The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1897-09-01
HOME THOUGHTS,


New York Post; Napoleon said that
the man who had wife and children
had given hostages to fortune; in a
vet stronger sense have the man and
woman made beginning towards per-
manent success who have found for
themselves a home. for the possession
NJ which they are both willing, unwa-
yerlngly and steadfastly, to use syste-
matte selt-denial. When a young cou-
ME have ceased to roam about from
one undesirable fiat to another, and
need no longer talk OF when we lived
In East - street or West street."
but can costly speak OF "our little
place" they have risen twenty per
cent. in their own self-esteem, and are
at least hundred per cent. richer in
the true Joy OF living. lnsensibly my
Illustration takes financial form,
since money, the power to obtain this
blessing, lies at the root OF the matter.
Always a strong adherent to the ad-
yantages OF country living, It Is TO me
natural to associate the very idea of
home making with rural surroundings.
When God created our primal prOgen-
itors we are told that he placed them
in a garden as the best, the happiest
environment the divine wisdom could
devise for their development. Amid
things which have grown with their
growth and perfected under their care,
men and women still find a peculiar
peacefulness that no one can define,
and happiness impossible elsewhere,
Great country places, where lovely
lawns cover acres OF perfectly titled
ground, and noble trees print their
deep shadows on the smooth, green
turf, are royal possessions, splendid TO
own and full OF proud pleasure to the
owner, who. however, loses detail
in their vastness, and commonly
has to ask the head gardener the
name OF the shrub or blossom which
attracts the notice OF his guest, and MOI
infrequently cannot tell what tree over
shadows his roof. These stately do
mains belong to him VINO has paid for
them, but are not his own in the sense
/ mean. That heart ownership, which
comes only 10 the man and wife who
have won aud made their home, Is Of
tenest found in suburban towns and
villages, and rarely extends to the d.
mensIops OF an acre. The tree that
shades the door, the vine that climbs
over the porch, the pretty little garden
in the rear, are loved, not as lnanl-
mate things, but as part and parcel of
their lives, and the falling of leaf or
the fading OF n bud are sorrow. II Is
quite different homecoming TO man
who sees his children standing at hln
pretty gate ready to run down the safe
and quiet street, and finds his wife at
the open door, than when he Is lifted
by creaking elevator to some un-
known height, where danger threatens
the young lives II the door Is but left
ajar, and he has to look for number
TO tell whether he is on his own rented)
floor. From the hour man ana VIE
own thelY individual, personal home n
thousand new interests enrich their
lives, and the dwellins and It's sur
roundings are so part OF themselves
that Q loose shiugle or stain on the
doorstcn is of serious Importance,
However extreme the theories OF some
of the land for the people" philanthro-
plsts may be, there Is a deep Integral
truth In the basis of their arguments,
Men and women are happier, are NOR
ally elevated, are better citizens, for
owning their share OF Gods earth. l
have long believed that the happlest
reopIe now living In our country are
the skilled mechanics OF our rural cities
and towns. whose ambitions are limited
TO the ACQUISITION OF an unencumhered
home well built, and set In n lot large
enough to insure privacy and garden.
While watching the long-drawn-out
rcualrs of an old country home, came
IN contact with a notably Intelligent
and representative body of wOrkmen.
At dinner hour they grouped themselves
under the trees, to the truit oil whlch
they were made welcome, or iounu
pleasant places to avoid the noontlde
heat They were buoyant, heafuly
cheerful. with quick readiness to
laugh with sincere merriment, Ihey
discussed politics, town improvements
nchool taxes, and general conditions OF
the country: they had enthusiasm and
hone I had seen little OF either quality
I'm the young men. married or single,
with whom / was constantly assocln-
ted. They, the educated men with
whom ! was in contact. talked .inces-
sanity OF "the grind" of daily NE: the
single were afraid to marry; the mar
ried. lovers though they were, seemed
ont Of their groove and dulled by anN-
The town on whose edge this house
under repair then stood was, by the
careful guardianship of It's sons free
from factories or any nucleus Of crowd
cd dwellings,, and the work required
from mechanics was principally tha'
which arlses from the needs OF the
wealthy population building fine houses
and churches. The mems wages were
good aud sure, without unjust demands
from the laborer. They could live and
they could save They could, as
hnppv wife once said to me-, "accumu-
late homcN The phrase brought
smile. but the real meaning was tru'
one,
eag6rness possessed me to find cue 20
The reasons for the wide difference IN
thcir view OF life and that OF my own
circle Of young friends. ] was lctt IN
no doubt. They were every man. elth-
err already "iree-hOlders' or nearing
that distinction, their cottages sprang
up In livery direction where the large
l1nd-h1ldprR left half an acre to spare
they slept Under their own roofs, they
lay down proudly. sure that wife and
Children were sheltered from the power
O, removal or eiectment, nnd That theS
Were. personally, Increasingly Of value
10 ta1 community In which they llNed.
The best Of these w0rkman earned NNOO
6 wear. part Of them from $500 To $iOO.
il seemed to me incredible that they mad
been able to buy land In such 4 town
aud improve II: Nlll less credible that
they could build and furnish such cot
tlEus ns they lived In. They were more
than ready to explain their system OF
Bavng through the various cooperative
and building schemes OF which tho
town had many. The BuildIng and
Loan Association was shcct-nnchor to
most OF them, and when their homes
were paid for, they remained as inves-
tors In the organization which had been
20 obviously helpful In themselves,
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