davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Churchill standard. (Fallon, Nev) 1903-1908, 1906-07-28
and Graft.

The "homecroft' idea. referred to by
George II. Maxwell in his address be-
fore the Biennial Convention of the
General Federation of Women'S Clubs,
is closely allied to the 'home arts and
crafts" propaganda, in which so many,
in and out of the federation, are inter
cStcd. The homecrofter, owning his
home and a little patch of ground--ail
or two, more or leSs-iS of all
persons the one most likely to be inter
csted in home crafts-little lines OF
manufacture, which, added to the pro.
duce of his ground, may afford 4 sun
port to his family. either constantly OF
as a substitute for ~wage-earning EN-.
ployment when some great shop OF
factory may be suspended. Aided
perhaps. by Il little gas engine or elec
tric motor, he may have Il choice of an
infinite variety of crafts. in which he
and his family may protitably engage
Here is n combination which seems tC
offer relief from the demoralizing and
devitali2ing conditions of III presenI
factory system; also Il mode of multi
plying the number of those citizens
independent of both landlord and EN-
ploycr, who are the backbone OF
American democracy. Give us the
homecrofter and the craftsman i'll II
Churchill standard. (Fallon, Nev) 1903-1908, 1906-07-28
OPPORTUNITIES AT HOME.
PERNICIOUSPHH OSOPHY OF JOHN
l. INGALLS, FAMOUS POEM
HOW HOME OPPORTUNE
TIES HAVE BEEN
OYERLOOKEN.
Solution of the Labor Question to be
Found in the Development OF Home
IaHsaSfriaS

Solution of the Labor Question TO De
Found in tbs Development OF Home
Industries
Many a beautiful thing is pernicious
in its effect. There is no telling how
many men have given VI Il good fight
inc 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:
"AIaster of human destinies am |,
Fame, love and fortune on my foot
steps wait.
| Cities and fields | walk. | penetrate
| Deserts and seas remote. And pass
ing by
| Hovel and mart and palace, soon or
late
l knock unbidden once at every
Il sleeping wake; if feasting rise
| 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 u~selessly inn
plore;
I answer not, and l return no more.
\ beautiful poem-yes, but pernic-
ious as is the theory of fate or the
twin tenet of predestination. II oppor-
unity comes but once, where is the
Use of striving I'd
President James of the University
of Illinois during the recent commence
Churchill standard. (Fallon, Nev) 1903-1908, 1906-07-28

1t had been organized only three or
four weeks. and yet the interest man
ifested and the readiness with Which
the boys and girls described the beef
type. the dairy type, and various
breeds of cattle, the mut on and wool
types of sheep, the principal breeds of
draft horses, and some of the stand
ard-bred roadsterS and trotters, We're
indeed surprising. At the close of the
recitation the class vas taken to a
barn in the village w ere ! vera fine
roadsters were owned. The owner was
not at home, but the teacher had
standing permission to take tt horses
from the barn in order that the class
might examine them. \ fine HANDLE
tonian mare was led into the yard and
examined critically by the pupils and
criticised by them, tile different points
being brought out by skillful question
ing on the part of the teaC-:.
Fom this place the class went to a
livery barn where Il splt ibid black
Percheron stallion was stabbed for the
day. \ member of the class had dis
covered the horse as he was Icing
driven in from another town II miles
away, and following the driver to the
barn had got permission for the class
to examine him. When the livery
barn was reached the driver brought
his stallion out into the street, put
him through his PAGES, and helped the
teacher in calling attention to his good
points and the contrasts between 1 Q
draft type and the roadster type of
horses, and allowed us to take several
photographs. 1t was an instructive
lesson not only for the members
of the agricultural class, but for
the score or more of farmers
and townsmen who collected around
the livery stable. In much the
same way the local butcher is the in
structor in the high school. The class
studying the beef type of cattle, or
the mutton sheep, or the different
classes of swine is taken to the butch
or shop and given a DEMONSTRATION
lesson on cuts and their relative val
ues, which of the breeds are apt to
produce the better cuts, which the
better quality, anC so on.
Thus this little village high school,
though it pays only $3.50 a year in
Churchill standard. (Fallon, Nev) 1903-1908, 1906-07-28
Keep Politics Ouf.

