davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1906-07-20
THE LyDEPEYDEyT TOWN.

Make Each Rural Center Dependent
Upon Itself and Its Own Resources.
There has lately developed a strong
sentiment looking to the improvement
of the home town-making each
community, as much as possible,
dependent upon itself and its own
resources and those of its sur
rounding country, and independ-
ent of the great centres which are
constantly striving to secure a portion
of the local wealth. This local self
sufficiency may be fostered by an in
dividual and cooperative determi-
nation to bring the town up to Its
highest possible plane Of comfort, gen.
eral usefulness and beauty to its resi-
dents. This may be described as a
movement for civic Improvement.
The accumulation of considerable
wealth in many American villages and
towns, during the last ten or twenty
years, the development of popular
education and the increase of leisure,
has given an opportunity for the per-
Torrance OF public duties, such as
had not seemed to exist to the young
man or woman Of the former gener-
alton, who, In the effort to secure q
livelihood and establish q home had
given little thought to the duties of
citizenship and social responsibilities.
1t is only within ii comparatively
few years that, mature study" has
entered into any of the public-school
work, or even manual training, while
there are many who yet think that
such institutions as gymnasiums,
baths, Fairgrounds, and even vacation
schools and free lectures are unneces-
sary time-consumers for the young.
Nevertheless the general movement
for a better education along rural lines
and for backyard and street improve
ment, and the general betterment of
the village and town is rapidly in
creasing.
As an instance of this, even in such |
a large city as ST. Louis, girls and |
boys are given practical instruction in |
gardening. through the Junior School
Of Horticulture of the Missouri |
Botanical Gardens. The children are
permitted to sell their own products
decided stimulus to their e-crss |
and in this way many of them earn |
.ccnridcrable pocket money for vacation
tine. This school has been in oper-
alton for number of years and is of
great value to the citizens as well as
to the children of the city, the latter
Of whom would otherwise know practi-
cally nothing Of nature as country
children know It,
Oven in Texas the school garden
and town improvement idea has made
Roadway, although there has been
greater difficulty in obtaining popular
approval and support possibly, than in
any other section of the country, owing
to the fact, perhaps, that the Lone
Star State has vast areas of unoc-
crpied land, and to the fact that the
influential majority has been but a
short time removed from the cattle
The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1906-07-20

ment exercises took occasion to refel
to the philosophy of Ingalls, famous
poem. 1T is false and misleading,
said Mr.. James. 1T is not a single op
portunity which comes to q man; it ii
a train. 1t is a never-ending process
sion, some small, some large, growing
| perhaps more small and more insignia
cant as the years flow on, but evel
and always opportunities too numer
Gus. too great, and too large for us tt
utilize fully"
This is good, healthful optimism
There never was time when opportu
mites of all shapes, sizes and colors
bobbed up on every corner as they dc
to-day And they are not confined tC
any particular country or locality
They are waiting everywhere. Under
the rapidly changing industrial and
economical conditions they are spring
ing up in odd and out-of-the-way
places. Old settlements-old villages
moss-grown and for years silent as
the cemetery that clings to Their
skirts, are finding new youth in the
revival Of occupations and simple in
dustries which twenty years ago were
deemed impossible. The abandoned
farms of New England--The farms
that were left tenantless because IL
was thought that the only opportun-
tiles for success were to be found in
the West-are receiving new leases of
life.
PENDULUM IS SWINGING BACK
For full half century the American
people have been money-mad. Every
thing has been sacrificed to the one
idea of accumulation. The dollar sign
became the sole badge of honor, and a
mans success was measured not bv
what he made of himself, not by what
lie accomplished for his fellows or the
world at large, but by the size of his
pile.
This standard of success has warp
ed the imagination Of the whole peo-
pie. The merchant and professional
man bend every energy to the pill
ing up of gold bricks. And the farmer,
not to be outdone, lies awake nights
thinking how he may get more land.
He has now more than he can till.
but the land lust has seized him and
home comforts and quiet. life are sold
III TIC III tItt Lut ilut-
fence may be removed
This has been the condition for
many years, and it requires careful
observation to detect any change. But
a reaction has set in. The pendulum Is
swinging back. A growing sentiment
In favor Of a moderate success, q quiet
life and home surroundings is appar- |
mt With this comes desire to get |
back TO original principles; to abandon |
he cities and seek the healthful life
# the farm and the village.
The growth of our cities has been
direct result Of alb
normal transportation conditions. "To
lin that hath shall be given, and to
i'm that hath not even that which he
lath shall be taken away" has been
he working policy Of modern com.
nerciaI transportation companies.
The small town has been sacrificed to
he city. This was the natural result
# competition. In centers where
numerous railroads meet, low rates
ire given to both the in-going and out
DING freight. but where there is but
ne -5ad. the traffic Is taxed all that II
will bear. This condition has had
CONTINUED on cRlumn 81
The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1906-07-20
Fresh Afr P7aYgronnds.

