Evening journal., 1913-02-20
The Girl Who Bought a
Home on Nine Dollars a Week
HOMER oRoY. In LsslIe'. IIIustrated weel.ly.


was In one of the cottages on the pro-
perty which had been purchased by
Mr.. Post Her duties, besides the
stenographic work. were to sweep
and dust the room and fill the lamps,
as at that time they had no gas nor
electricity. Miss Stark was the first
stenographer employed by the Postum
Cereal Company where today they
number into the hundreds. She was
an absolute stranger in the city. and
at first lived In a boarding house
where she paid $3.50 per week for
room and board. AS the business In
creased, her salary was raised in pro-
portion.
When Mr.. Post advised his employees
that he would build them homes and
sell to them on the easy-payment
plan. Miss Stark purchased a double
lot for S195 and paid for it. Then Mr..
Post built her q house on it which
cost $500, and she rented It at once
at $6 per month, turning the rent
back into the Postum Company, to-
gether with what she saved each
month towards the payment for her
home
In 1899 Mr. Post built her the sec
ond house on her double lot, which
cost her about $500 more to build
than the first house, on account OF
the'increased cost Of material. SO that
the two homes cost her about S1.75O.
They now rent for $12 a month each
and have had desirable tenants in
them ever since they were built.
In 1898 Miss Stark purchased two
more lots on Post Avenue, held them
a year and sold them at an increase
of $3.50 over the cost In 1905 she
bought her present property. at 225
South Avenue, and paid for the lot.
She then borrowed money from the
Postum Company and built her pres
ent home, which cost her 81. 500. This
little home is on lot 80 feet front
by 160 feet deep, and is finished in
hard wood, and would bring $4,000
to-day if put up on the market. Leno
Stark now owns three homes i'm Bat
tie Greek and has money in the bank.
Her salary the last year she was with
the Postum Company was SIS
month. During the summer she acts
as relief for the girls when they take
their vacations, and works at the
Postum plant when extra help is
needed and she can be spared from
home.
How it was possible for a girl on
low salary to own three homes in
terested me deeply. so deeply that |
could not help asking questions. From
one of the managers found out
about c. w. Posts method OF working
with his employees Every single
employe in his shops is his loyal
booster. While there | met j. w.
Bryce, high up as an organized union
worker. who could not say enough
for the Post system of protecting its
employees.
Post goes on the theory that an en-
ploye does his best work when he has
responsibility on his shoulders. As
coon as a man has worked for him a
year, he is willing to take him into
ership-willing to sell him a
home. To carry out this idea, Post
bought one outlying section of Battle
Creek, plotted it off and began putting
up houses He told the people that
philanthropy was not moving him to
this. and informed them that he was
going to make six per cent on his
investment. He put up several houses
as models. but he would build any
house that an empleye wished and
build il the way the workingman
wanted IT, after Mr. Post had passed
the plans. In this way the wife Of
the worker could have a linen chute.
a basement or any improvement about
the house that she desired. For this
Mr. Post asked that one one-hun-
dredth Of the value of the house be
paid down as FIRST isstallmont and
the rest in the form OF monthly rem
tai until paid for. For instance. If
the house was to cost $4,000. the first
payment would be $4,000 and the
rest to come in at $4,000 month. or
one-hundredth of whatever the price
was as n result, more OF the people
employed by the breakfast-foOd king
Of Battle Creek own their own homes
than are owned by the employees of al
most any other concern in the United
States.