Every predetermined citizen should
make it known that he is absolutely
opposed to partisan, political control
in the management of public parks,
roadside Improvement, Fairgrounds
and like town betterments. Nothing
can be more detrimental to such de
velopment than the interference of
politics. Party responsibility, as n
remedy for municipal mismanagement,
has been proved a "delusion and Il
snare" Such methods have raised to
important places bigotel, incompetent
and sometimes dishonest men, VINO, by
reason of their weaknesses or mis-
management, have disgraced what
should be honorable and respected
positions. Our citizens should insist
absolutely that no political consider
atoms be allowed to interfer with
park affairs, and should visit with
marked censure and disapproval all
city officials who prostitute their trusts
for mere political gain.
Churchill standard. (Fallon, Nev) 1903-1908, 1906-07-28

the plants themselves with reference
To their life history and economic uses.
For the outdoor practicum the
school is unfortunate in having
neither land nor domestic animals nor
fowls, and yet it has Il wealth of Illus
trative material all around 1t. Every
good farm within a radius of 3 or t
miles, nearly every barn and poultry
yard in the village, the butcher shops,
and the farm implement stores furnish
costly illustrative material and extend
vastly the teaching force OF the high
school. The farmers and owners of
good live stock either bring thei' ami
mails to the door of the school house
to be studied by the class in agricul-
ture or allow the class to go to their
barns and fields for this purpose. 1t
is said to be Il rare thing for a good
horse to come to the village and get
away without being examined by the
high school class in animal ~husbandry.
The writer was fortunate in being
the guest of the school one day last
October and in having an opportunity
10 listen 10 some of the Rotations in
agriculture. A class of IA boys and
6 girls were studying animal industry.
Churchill standard. (Fallon, Nev) 1903-1908, 1906-07-28
THE INDEPENDENT TOWN.
Make Zach Rural Center Dependent
Upon Itself and Its Own Resources.

Make EaCh al enter DSpSHuGHa
Upon Itself and Its Own Resources
There has lately developed a strong
sentiment looking to the improvement
of the home town-makihg each
community, Is much is possible,
dependent upon itself and its oWn
resources and those Of its u
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 i'll
dividual and cooperative deterni'
nation TO bring the taWn up TO Its
highest possible plane of comfort, gen
eral usefulness and beauty TO It's resi-
dents. This may he described as 4
movement for civic Improvement.
The accumulation of considerable
wealth in many American villages II
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
lad not seemed to exist TO the young
man or woman Of the former genef-
alton, who, in the effort to secure a
livelihood and establish a home a
given little thought to the duties OF
citizenship and social responsibilities.
1t is only within a 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 thai
such institutions as &EnnasluIlS,
baths, Fairgrounds, and even vacation
schools and free lectures are unneceS-
sary time-eonsumers for the young.
Nevertheless the general movement
for a better education along rural lines
and for backward and street improve
mcnt, aud the general betterment of
the village and town is rapidly in
creasing.
As an instance of this. eyea in such
q LARGE city as st. Louis. girls and
boys are given practical instruction in
gardening. through the Junior School
Of Horticulture of tie Mi"o-rt
botanical Gardens. The children are
permitted to sell their products
n Gcci3ed stimulus to taefr e--lr :
and in this way navy OF tse'1 n
G. id,rable pocket money for vacation
t..-c. This school has been in oper-
alton for Il number of years and is of
great value to tie cj-izens as well as
to the children of the city, the latter
Of whom would otherwise know practi-
C9lly nothing Of nature rs country
children know it.
Even 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. OWN :
to the fact, perhaps, that the Lone
Star State has vast areas of unoc-
cupied land, and TO the fact that the
influential majority has been but Il
short time removed from the cattle
Churchill standard. (Fallon, Nev) 1903-1908, 1906-07-28
THE 4GRICUL TUR4L MGHSCHOOL
Successful Examples Described by
Crosby OF Department of AgricuI-
ture OF Local Improvement
Through Rural Education