American cities are far behind
European cities in making provision
for public parks, especially in pro
viding for the instruction and amuse-
ment Of children in them. In modern
municipal equipment in Europe. much
provision is made for the instruction
and amusement of children, and in
most modernized European cities lareS
sums Of money have been expended In
procuring open spaces for them in dis
tricts OF eongested population.
The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1906-07-20
OPPORTUNITIES AT HOME.
PERNICIOUSP PHIL OSOPHYOF JOHN
J.. INGALLS, FAMOUS POEM
HOW HOME OPP0RTUNE-
TIES HAVE BEEN
OPERLOOKEp.
Solution Of the Labor Question to be
Found in the Development of Home

Solution Of the Labor Question to be
Found in the Development OF Home
Industries.
Many a beautiful thing is pernicious
in its effect. There is no telling how
many men have given up good fight
ing chance and have literally laid
down in harness because they had alb
sorbed from John j. Ingalls, poem
OPPORTUNITY the idea that they
had had their chance, and that for
them at least opportunity would not
return. Here is the poem:
master of human destinies am l.
Fame, love and fortune on my foot
steps wait.
Cities and fields walk. penetrate
Deserts and seas remote. And pass
ing by
Howell and mart and palace, soon or
1 knock unbidden once at every
gate.
If sleeping wake; if feasting rise
before
l turn away; it is the hour of fate.
And those who follow me reach every
state
Mortals desire and conquer every
every foe
Save death: but those who doubt or
hesitate.
Condemned to failure, penury and
woe,
Seek me in vain, and uselessly i'm
plore;
I answer not, and return no more. F"
A beautiful poem-yes, but pernic-
ious as is the theory of fate or the
twin tenet of predestination. If oppor-
tunity comes buf once, where is the
use of striving I'd
President James of the University
of Illinois during the recent commence
The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1906-07-20
THE 4 GRICUL TURAL HIGHSCHOOL
Successful Examples Described by
Crosby of Department of ARricuI-
ture OF Local Improvement
Through Rural Educ alton

| In the new Year Book of the De-
partment of Agriculture, just issued,
Is a description by ID. j. Crosby, of the
Office of Experiment Stations, which
| shows, in number of instances, what
| splendid results are being attained
| through the Introduction of common
sense agricultural studies in some Of
the country village schools, and how
they directly affect and benefit their
home towns. There is what appears
to be, an almost ideal Pennsylvania
village high school, which the writer
visited. lie describes what he saw:
In Erie County, Pa, surrounded by
a good general farming and dairy
country, is the village of Waterford,
on the outskirts Of which is the site of
Fort lie Boeuf, of French and India
war fame. At Waterford the first
school in Erie County was establish,
in $500, and here as far back as 1922
was erected a stone academy build
ing, which is used to-day as the main
part of the high-school building. The
township of Waterford has a popula-
ton of 1,4G0 and about one hali re-
side in the borough of Waterf I'd. TT.
borough has its own elementary
school, but the high school is support |
ed and controlled jointly by the bor- |
ough and township.
This high school, with its three |
teachers and three courses of study /
Language, scientific, and AGRICULTURAL, |
has an enrolment of so pupils, and 30 |
of these are in the agricultural course. |
This course includes agriculture, five /
hours a week for four years. The
work of the first year is devoted to a
study of plant termination, plant
growth, plant food, reproduction, prop
agation, transplanting, pruning, and
use of plants; the second year to a
study of field, orchard, and garden
crops; the third year to domestic ami
mails, dairying, and soil physics. a.
the fourth year to the chemistry of
soils and of plant and animal life.
Text books are used in the class
rooms; a small library of agricultural
reference books, reports and bulletins
Of this Department and experiment
and agricultural papers con-
tributed by the publishers is in almost
constant use, and lectures on agricul-
tural subjects are given before the
class and before the whole school by
the instructor in agriculture, who Is
an agricultural college graduate. But
the feature of instruction which
chiefly distinguishes this agricultural
course from the ordinary high school
course is the prominence given to the
laboratory work and the outdoor prac-
ticum. For the laboratory work there
Is no elaborate apparatus. The pupils
make much of their own apparatus,
furnish their own reagent bottles, and,
use them. In the plant-llfe
course the pupils study not elaborate
and carefully prepared drawings, but
The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1906-07-20

