The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1904-08-11

bric-a-brac Of : backyard. Or anything
else. 50 only that some space Of moth
er earth may remain wherein the chill
dren Of the family may disport thern-
selves, where the illusions OF childhood
may transform woodpiles into great
ships, clotheslines into telegraphs. beam
poles into armies. old sticks into herses.
and washtubs into chariots. and in
which. as the twilight comes on and the
shadows deepen. living forms. to the
childish imagination, seem to hover
and fit in the gloom from one dark cor
ner to another. Above all, for all pur-
poses Of enjoyment or occupation 1t is
ones very own, the one spot where
none else may come unlimited, but
which to him stands ever open, the
scene Of his happiest hours, his refuge
in time Of trouble. Within the memory
Of men still young no family In Ameri-
ca, outside OF few congested districts
in large cities, was without home OF
that kind. The dwelling upon 1t might
be a cabin, a cottage, OF mansion, but
such as it was it was the owned OF
rented possession Of one family. held
sacred to the use Of its members from
the center OF the earth to the clouds
above It was the home.
The passing of the home is the sad
dest phenomena Of modern city life.
The tenement house-which we seek to
n
most wretched substitute for the hum
blest Of homes. That our people en-
dure them is an indication Of degenera-
Icy, as 1t win unquestionably be the
cause Of more rapid descent. It is
morally certain that the vigor Of the
race can be maintained only by per-
sonaI daily contact with the mother
earth from which we sprang. which
nourishes and sustains us while we live
and which receives us to her bosom
when we die. Why this is perhaps no
one knows, but it is within the knowl-
edge of all that the vigor of the city is
constantly recruited from country life.
To deprive children of daily contact
with the soil is sin.
| The evil OF the tenement house was
not realized until it passed from the
lslums, because few of us know how the
other half lives. 1t is perhaps not so
desperate misfortune to those who
live by manual labor, for they get their
contact with earth in other ways. and
their children. less vexed by the con-
ventions OF society, find access to the
Isoil by some means and pass, while
still young, to the occupations of their
parents. The most terrible effect Of the
tenement house Is in the families Of the
''salariedn class as distinguished from
the 'wage-earners, and who fit from
mat to fiat, seldom remaining long
enough anywhere for home associations
to be formed. There can perhaps be no
home associations worthy Of the name
which are not connected with piece Of
open ground In the sole possession Of
the family. 1t would seem that in our
largest cities this privilege can no
longer be enjoyed except by the rich.
A recent editorial on the subject in the
New York Times states that during the
year 1908 but fifty-six single houses
were erected in that city, ESTIMATED to
cost less than three million dollars"
This Indicates that the average cost of
a real home in that city is over fifty
thousand dollars, and. of course, out Of.
the reach Of any but the very well to.
do. Land has become too valuable, to
be devoted to such purposes. To se-
cure an income from the land its rental
must be divided among such a number
of families as can carry the load by
united effort, ana they are packed in,
over and under each other and side by
side until the requisite force is assem-
bled. In this city until recently the
''three-fiat' abomination has been the
usual limit for t'genteer' people. Now
regular tenements are being erected in
the pleasarter parts OF the city, in
which childless couples Tluddle in FOUR
room apartments" 1t is not good.
This is not vet necessary in San
Francisco. There are wide expenses Of
territory within an hours ride from the.
business sections, where real homes
may be established at moderate cost by
those willing to live in questionable
and primitive ways for the sake of q
real home. and there is no question
whatever that any family, rich or poor.
|is better off in a four-room cottage in
the sand hills than in a ten-room fiat
on Pacific Heights If they are not
happier in such location it is because
their normal human instincts have been
warped and impaired by the artificial
life of the city and they have lost the
art Of drawing comfort from the soil
and the living things which can be
made to grow upon it.-San Francisco
Chronicle.