The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1911-07-22

AND HOW TO SOLVE THEM

Our new home was not in a suburb,
the city. fronting one Of the most
beautiful parks have ever seen.
Standing on the lawn. l felt a glow
Of pride and satisfaction, as my eye
tooA in the whole seen Of beauty.
In front Jay the park, its %spfsshing
fountains, Its velvety syaGds. over
which romped in happy gaiety groups
Of merry. well-dressed children, its
beautiful flowers and its statues OF
departed heroes. with a glimpse
through the trees of
The dying days last struggles
Ere she sinks in the nights embrace
all combined to make ii a scene Of
rare beauty.
What a heavenly playground for
the boys" exclaimed half aloud.
Surely this Is one place which has
no drawbacks" And / resumed my
occupation OF training a red rambler
on its lattice framework.
A step behind me and | turned to
greet one of my new n%eighbors.
Il see You. too. have caught the
fever" she exclaimed. smiling. We
all have II. and a pity il Ia so short
lived. | q she continued. an
swering my look of inquiry. you.
too. have hopes Of surrounding your
pretty acme by Il wealth Of bloom"
Yes | answered, as we seated
ourselves on the road piazza. One
OF my reasons for coming out this
far was that / might have space for
she cultivation of flowers. | am
passtonately fond OF them. and to me
they seem almost to be human with
their bright faces turned in beauty
to the sun"
Il know just how YOU feel. and /
am sorry 10 he the one TO ~darnpeu
your ardor in flower cultivation. but
the truth is, you VIII gain very little
pleasure and possibly a great deal
Of veXatiou and worry by irving to
raise them. | win explain the situ-
alton as best ] can. While on this
street, which fronts the park. are.
as YOU know. handsome homes, filed
by people OF culture and refinement.
Stfil, even In this western section.
there are whole streets whose in
hahitants are poor, ignorant and I'M
desirable. The children who plav in
M streets. and especially the bows.
seem 10 delight in annoying their
rich neighhors." as thew call us. in
every way possible. And since near
ly every one has 81 lawn and a rose
garden and are TRYING To add to the
attr~sctiveness OF their homes by
planting all kinds OF flowers they
have taken of late to stealing the
blooms. Il matters not how expen-
sive a flower. nor how much time
has been spent In its cultivation. once
let its petals unfold into a beautiful
blossom. YOU may admire II on the
dag Of its opening. but watch and
guard II as YOU may. when morning
comes, YOUR blossom will be gone"
Why. this Is dreadful ex-
claimed. rs there no way to stop
this depreciation -
There seems to be none my
neighbor answered. Occasionally.
when 1t is worse than usual and our
rose bushes are literally stripped. we
make complaint, and the police
watch around one or two nights. dur
ing which nothing is taken, but as
soon as they withdraw. away 20 the
lowers. II is dreadful as you saw"
she continued. and forms the only
drawback to living In his beautiful
place. One does feel attached to her
lowers, and 1t hurts to have them go
ruthlessly dealt with" she finished
with q sigh.
Long after my neighbor had gone
! sat and thought over the situation.
| had my home here and wanted
my flowers; something must be done.
and | must 10 ii. So the next after
noon, instead of spending my leisure
hour in admiring the view and train
ing young boots on trellises. M,
on my hat and sauntered through the
streets o. which my nefghbor had
spoken. There they were. those bows
Of the street, playing in The siys.y
throwing rocks, riding on the back
or Ice wagons, and. indeed. they seem
ed 10 he trying Ia extract what little
pleasure they could out or very I'M
promising surroundings. And 40
wonder the street claimed them. for
their little Yards were filled with old
tin cans. broken bottles, oyster shells
and trash not IA green thing any
where 10 be seen. And yet when 7
stopped on the corner and patted a
little curly head. whose brother was
carrying him. the older boy looked
at me with a bright smile and said
poHfx w y " - ~ fgErr 81 prrsS H-.s g. - sd