The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1906-01-05
BY MARGARET E sANGsTrR


him, Eext door or across the way, OF
around the corner, or down the street.
You meet him in the morning when
you I'm fer the train. You slip into
q seat beside him at night when you
come home. Sometimes in the even
ing you slip an arm into his and go
walking and talking under the trees
on the way to the post Office, or you
often sit by his fire and as often he
sits by yours, and together you dis
cuss the affairs OF the village.
A never-ending source of interest IS
afforued by the canvassing of the
slight probability that you and he
and others may one day combine 10
awaken conscience in the particular
corporation that processes to serve you
and really picks your pocket Wheth-
er this happens to be a gas monopoly.
water board, street car system or
whatever else, is OF no consequence.
You will never yanquish that resource
ful fee. But II is a slight alienation
Of suffering to fancy that eventually
you may succeed. Your neiGhbor re
iates his experience, you relate yours,
and the mutual disclosures do good to
both. Misery loves company, in sucl
phases as this.
II your wife has no near neighborS,
nobody to gossip with, nobody with
whom to exchange dress patterns and
cook receipts, nobody from whom ~
borrow n Cupfu of sugar or a spoon
full OF lard In time OF need. and no
body to chat with in the cleaning
snc Is badly of. There Is danger OF
her drifting into melancholy from
sheer loneliness. A woman with no
neighbors is pitiably forlorn, unless
she has wkole houseful OF children.
The fundamental basis, the deep root
of the club idea is contained in the
one word, fellowship.
Men and women have clubs, and
enjoy them, because clubs epitomize
| the spirit Of reciprocity which Is the
essence of neighbOrllness. a man goes
to his club, that he may drop his cares,
forget his business perplexities and put
new set Of faculties at work. A
woman who Is rusting out and losing
| her freshness in routine of neces-
sary, but monotOnous duties, Is bright
ened up and made younger by he;
mornings or afternoons spent In tho
pleasant intercourse of her particular
| club.
The disadvantage of most clubs In
village life Is that they segregate men
and women; the men go to theirs
apart, and the women to theirs. The
ideal club Is one in which husbands
and wives meet together, informally at
each others houses, having light re-
freshments and little organization.
the minimum Of expense. and an utter
absence Of rcd tape. II half-dozen
families whose incomes approximate
the same amount, and who are on
similar social plane, combine to form
nelghborhood club, they can have
enjoyable times in their meetings, and
they will be bound by ties of friend
ship almost invisible, but strong as
gilken cords.
To make such club a success, there
must be some occasion for It's exist
ence. This occasion is sometimes
found In n diversion such rs cards,
or an intellectual game, such as chess,
or 1t may BE found in music, which
has subtle way OF uniting those who
love 1t.
When frankly the object Of club
is mental improvement, and the mem.
bers make out programme for study
and pursEu I through the successive
months of autumn or winter, there Is
great profit In the end. Possibly in
the first week or two or three, only
slight Improvement may be discerned,
but as time goes on all are aware of
that keen delight which Is the crown
Ing JOY OF students life, in school
or college. The people in the reign
borhood study club have left .choel
days behind them, and they sometimes
find 1t little hard to help the chill
dren with the home work that goes on
around the evening lamp. Unused
tools grow dull II Is only because
we let our memories and our reasoning
powers lie dormant that they refuse
TO do for us what once they did. Up
to old age people might retain great
freshness and vigor of thought, ana
the slit Of assimilation, If only they
kept on taking In stores.
4 club for neighborhood study may
choose Its own subject This may be,
for instance, the Social Life of AN
cient Rome, or the Social Life of Eng
land Under the Stuarts, or the Struggle
tor Religious Liberty in the Fifteenth
Century, or the Italian Renaissa nee,
or it may be some aspect of natural
science, Nature study has Il fascina-
ton that quite equals historical study
What is imperative Is that something
be selected which can be pursued I'M
personally without awakening parti-
can sentiments, or arousing those We
hement passions that belong to Issues
oil the hour. Yet, at times, neigh
borhood study club cannot do much
better than take up some branch NJ