The Washington herald., 1908-07-26

: the peace or are found Incapable Of liv-
I ing quietly are stricken from the list OF
[ that particular community OF colony, and
their leases are not renewed OF course,
I there are such cases. but they are rare.
1T was well understood that many
thousands OF families had not the means
TO buy the lumber and hardware 10 erect
/ al 'arbOr-' and yet they We're the very
| ones 10 whom the life IN the open would
be OF the greatest benefit Hence phi
/ lanthr0py stepped IN and erected the
[ structures. The Patriotic Woman's
| League Of the Red Cross built half OF al
the arbOrs Of the colony found on the
'Jungfernheids.'
Many colonies reach into the woods
and naturally are Of a different character
from those IN the open. for there tents
are used Instead Of wooden structures.
Everywhere the coIouist must fence in
his allotted land himself. which IS done
in the simplest manner. by means OF a
few posts and a few lengths OF wire.
some plant living hedges. For protection
during the night, a number OF watchmen
pace ". and down the lanes This en-
tails a cost Of n cents a month 70 each
family The season lasts five months.
from May ! to October !.
The schoOi-going population meanwhile
attend their schools, which can be reached
by means Of the elevated cars or surface
tramways for ~ cents. and much cheaper
Il they have commuters tickets. Many
schools are near enough 10 be reached
on foot The children do not lolter o..
the way. but when school is out they
hurry home TO begin work IN the garden
or 10 sit down 70 q meal on the vera-Cl,
which. under the benign influence Of sun
shine and fresh air, is relisheG more than
meal taken in q city tenement house
dlled with 1eJid air and wanting IN light
The Ubiquitous FIagpOIe.
Nearly every one Of these gardens has
a 1aEpole, al the head OF which futters
q small German national flag. and al
night a japanese paper lantern with a
tailow dip IN It Eliminates the verauda.
Flags by day and lanterns by night give
the colony a festive appearance The
teachers find that city children who spend
Eve months IN the open air are well
equipped with elementary ideas n physi-
cal geography and astronomy. Their men
tai equipment IS better. indeed. n all
fields Of thought, their physical health Is
improved. and their ethical motives and
conduct are purer than they were IN
former years.
TO realize fully The extent OF these
" --1At5t--e GiADE-S II DcLdlL OF Lle plTSl-
cal. the Intellectual. and the moral health
OF youth (fOT put children into close con-
tact with nature and they viii improve
n al Gireclio1sl. & IS well 20 take O
ride On the North belt line elevated
steam ratlTos5), the trains OF which start
from the Frederich's street depot and
bring one back 70 i after a ride Of an
hour ard half-
Then one may % the same on the
South belt line On these two trips one
VIII see. not hundreds, but tens OF thou
sands OF such arbOr gardens as have
been described, fUn Ct happy women and
children at work or play. The men come
out on the belt line when their work IN
town is done.
The writer was riding through the city
in an open cab. and. seeing hardly any
children On the streets and in the parks
he asked, How Is Il that We see no chill
dren out% All. SIR was the reply, II
you VIII see the children n Berlin you
must 60 out 20 the arbor colonies outside
Of the city. There Is where our children
are
Subsequent visits TO these colony gar
dens showed that Berlin IS by not means
a cFildless city. To Judge from the multi
tudinOus arbors 10 be seen from the win
dows OF the belt line cars there must be
about 5000 Of them As far as the eve
reaches the flag poles and the orderly
fences and the little structures can be
seen; and, since the city has 100000 in
ha5itants, Il Is very likely that an esti-
mate Of several hundred thousands OF
children thus living IN the open afr. an
estimate made by a city official. Is not
excessive"