range business However, the more
centralized portion Of society has taken
the matter up, and 1t is stated that
the most publie-spirited citizens of
the towns and cities, together with the
progressive teachers have made school
gardens and rural education a success
during the past two seasons and have
aroused such enthusiasm among the
pupils, that wherever II has been tried,
the school garden has become fixture.
let your child plant his own gar
den, gather his own harvest of fruit
and flowers, learn through his own
small experience something of the
influence Of the sun, dew and rain,
and gain thereby a remote PRESENT.
ment Of the reciprocal energies Of
nature and reverent feeling for the
divine life and law expressed In
nature. The child is plant, a vege-
table, and must live out of doors, or
nearly so, as conditions will permit"
Froebel realized that health was the
basis and test Of all our energies, and
that this was one OF the morning
stars Of the new hygiene.
The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1906-07-20
EDUCATION
COOPERATION
OPPORTUNITY
HOMECROFTS

1UmEVnVfHS
We believe that the Patriotic Slogan
of the Whole People of this Nation
should be Every Child in Garden
Every Mother in a Homecroft-and In
dividual Industrial independence for
| Every Worker in a Home of his Own
on the Land" and that until he owns
lsuch Home, the concentrated purpose
and chief inspiration to labor in the life
of every wage worker should be his
determination to Get an Acre ami
Live on it."
We believe that the Slums and
Tenements and Congested Centers Of
population in the Cities are savagely
deteriorating social, moral and polit-
ical influence, and that great public
movement should be organized, and
the whole power of the nation and
the states exerted for the betterment
of all the conditions of Rural Life, and
to create and upbuild Centers of So
cial and Civic Life in Country and
Suburban Towns and Villages, where
Trade and Industry can be so firmly
anchored that they cannot be drawn
into the Commercial MaelstrOm that
is now steadily sucking Industry and
Humanity into the Vortex of the
Great Cities.
We believe that every Citizen In
this Country has an inherent and
Fundamental Right to an Education
which win train him to Earn a Liv-
ing, and, il need be, to get his living
straight from Mother Earth; and that
he has the same right to the Opportun-
ity to have the Work to Do which will
afford him that living, and to earn not
only g cor Portable livelihood, but
enough more to enable him to be a
Homecrofter and to have Home of
his Own, with ground around 1t
sufficient to yield him and his family
Living from the Land as the reward
for his own labor
We believe that the Public Domain
is the most precious heritage of the
people, and the surest safeguard the
nation has against Social Unrest, Dis
turbance or Upheaval. and that the
Cause Of Humanity and the Preserva-
ton of Social Stability and of our Free
demand that the ABSORB
ton of the public lands into specuIa-
tive private ownership, without settle
ment, be forthwith stopped; and that
The nation should create opportunities
FOR Homecrofters by building irriga-
lion and drainage works to reclaim
land as fast as &c Is needed 10 give
every man who wants a Home on the
Land chance TO get It.
We believe that, as a Nation, we
Ihould be less absorbed with Making
Money, and should pay more heed to
gfsfnr mn and training Men who viii
,e Law-Abiding Citizens; that the well
are of our Workers is of more con-
equence than the mere accumulation
# Wealth: and that Stability Of Ma
ional Character and of Social and
BUSINESS Conditions is Of greater i'm
,ortance to the people Of this country
s a whole than any ether one ques-
ion that IL now before them; and we !
elleve that the only way to Preserve !.
uch Stability. and TO Permanently
Taiptain our National Prosperity, y
D carry into immediate effect ana
The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1906-07-20

