The leader., 1905-01-18
passIn lie Nnlne.

1r1*'I r'.eHr"4
A home is tract Of ground,
big or little, partly occupied by
some kind of 8 dwelling house and
otherwise filed with flowers,
trees, vegetable gardens, The bric-
a-brac OF d back yard, Or anything
else, SO only that some space of
mother earth may remain where
on the children of the family may
disport themselves, where tie III
lnsions Of childhood may trans
form woodpiles into great ships,
clotheslines into telegraphs, bean
poles into armies, old sticks into
horses and Washtnbs into chariOts,
and to which as the twilight comes
on and the shadows deepen, living
forms, to the childish imagina-
tion, seem to hover and fit ia the
gloom from one dark corner to
another. Above all, for al pur-
poses of enjoyment Or occupation,
st is ones very own, the one spot
where no one else may come nnin-
vited, but which to him stands
ever open, the scene of bis hap
piest hours, bis refuge in time Of
trouble. Within the memory Of
men still young no family In
America, outside Of a few con-
gested districts III large cities,
was without d home Of that kind.
The dwelling house upon it might
be a cabin, a cottage or q man
sion, but, such as it was, the own
ed or rented possession Of one
family, held sacred to the use Of
its members from the center Of
/ the earth to the clouds above.
1t was the home.
The passing Of the home is the
saddest phenomenon of modern
Icity life. The tenement house
which we seek to disguise under
| the name Of fat lis a most
wretched substitute for the hum
blest Of homes. That our people
Iendure them is an Indication of
| Idegeneracy, as it will unquestion-
Iably be the cause of a rapid de-
scent. It is morally certain that
the Yigor Of the race can be main
tanned only by personal 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 per-
lhaps no one knows, but it is with
| in the knowledge of all that the
Ivigor of the city is constantly re-
lcruited from country life. TO
deprive children Of daily contact
with the soil is a sin.
The evil of Che tenement house
was not realized until it passed
from the slums, because few of us
know how the other half lives.
Ib is perhaps not so desperate a
lmisfoltune to those who live by
manual labor, for they get their
contact with earth III other ways,
and their children, less taxed BY
| the conventions of society, find
access to the soil by some means,
and pass, while still young, to the
occupation Of their parents. The
most terrible effect OF The tene-
lnent house is in the families Of
the saIaried'' class as distin-
guished from the wage earn
ers, and who fit from fat to fiat,
seldom remaining long enough
anywhere for home associations to
be formed. There can perhaps be
mo home associations worthy of
| the name which are not connected
with piece of open ground in
| the sole possession Of the family.
It 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 chat
during the year 1908 only fifty
six single houses were erected IN
that city, estimated to cost less
| that $3, ,OO0. 900. This indicates
that the average cost Of 4 real
home in that city is more than
$50, 600, and of course, out of
reach Of any but the very we'll to
do. Land has become too yalua-
Eble' to be devoted to such pur-
poses. TO secure ali income from
the land its rental must be diyid-
ed among such 4 number of fam
lilies as can carry the load by unit
led effort, and they are packed in
lover and under each other and
lside by side, until the requisite
force is assembled. Ii this city
until recently the three dato
Iabomination has been the usual
limit for genteel1 people. Now
regular tenement houses are be-
ling erected ii the pleasanter parts
Iof the city, III which childless
couples huddle in four room
apartments. It is not good.
San Francisco Chronicle.