The farmer and mechanic., 1910-06-14
THE FARMER AND MECHANIC


from the land as it will possibly yield !:
the cultivation is highly intensive ana
strictly scientific. Then the prouuce
is carried to New York by fast trains,
in refrigerating cars. and marketed oy
the expert agents Of the company
Thus. the expert cultivating lnsures
the maximum yield. and the expert
selling, the maxim returns for the
croD Of these returns the company
generally keeps e-half and the 9TH
er half goes to the farmer. some
farmers have been able to pay off
most of their debt and TO accumuia,e
a little pile besides, and the life of
the colony barely counts four years
What more attractive inducement
could be held out to a foreign peasant,
whose life has been a miserable via
crucis through debts and want, than
the prospect of becoming within hVe
or six years the independent proprie-
tor of a farm, able to give him an
annual income Of 800 or more
When the farmer has paid off his
debt his farm is his own. in his own
right He has been able to acquire
it without investing a penny. Hold
out the vision of such future to the
great mass Of peasants who pass
through Ellis Island every month and
see how many Of them ready to seize
fortune by the hair, will eagerly turn
their backs upon the city!
ST. Helena is now a neat little viii
lage Of 800 inhabitants. 1t has a saa-
ton on the Atlantic Coast Line, where
the express trains, with direct Pull
man service to and from New York,
stop regularly. 1t has little church,
plain but good looking. dedicated to
st. Joseph. It's cure. Rev. Donat,
Tuscan who has recently come to the
colony, is as yet sort of itinerant
pastor, serving as in the primitive
church He has no house, sleeps with
some friendly family, takes his meals
with his parishiOners, in turn. They
gladly invite him to their simple table
"a table where what seems luxury
has taken the place Of the scarcity
they knew across the sea. There is
always meat on the table since wild
rabbits are plentiful in the woods and
poultry on the farms. There will be
wine also as soon as the newly plant
ed vines, the long lines Of which boT-
der the different fields, begin to bear;
the vines are looked after with
much care as the children,-Or more,
says one Of the coloniStS.
There is a little school near the
station where the children are
taught Italian and what other branch
es Of learning are considered neces-
sary to make a good st. Helenan, be-
yond those they get in the public
school Of BurgaW, the county seat and
nearest town Although Italian is
taught to the children, it is not to
be thought that loyalty to the old
country interferes with any desire on
the part of the parents to show the
proper appreciation of their adopted
country Their children, as we said,
are sent to the public schools of Bur
gaW and there is a general interest in
learning English. On the fourth Of
july last, the enthusiasm Of the ST.
Helenans for the important occasion
was such, that although it was Sun
day and the legal holiday was set for
Monday, they could not wait to cele-
brate until the next day. Under
waving American flag, to the clang
of the band playing The Star-Spran-
gled Banner. they started out to par
ade through the lonely roads Of their
settlement; they sang and played and
shouted and hurrahed. regardless of
the Wonted Sabbath Stiffness
There are inStan noes in st. Helena of
how active and bussin eSSlike, and
how much-reSpected. the toughest and
apparently poorest immigrant mater1-
al may become, if the proper chance
be given. A needier and more unat-
tractive looking crowd than the ST
Helena colonists on their arrival,
could hardly be pictured: yet this
crowd has rapidly gained general con-
sideration. and even high esteem,
among the population Of the sur
Iouhulng country ana IN the city OF
Wilmington The colonists had to go
to Burgaw. three miles awty, for pro-
visions This they found very incon-
venient and promptly devised a RENE
dy. They organized themselves into
a cooperative society-each contri-
buted a small share-and started a
small general store. Note, this gen
eral stores does not belong to any pri-
vate individual; it is run for the bene-
ht OF the community, by a small COM
mittee Of trustees chosen among the
colonists directly from Italy where it
IN the business world of Wilmington
that any order from it to a wholesale
firm is honOred at once without guar
antee. It's bills have always been paid
upon presentation. and it's credit is as
excellent as its reputation for good
managemen ent. To the colonists the
store sells the goods at just enough
above wholesale prices to pay the ex-