Ills bOOh 10 lllt nISl VI d koCaiCN
that will Chronicle the Progress of the
HOMECROFT MOVEMENT
and inform all who wish to cooperate
with it how they may do so through
the formation of local Homecrofters'
Circles, Clubs or Gilds to promote
Town and Village Betterment, stimu-
late home civic pride and loyalty to
home institutions, industries and trade,
improve methods and facilities of edu-
cation in the local public schools, and
create new opportunities "At Home"
that viii go far to check the drift of
trade and population to the cities.
The first Gid Of the Homecrofters
has been established at WATERFOWL,
Massachusetts. The Gildhall, Shops
and Gardens are located at 143 Main
Street, where the Garden School is
now fully organized and over one
hundred children are at work in the
Gardens. The departments for train
ing in Homecraft and Village Indus
tries are being installed. The Viewers
are already at work at the looms.
1T Is not designed to build here an
isolated institution, but to make a
model which can be duplicated in any
town or village in the country.
There is New Hope and Inspiration
for every Worker who wants a Home
of his own on the Land in the
AND PLATFORM OF THE
IIOMECROFTERS' which is as fol-
lows:
"Peace has her victories no less re-
noMned than war"
The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1906-07-20

Copies Of THE FIRST BOOK OF HoMEcRoFTERs"
obtained
Icsa
crofter Gid Tasman, Main ST.
The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1906-07-20
! !!!!!5jiI!5 lE!i !I !!!i!l:5

THE FIRST BOOK 1 Sr HOMECROFTERS
HAS JUST PUBLISHED AMONG ITS CONTENTS ARE
THE FOLLOWING ARTICLES OF ABSORBING INTEREST
TIE Brotherhood of Man
Charity that is Everlasting
The Secret of VipPOnS PoDer
Lesson Of a Great Calamity
The Sign Of a Thought
The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1906-07-20
BE A HOMECROFTER
Learn by Doing Work Together.
Give every Man Chance.
THE SLOGAN OF THE HoNBcRoFTERs Is

THE SLOGAN HoMEcRoFTERs Is
"Lcarn by DOngHOrk TogeLher-GiVe Every Man Chance
Every Child in Garden-EVery Homecrt and Lad
Vidua, Industrial Independence for Every
Home of his Own Land
The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1906-07-20

A little croft we owned-a plot Of corn
A garden stored with peas and mint and thyma
And flowers for poses, oft on Sunday morn,
tPiucked while the church bells rang their earliest
The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1906-07-20

threshold hi. pv
nspentday
sounds tina the d1Hnap
mrrRks ~.
The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1906-02-16

In Sonora. Mexico. alone. about
$4,000 600 of American money is
now invested.
The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1906-02-16
AIssN@3 @3ss!s!lsSAE
H1:SEEESs
Especial Correspondence }

Especial Correspondence
Police Commissioner Bingham called
before him the other day Charles Burn
ham, president of the New York thea
tire managers association, and Oscar
Hammerstein, proprietor OF the Vic
toria theatre, separately, told them that
he was in Office TO enforce the laws on
the books and asked them why Sun
day night theatrical entertainments
should not cease
The news was not heard on the Rial
to until sometime later Then there
was panic among the managers who
have been presenting full-fedged Sun
day vaudeville entertainments under
the name OF sacred concerts"
In all more than 80 theatres will be
seriously affected IL Commissioner
Bingham persists in enforcing the Sun
iay statutes and the managers will
lose about $4,000 in rentals.
An unusual court order, which con-
templates the service OF Pope Plus X. .
with the summons and complaint in
suit for the construction OF will, in
which the pope is made a defendant,
was issued recently by Justice Amend
of the Supreme Court. The order pro-
vides for this service both by publica-
tion in New York newspaper and also
by mailing a copy Of the papers by
registered letter 10 the pope in the
Vatican. The pope is made a defend
ant under his name Of Joseph Sarto.
The suit was for a construction of
the will of Mary +. Phelan, who died
in 1885. Under the terms Of codicil
in the will the pope is to receive an in
come Of $3.50 a year upon the death of
Mrs. Phelan's last surviving child.
There Is strong movement TO re-
store the practice Of corporal punish
mcnt in the public schools Of this city.
Four out OF five in the several hun
dred principals of those schools favor
the reestablishment of the rattan as a
means OF discipline.
This is very generally regarded as an
error, a retrograde step in the art of
pedagogy The maxim attributed to
King Solomon, Spare the rod and
spoil the child" was probably intended
TO apply TO the discipline of the home;
it surely is most inapplicable to the
conditions of public school education
i'm our large cities today. Indeed, even
in those distant communities where
normal school graduates are unknown
and the district school exists in is
more primitive form, ii is no longer
considered necessary that the teacher
shall qualify by licking" the big
gest boy and thus establishing the au-
thority of physical force.
We have got so far along in civiiz-
alton, in these days, as 10 regard that
teacher incompetent who does not pos
scss the ability to govern without whip
ping. Ii requires "A special talent to
do this, Of course, but only those who
are endowed with this talent are fit
To teach in our schools. We want no
others.
AS matter Of fact, the best discip-
line, order. faithfuness and scholar
ship are found in those schools in
which the rattan is obsolete and un-
known.
The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1906-02-16

