Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1902-11-14

vnu, rne'srart,ns'of the Koycrort shop
there were no industries here. aside from
the regulation country store. grocery.
tavern, blacksmith shop and sawmill,
none of which enterprises attempted to
supply more than local wants. There was
Hamlin's stock farm, devoted to raising
trotting horses. that gave employment to
some of the boys. but for the girls there
was nothing. They got married at the
first chance Some became hired girls"
or If they had ambitions they fixed their
hearts on the Buffalo Normal school,
raised turkeys. picked berries and turned
every honest penny toward the desire to
get an education so as to become teach
ers. Comparatively this class was small
in number. Most of the others sin,Sly fol-
lowed that underlined desire to getaway
out OF the dull. monotonous, gossiping
village. and 30, craving excitement, they
went away to the cities and the cities
swallowed them. A wise man has said
that God made the country, man the city
and the devil the small towns.
The country supplies the cities its best
and worst. We hear Of the few who sue
coed, but Of the many who are lost in the
maelstrom we know nothing. Sometimes
in country homes it is even forbidden to
mention certain names. "She went to the
CITY," you are told and there the history
abruptly stops.
Ny helpers. the printers, were about to
go away to pastures new. They were in
debt; the town was small; they could not
make living. So they offered me their
outfit for 5000. I accepted the PROPOSE
ton.
I decided to run the Philistine Magazine
for year. to keep faith with the mis-
guided who had subscribed, and then
quit. To fill In the time we printed q
book. We printed 1t like Morris book,
printed 1t Just as we'll as we could. 1t
was cold in the old barn where we first set
up the Philistine, SO built little build
ing like an OLD English chapel right along
side of my house. There was basement,
and one room upstairs. l wanted 1t to be
comfortable and pretty, and SO we fur
nished our little shop cozily. We had four
girls and three boys working for us then.
The shop was never locked, and the boys
and girls used to come around evenings.
1t was really more pleasant than at home.
brought over a shelf of books from my
library. Then brought the piano. be-
cause the youngsters wanted to dance.
The girls brought flowers and birds, and
the boys put up curtains at the windows.
We were having lot Of fun, with new
subscriptions coming in almost every day
and once in awhile an order for book
The place got too small when we began
to bind books, SO we built wing on one
side, then wing on the other side. To
keep the three carpenters busy who had
been building the wings set them to
making furniture for the place. They
Folks came along and bought It,
The boys picked up field stones and
built a great, splendid fireplace and Chin
ney at one end of the shop. The work
came out SO well that said: Boys. hero
is great scheme. These hardheads are
I~,,tt til g. 4
vertised we would pay a dollar a load for
niggerheads. The farmers began to haul
stones. They hauled more stones, and at
last they had hauled 1900 loads. We
bought all the, stone in the dollar limit
bulling the market on powders.
Two stone buildings have been built. a
third is in progress. and our plans are
made to build an art gallery of the same
material-the stones that the builders re-
jected.
Sammy the Artist blew in on the way to
Nowhere, his baggage tomato can. He
thought he would stop over for day or
| two. He is with us yet. and three years
have gone by since he came. and now we
could not do without him.
Personal History,
OF himself Mr.. Hubbard says inter
ala: ...r., IS 80.
left school at fifteen, with fair hold
on the three RS, and beyond this my
education in manual training" had been
| good. I knew all the forest trees, all
| wild animals thereabout, every kind of
| fish, frog. fowl or bird that swan, ran or
| few. knew every kind of grain or vege-
| table and its comparative value. / knew
the different breeds Of cattle, horses.
| sheep and swine.
could teach wild cows to stand while
being MIXED. break horses to saddle or
harness. could sow. pillow and reap; knew
| the mysteries of apple butter. pumpkin
| pie picked beef. smoked side meat. and
| could make I've at leach and formulate
| soft soap.
active country boy who had been brought
| up to help his father and mother get q
living for large family.
was not 30 densely ignorant. Don't
feel sorry for country boys; God Is often
on their side.
mans work for boys pay I did not
| like 1t and told the man SO. He replied.
| "You know what you can do"
| And I said, YES" I went westward,
like the course of empire, and became a
cowboy. tired Of this and went to Chicago.
worked in printing office. peddled soap
| from house to house, showed lumber on
| the docks, read all the books could find,
wrote letters back to country newspapers
and became reporter; next got a job as
travelling salesman; taught in district
school.
And SO the story goes until he sold
out his interest in soap factory for
| SIS, 1000 and toured Europe. Then came
the Roycroft shop. Its success is COM
plete. The other day Hubbard re.
ceived this note with life subscription
| to the Philisine.
Your politics seems a trihe scrambled
| and your theology no better. yet have
decided to chance your company for q
limited time-say, ninety-nine years.
THOMAS BRACKETT REED.
Nothing could be more characteristic
Of Reed than that note.
II ( MI