Goldsboro weekly argus., 1902-11-13
A FARMERS EXPERIENCE,
Leaving the Farm And Moving to
TOWn-He Is Wiser Now.

Town-He Is Wiser Now.
Yesterday, in a conversation with
small farmer, we enquired how he
had gotten along farming. He re-
piled:
every well, indeed! But" he
added, 81 have not caught up yet
what / lost by moving to town;
still" said the poor fellow, 81 reckon
the lesson 1 learned paid me for the
loss and the hard time I have had"
On asking for an explanation, he
related the following facts:
II own little one-horse farm in
Wayne county, and [ was making a
good living for my family, consisting
of my wife and six children, but 1
became dissatisfied. / would come to
town and see the merchants and
little corner grocers and shop-keep-
ers seeming to have such a good,
easy time, that / concluded that 1
would sell out everything but my
land, move to town, keep a little
store and send my children to the
graded school. So / did. But be-
fore / had been in town a month, I
found out that the folks in town had
to live mighty close, and live hard,
too-even had to be stingy with fire
wood, and had to work harder than
l did on the farm. Before the wear
was gone, I had lost nearly every
thing [ had, and was obliged to
almost start life over again. But I
still had my little one-horse farm.
and 1 moved back home as soon as II
could get the tenant out. And you
just don't know how good it felt to
get back home, and my wife and
myself have been happy ever since. |
Moving to town and getting behind |
made us mortgage our little home to |
start life over again; but one more |
good crop year will put us on safe |
ground again.
Now, the above is no picture, but |
a case of plain facts. Besides, there
are thousands, such .as this one,
of farmers who have sold their farms |
and moved to town to go into bust
ness and educate their children, and |
to-day, instead Of being land-own-
ers, are themselves tenants; and in |
their old age-after their productive |
years have passed-WiIl never again !
be able to own home, while their
have grown up to be good farmers
and the stay and solace of their old
age, have grown up without trades
or profitable en- ployment-no good
to themselves nor to the generation
coming after them.
And right here, we desire to say
word about schools. Now, it is we'll
known OF all men that the ARGUS
is and has always been the cham
pion Of the graded school, and does
not in any wise mean to reflect upon
the graded school, so dear to our
hearts. But we do say, and say with
pride, that the average country
school in Wayne county does just as
good work as does the graded school
in Goldsbor0, and the children in the
country schools, as rule, make bet
ter progress than they Go in the city
graded schools, because the schools
are not so crowded as in the towns
and cities.
Some people may disagree with us
on this point, but the editor has
reached these conclusions after
Investigation of the facts.
If the farmers will take care of
their farms their farms will take!
care of them. It is the most noble
and independent Iife-the bone and /
5Inew of verything. l.
A sturdy yeomanry is the hope of 8
the State and the bulwark Of all
permanent prosperity in State and
Nation.
Fewer Gallons; Wears Longer.