In the new Year Book of the De-
partment of Agriculture, just issued,
is Il description by ID. j. Crosby, of the
office of Experiment Stations, which
shows, in Il 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
10 be, an almost ideal Pennsylvania
village high school, which the writer
visited. He describes what he saw:
In Erie County, Pa, surrounded by
Il 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
IL fame. 1t Waterford the first
school in Erie County was establish, |
in 1900, and here as far back as 1922
was erected Il stone academy build
ing, which is used to-day as the main
part of the high-school building. The
township of Waterford has q popula-
ton of 1,lG0 and about one hal1 re-
side in the borough of Waterf I'd. TFl
borough has its WI elementary
school, but the high school is support
ed and controlled jointly by the Dor
ough and township.
This high school, with its three
teachers and three courses of study
Language, scientific, and agricultural,
las an enrolment of 50 pupils, and 80
of these are in the agricultural course
This course includes agriculture, five
hours Il week fer four years. The
work of the first year is devoted to Il
study of plant determination, 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 yolr to domestic ami
mails, dairying, and soil physics. a" |
the fourth year to The chemistry of
oils and of plant and animal life.
Text books are used in the class
rooms; n small library of agricultural
reference books, reports and bulletins
of this Department and experiment
citations, 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,
moreover use them. In the plant-life
course the pupils study not elaborate
and carefully prepared drawings, but
Churchill standard. (Fallon, Nev) 1903-1908, 1906-07-28

salaries and only 1870 for other eX-
penses, has a faculty made up of nu-
mcrous specialists and an equipment
in illustrative material such as few
technical high schools could afford.
And the pupils are being trained in
the elements of failure and success -
not only on sail the farms of the
peighborhood." but in the village
hops and markets. This is training
or efficiency. 1t is training for cul-
ture, for breadth of view, and for
sympathy with all that goes to make
up the life OF the community.
Churchill standard. (Fallon, Nev) 1903-1908, 1906-07-28
OPPORTUNITIES AT HOME.

tendency to draw the manufacture
interests into the great transportation
centerS, the tide has flowed strongly
toward the city and the small town
has had a hard struggle to retain its
own.
In this respect, however, the pendu'
lum is swinging back also. The con
ditions surrounding the workmeu In
the cities, the lack of home life ii
the presence of accumulated vice, have
demonstrated to the satisfaction or
every one that we will never reach our
highest industrial success until tL'
average workman is placed where he
Il have fresh air, q family. and q
home for that family. The small town
everything else being equal, is the
place for industries. A man with a
home, and who spends his evening
with his family identifying tua.
home, is not only a better citizen, oul
he is worth infinitely more to his EN-
ployer than his brother laborer VIZ
has no interest other than that 10
finds with his saloon companions an"
in ward politics.
When the reformerS have settled llt
Industrial labor questions they VII nv
be calling for less hours of work pEl
a distribution of the hours OF WolH,
Six hours in the factory or the uIIuo
and the balance at home worklhg 'n
an acre of ground may be m1ut
solution of the whole question DetN.
labor and capital. Any man VIZ
home and one acre of the earth sl
face that he can call his OWL,
with employment at fair wages o uayar
five or six hours of the day, neea uirr
fear want for himself or his IT,, aon
Under such conditions his fahliS ,Ger
be reared and educated n 1--we 'ocial
the utages of a Wholesome ~"
atm ere,
Churchill standard. (Fallon, Nev) 1903-1908, 1906-07-28
EDUCATION
COOPERATION
OPPORTUNITY
HOMECROFTS

We believe that the Patriotic Slogan
of the Whole People of this Nation
should be every Child in a 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
such n 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 q Savagely
deteriorating social. moral and polit-
zeal influence, and that a great public
movement should be organized, and
the whole power of the nation and
the states eXerted for the betterment
of all tie 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 will train him to Earn a Liv-
ing, and, if 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 : cor Sortable livelihood, but
enough more to enable him to be a
Homeerofter and to have a Home of
his Own, with ground around it
sufficient to yield him and his family
a 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 Upheayal. and that the
Cause of Humanity and the Preserva-
ton of Social Stability and of our Free
Institutions demand that the absorb
ton of the public lands into specula-
tive private ownership. without settle
ment. be forthwith stopped; and that
the nation should create opportunities
for HomecrofterS by building irriga-
ton n drainage works to reclaim
land as fast as it is needed to give
every man who wants Il Home on the
Land 4 chance to get it.
We believe that, as a Nation. we
should be less absorbed with Making
Money, and should pay more heed to
raising up and training Men who will
be Law-Abiding Citizens: that the well
fare of our Workers is of more con-
sequence than the mere accumulation
of Wealth; and that Stability of Ma
tiOnal Character and of Social and
Business Conditions is of greater i'm
portance TO the people of this country
as n whole than any ether n Ques-
ton that is now before them; and We
believe that the only way to Preserve
such Stability. and to Permanently
Maintain our National Prosperity, is
to carry into immediate effect and
Churchill standard. (Fallon, Nev) 1903-1908, 1906-07-28

