Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1899-11-29
COLONY THAT FAILED.

Cultured Poles Who Didn't Make q
Success of Farming.
Arden is all that remains Of Uto-
plan colony which was established here
by a party of sentimental Polish patri-
OTIS about twenty three years ago. Itwas
composed Of refugees and refOrmers.
artists and idealists, under the leader
ship of Vladscot, the poet whose odes
and lyrics have since made him IA
nous; Michael Kroschiski. the famous
and perhaps the foremost Polish paint
er; Helena MOdjeska, who was then at
the zenith of her fame as an actress;
Count Bozenta, her husband, who was
expelled from Poland because Of his
patriotic energy; Henryk Sienkiewicz,
who has since become famous as the
author Of "Quo Vadis," and others Of
similar stripe, who made q vain and
patriotic attempt at cooperative agri-
culture, with the most unhappy results.
There were thirty-three Of these peo-
pie all told-twenty-fOur young men
and nine young women, mostly artists,
musicians and authors. Four were act
Ors and two were sculptOrs Of eminence
in their native land. All belonged to
the artistic professions and none had
the slightest experience or knowledge
of farming or the practical affairs OF
life. They expected to live al -dyllic
existence in California, like the lotus
eaters in Tennyson's poem, with much
love and little labor. and from the
fieeces Of their fiocks and the fruit of
their olive and orange groves they ex-
pected to find sustenance, while the
artists could paint the turquoise sky
and the purple mountains, and the rest
could dream and write.
They came in 1876. They settled on b
tract of land in Orange County, which
they were induced to buy through the
enterprise of Los Angeles real estate
agent, and they expended their entire
capital Of $54, 900 in the purchase of the
property, the erection of buildings and
securing machinery, implements and
live stock. Only two or three could
speak English, and none had ever work
ed on q farm before. Therefore, they
were at the mercy Of Inscriptions
neighbors, who did not hesitate to take
advantage Of the cOnfiding and unsO-
phisticated foreigners.
1t is said that If the Poles had beeh
willing to lie quietly under the orange
trees and smoke their cigarettes with
out attempting to interfere with nature
the farms would have given them a
living. But being unaccustomed to
manual labor and undertaking to con-
duct their business upon theories which
they found in books the only reward
they reaped for their serene faith was
poverty and disaster. Notwithstanding
all the books they had read and the
theories they had formed to the con-
trary, they found that farming was not
as much fun as they had expected. and
to the end they were never able to un-
derstand why their books did not con-
tain antidotes for the misfortune which
seemed the ordinary everyday fate Of
farmers.
But during all their Affections ana
distress they never forgot their artistic
tastes, and one Of their neighbors now
living in San Diego tells how be found
the whole colony assembled in the loft
of the barn one morning listening to a
symphony by Sebastian Bach In D
minor while the last COW was dying of
collie caused by improper food.
Starvation finally compelled the COZ
ony to disintegrate. Modjeska and the
other theatrical people went back upon
the stage and Henryk Sienkiewicz went
to Los Angeles, where he lived in an
attic and cooked his own meals until
he could get money to pay his passage
back to Poland, while the remainder
found temporary employment until
they could obtain relief.
Sienkiewicz is well remembered by
the old residents here. He was then
about "a years old and was always
writing. He learned little English at
the boarding house where he found
refuge in Los Angeles, but no one ever
suspected his talent until "Quo Vadis,'
appeared in print.-San Diego (CaL)
letter in Chicago Record.