The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1910-09-30

A RETIRED FARMER FEEDING HIS PIGS.
of hardships, and the reward was only
few Of life's necessities. But these
hardships developed a class of hardy.
virile men who have conquered the
American continent and brought 1t un-
der mans control.
The days Of pioneering on the farm
are well nigh past. Now that the rough
edges are worn off the true pleasure
of life In the open is beginning to be
appreciated. At first people crowded
together In the cities for protection,
later for convenience In transacting
business. The city never was intend
ed primarily as place to live. In the
soon as the danger which had forced
the people together was over. They
scattered out to their farms, where
they could live in peace and plenty.
When the development of the city
as q business center began no particu-
life. People lived where they could,
existing for their business rather than
making their business exist for them.
In all the years in which the cities Of
the United States have been develop
ing the home life always has Jagged
behind. True, some of the men who
were most successful in accommodating
wealth built palatial homes. But
there is no room In the city for many
such homes. Rather must people live
TERED one above another. layer upon
layer. On all sides, above and below,
the space In which they are free to
move at will is marked by strictly de-
fined limits. No wonder that in such
circumstances man has longed for
fourth dimension In which he could
expand.
People have endured these conditions
because 1t paid them to do so. Bust
ness fed and clothed them. but bust
ness demanded that they be always
close at hand. They knew that some
where outside the web Of paved streets
lay an open country, but they knew of
no way in which they could make
living there. The stories they heard
from the country were stories of poor
ly paid toll. few pleasures and pre-
mature old age. They preferred the
discomforts to which they were accus-
toned.
The coming of electric transportation
widened the horizon of the city. 1t
made it possible for the best paid la
borers to have houses Of their own. 1t
allowed the salaried man, who put in
fewer hours, to live almost In the
country. With glimpse of suburban
and country life and what it really
meant to have plenty Of room to
breathe. the city dweller began to cher
fish an ambition. He began to long for
an acre of his own. with garden and
few berries and some chickens,
where he could rest and grow old.
The advance In the price Of food
products made 1t not only possible,
but comparatively easy, for the man
who has given the best years of his
life to the city to retire to the coun-
try. Perhaps should not use the
word retire. The swirling rush Of
twentieth century life has made the
thought of retiring distasteful. The
ambitious man let's go his work with
reluctance. He would rather die in
the harness than to rust away his re-
naming days In idleness. But there
comes a time when the strongest man
feels his grip weaken and his mind
falter. The hard knocks of a strenn-
Gus life begin to make themselves
felt. The long hours grow weary on
his shoulders Some men are situated
so fortunately that they can let go by
degrees. working as they feel like 1t
and turning over. to others the tasks
of which they tire. Most men. how
ever, must continue to meet the exact
ing demands of business to the far
thest notch or drop out entirely. 1t is