The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-01-04
FROM THE BOWERY
TO 4 FARM-PL.1N TO USE HUMAN
 DERELXCTS
To Clear Waste Land-The Experi- mont to Re Made on Long Island Idle Men to Have Chance to Re- InstituttOn


 deom ThemscIves-Need of Such an
 Institution.
 The Bowery Mission is about to turn
 farmer Seven hundred and fifty acres
 of Long Island land has been purchased
 near Port Jefferson for its use and the
 work of clearing it will begin the first
 of the year. Spade and axe will be
 wielded by men who, otherwise. would
 be beggars or worse.
 Tbe scheme is one which it's promot-
 CTS hope to prove long step toward
 solving the problem of the 30,000 home
 less and more or less idle men living on
 the Bowery, The idea is not unlike the
 famous potato patch project, which
 former Governor Pingree started in De
 troit, but it will be conducted on differ ent lines to meet the great needs of
 New York Moreover, the plan will be
 worked out as a business proposition.
 As a result of the efforts of Superin-
 tendent J. G. Hallimond of the miss on, articles of incorporation of the Long Is- land Improvement company will be
 filled in a few days. The capital of the
 company will be $25, 900 and the shares will be $10 each. An interesting phase of the scheme is that men who have felt the influences of the Bowery Mission have subscribed for a considerable part of the stock It is out of their savings that they have done this and the fact is something unusual in the history of such movements.
 The tract of land purchased is about half mile from Port Jefferson, on the Long Island Railroad. Ii is within easy reach of the New York, Brooklyn and New Jersey markets, and exactly op- posite Bridgeport, Conn It is covered with abundant cordwood timber. and the first step toward carrying out the plan will be to clear fifty acres of this.
 The work will be done as temporary employment of men sent out from the mission, and they will be kept at it un- til steady work can be secured for them. It is expected that the sale of this wood will more than pay the early running expenses of the plant.
 Once cleared, the property will have value as farming land. It is, however, on the line of the proposed trolley road from Patchogue on the south, to Port Jefferson, on the north side of the is- land, and building lots in the imme- diate neighborhood are quoted at s200 each. So it may be sold
 This first field cleared and either sold or let, for ordinary farming purposes, the work of developing the remaining TOO acres will be taken up, and if the plan proves the success hoped, other tracts will be handled in the same way.
 As solution of the social problem involved much is hoped from the ex- pertinent
 Not an hour passes" says Superin- tendent Hallimond, but the door of the | Is opened by some poor fellow seeking help. Thousands of men are to | be found on New York streets begging | in vain to be allowed to work.
 They are the kind of men who say they can do anything; that is, skilled [ at nothing the very hardest to secure work for. It seems no earthly purpotse i to tell them they deserve what they f get for their foolishness in coming to the , the labor market is already glutted. They are here. The must live.
 Drawn by an unexplained law, they find their way to this notorious thor oughfare the Bowery, and thousands of luGIH COH6IC6dtC III the past the Bowery Mission and other institutions, notably the Charity Or ganization Society, have endeavored to ind work for these men that would, lust for the moment keep them from But after the task has been performed they are as a rule no better ,ff than before.
 "They are still on the streets and in he 10 and 15 cent lodging houses which ire but a step from the dives. For the 1oung men who stumble in upon us Trunk many of them or drugged and obbed the recently established Home III East Broadway offers, temporary heiter surrounded by Christian influ nces Our Long Island scheme is to meet the same problem for the older nen.
 Our plan must be self supporting nd that is just what we expect of this lew venture. Our scheme, you see, is or uniting waste land, unemployed la 'or and idle capital so as to get quick eturns for all three. It is the twofod foblem of the city and countrywide re- emption of both men and acres.
 We propose to establish on our tract z home in winch from time to time such / 1en can be received. They will be those l ,ho have proved their sincerity They z ill find themselves in an atmosphere r f sympathy and helpfuness; they will d e able to breathe pure country air; c hey will have comfortable beds to sleep f l, they will have plenty of good whole c ome food to eat; they will become c trong, healthy men able to take and q old permanent places, which, though C le instrumentality of the Bowery Mis- b lon Labor Bureau, will be found for Il len1. q "There are those who tell us we can c ot make the thing pay. The cost of S le labor required to turn the waste g act into a marketable asset will be t. tile beyond the cost of management, '' IF fare to and fro and interest on the ipital. i, 'sAs soon as a portion of the ground h cleared it will be sown with vegeta- t, les and other products necessary for u le board of men. Pigs, chickens, rab- W its and other live stock will be bred n nd used toward the same end. We a ,pe to clear fifty acres the first year. W "Thc cost of keeping thirty or forty s, en continually at the farm will not c, 2 more than s70 week, and at the It " estimate of forty cords of wood cut fl week, at S3 a cord, our income will Il , $120--an actual margin of $50 to the ,o1 Mora0uay avprV ct yoke ,f tb, !