The hotel men, in holding their So
cial gatherings. feel that no occasion
is complete unless MIR. Simeon Ford of
the Grand Union Hotel lis present and
makes one of his interesting after-din-
ner speeches.
Mr.. Ford is not only a witty after
dinner speaker. but a writer of merit
and successful business man. He
was born in Lafayette. Ind. Aug. 81.
1855. and on the death of his father
he went To Brooklyn. y. Y. with his
mother 10 live in the family of n
wealthy uncle Here he remained un-
I'll he was 10 years Of age. when his
uncle died, and his fortune was swept
away.
His mother moved to Windham. Ct.
when he was l6 years of age He found
employment in shoe store in New
York City. This was not To his taste.
so he began the study of the law. sup
porting himself by shorthand report
ing.
MIR. Ford is n member of several
clubs. director of several institu-
tons. has filled the position of secre-
tary and president of the New York
Hotel Mems Association.
The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1906-02-16

Every variety of living is found in a
great city and aside from rent life
can he as cheaply supported here as
anywhere in the country. Rent. indeed,
is the great terror of New Workers and
yet how many there are who never
know what II means. The number of
servants kept by some of these rich
families world to many appear really
astonishing. Mention could be made
of one family of two which employs
fourteen. but in this case there is an
immensity of entertaining, which eX-
plains the necessity. The usual staff
in rich house is butler (and assist
anti cook and sCullion and half-dozen
servants all under the management of
the housekeeper, and the pay roll, in
cluding coachman, will be S400 TO
$500 a month. The head laundress re-
ceives S35 month, rs her washing
and ironing occupy the whole week.
even with an assistant. Rich people
use SO much costly underwear that the
laundering and ironing must be careful
ly done. In fact a rich mans house in
point of servants is often like n small
hotel with SO many guests coming and
going. In most of these houses the
heads of the family are too busy 10 at
tend To supplies and the marketing is
done by the chef. who usually receives
q handsome commission, in addition To
which there is a great deal of inside
peculation. But this is part Of high
The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1906-02-16

The city of Boston. despite an ample
water supply and an efficient. we'll
equipped fire department, is. according
TO the engineers of the committee of
20 of the National board of fire under
writers, in serious danger from con-
fiagration owing to narrow streets and
size and interior inaccessibility of
many of the blocks in what is known
as the congested value district.
These engineers have been for some
months inspecting the fire protection
conditions in the principal cities. and
considerable time was devoted to Bos-
ton.
The inspection was the most rigorous
ever given TO the city by outside ex-
perts and covered in the minutest de-
tail every element for the prevention
of fire.
The report is extremely lengthy and
gives complete details of the result of
the investigation by the engineers and
contains the following conclusions as
TO the confagration hazard:
The features chiefly affecting the
confiagration hazard in the congested
value district are the unusually large
blocks with crowded and poorly ac.
cessible interiors. the lack OF horizon.
tai and vertical opening protection
where especially needed in many cases
frequent very large floor areas. much
old and poor construction. dangerous
risks in weak surroundings and mar.
row winding streets.
The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1906-02-16

With the carriage of 100000 OF
passengers on steamers from the port
OF Boston within the past year, the
United States steamboat inspectors az
this port have, 1t seems, an enviable
record among the other large cities of
the country in that only one life has
been lost. Coupling this record with
the General Slocum disaster in New
York, II is excellent evidence Of what
the inspectors who are in charge OF
the Boston office, can do in the per-
formance Of their duties.