor-
poration under the law governing the
formation of mining and manufacturing
companies. There were nineteen names
on the petition. This band fought along
for more than a year, laboring under
all manner of embarrassments and
really accomplishing very little. The
winter gave plenty of time for thinking
and it was found that there was no hope
for them on the site selected for the
colony. 1t was too wild, too desolate
A majority voted to pull up stakes and
move. This was the salvation of the
idea of Utopia.