Western news-Democrat. (Valentine, Neb.) 1898-1900, 1899-11-03
Cultured Poles Who Didn't Make n
Success of Farming.

cultured roles d D1unE MAKE Il
Success of Farming. .
Arden is all that remains Of a ITO
plan colony which vas established here
by a party of sentimental Polish patri-
OTIS about twenty-three years ago. twas
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 K%roschiski, 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 a 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 an idyl!ic
existence in California, like the lotus.
eaters in Tennyson's poem, with muchi
love and little labor, and from the
1eeces of their 1ocks and the fruit Of
their olive and orange groves they ex--
pected to find s~ustenance, 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 a.
tract Of land in Orange County, which
they were induced to buy through the
enterprise Of q Los Angeles real estate
agent, and they expended their entire
capital Of $4,000 in the purchase of the
property, the erection Of buildings and
securing machinery, implements and
live stock. Only two Or three couldt
speak English, and none had ever work.
ed on a farm before. Therefore, they
were at the mercy of unscrupulousf
neighbors, who did not hesitate to taket
advantage Of the confiding and unso-
pElSClcaCeQ OrelSnerS
1t is said that if the Poles had been
willing to lie quietly under the orange
trees and smoke their cigarettes With
out atten pting to interfere with nature
the farEis 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 wan
poverty and disaster. Notwithstanding
all the books they had read and thes
theories they had formed to the CON-
trary, they found that farming was noh
as much fun as they bad expected. and
to the end they were never able to un4
derstand why their books did not conf
tain antidotes for the misfortune which
seemed the ordinary everyday fate of
farmers.
But during all their Affections andl
they never forgot their artistic
tastes, and n Of their neighbors now
living in San Diego tells how he found
the whole colony assembled in the lofH
Of the barn one morning listening to a
symphony by Sebastian Bach in ID
minor while the last cow was dying of
collie caused by improper food.
Starvation finally compelled the COLI
ony to disintegrate. Modjeska n the
other theatrical people went back upon
the stage and Henryk Sienkiewicz venS-
to Los Angeles, where he lived in an
attic and cooked his own meals untit
he could get money to pay his passage
back to Poland, while the remaindes
temporary employment unfit
they could obtain relief.
Sienkewicz is well remembered bv
the old residents here. He was them
about "A years old and was alwavg
writing. He learned q little English at
the boarding house where he found
refuge in Les Angeles, but no one ever
suspected his talent until "Quo yadis',
appeared in print-San Diego lCal3-
letter in Chicago Record.