ment exercises took occasion to refer
To the philosophy of Ingalls, famous
poem. 1T is false and misleading
said Mr.. James. 1T is not a single OPP
p|ortunity which comes to a man; it is
Il train. 1t is 4 never-ending process
sion, some small, some large, growing
perhaps more small and more i%nsignili-
cant as the years flow on, but ever
and always opportunities too numer-
Gus, too great, and too large for us to
utilize fully"
This is good, healthful optimism.
There never WAS n time when opportu-
mites of all shapes, sizes and cOlors
hobbed up OH every corner as they do
to-day And they are not confined to
any particular country or locality.
They are waiting everywhere. Under
the rapidly changing Industrial and
economical conditions they are spring
ing up i'll 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 thu
revival of occupations and simple in
dustries which twenty years ago were
deemed impossible. The abandoned
farms of New England-The farms
that We're left t~enautless because it
was thought that the only opportun-
tiles for success were to he found in
the West-are receiving new leases of
life.
PENDULUM Is SWINGING BACK.
For a 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 Il
mans success was measured not by
what he made of himself, not by what
he 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
nan 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.
lie has now more than he can till,
but the land lust has seized him and
home comforts and Il quiet life are sold
in the market in order that the line
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. \ growing sentiment
in favor of a moderate success, a quiet
life and home surroundings is appar-
emit. With this comes Il desire to get
back to original principles; to abandon
the cities and seek the healthful life
of the farm and the village.
The growth of our cities has been
'abnormal-the direct result of alb
normal transportation conditions. "To
him that hath shall be given. and to
him that hath not even that which he
hath shall be taken away" has been
the working policy Of modern COM
mercial transportation companies.
The small town has been sacrificed to
the city. This was the natural result
of competition. In centers where
numerous railroads meet, low rates
are given to both the in-going and out.
going freight. but where there is but
one road, the traffic is taxed all that it
will bear. This condition has had a
Continued on column o.
Churchill standard. (Fallon, Nev) 1903-1908, 1906-07-28
EDUCATION, EMPLOYMENT AND
HOMES ON THE LAND

HOMES ON THE LAND.
That children shall be taught
gardening and homecraft in the nuhlic
schools, and that Homecraft and
Garden Training Schools shall be
established by county, municipal
state, and national governments
where every boy and every man our
of work who wants employment where
he can gain that knowledge. can learn
how to make q home and till the soil
and get his living straight from the
ground, and where every boy would
be taught that his first aim in life
hould be TO get a home of his own
on the land.
BUILD H0MECROFTS AS NATION
AL SAFEG YARDS.
That the New Zealand system of
Land Taxation and Land Purchase
and Subdivision, and Advances to SET
tiers Act, shall be adopted in this
country, to the end that land shall be
subdivided into small holdings in the
hands of those who will till it for a
livelihood, and labor find occupation
in the creation of homecrofts, which
will be perpetual safeguards against
the political evils and social disconteut
resulting from the o%yergrowth Of
cities and the ~sufferings of unem-
ployed W-age-earnerS.
PROTECTION FOR THE AMER
lCAN HOMECROFT.
That Rural Settlement shall be
encouraged and the principle of Pro
lection for the American Wageworkcr
and his Home applied directly to the
Home by the Exemption from Taxa
ton of all improvements upon, and
also of all personal property, not eX-
ceeding $1,000 in value, used on and
in connection with, every Uomecroft
or Rural Homestead of not more than
ten acres in extent, which the owner
occupies as q permanent home and
~cultiyateS with his own labor and SO
provides therefrom all or part of the
support for a family.
ENLARGEMENT OF AREA AVAIL
ABLE FOR HOMEMAKING.
That the National Government,
as part of a comprehensive nation
al policy of internal Improvements
for river control and regulation.
and for the enlargement to the
utmost possible extent of the
area Of the country available for agri-
culture and Homes on the Land, and
for the protection of those Homes from
either flood OF drouth, shall build not
only levees and revetments whore
needed, and drainage works for the
reclamation of swamp and oyerfowcd
lands, but shall also preserve eXistinC
forests, reforest denuded areas, plant
new forests, and build the great reser-
voirs and other engineering works
necessary to safeguard against over
flow and save for beneficial use the
flood waters that now run to waste.
Churchill standard. (Fallon, Nev) 1903-1908, 1906-07-28
Fresh Air Fairgrounds.

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 m~odernized European cities large
sums of money have been expended in
procuring open spaces for them in dis.
tricts of eongested population.