The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-07-25
DED|CATEFARM AT R0WAYTONT TO
 REV.W. {. FRENCH
Demonstration Tract Is For mally Opened, in Honor
 of Late Clergyman.

Coleman of South Norwalk, Conn.,, is in memory of the Rev. William Glen
 ney French and its slogan is: May
 the Spirits of the Departed Loved Ones live again through the Living"
 | At the opening services memorial cross of natural wood planted in a garden situated on a high clump of rocks was dedicated to MT. French
 and then other garden plots were ded- icated to the Rev. Louis French, Rt.
 Rev. Alexander Mackay-Smith, DID,,
 Rev. Cornelius B. Smith, DID,, Clar-
 ence Melville Hyde, Benjamin Talbot Babbitt. Rebecca McDuffie Rabbit, Ida Josephine Rabbit Hyde, Clara Math-
 ewson Hyde, John Howard Gibson, Ag-
 nes Virginia Harrison Traitor, John
 Edward Curzon, Catherine Tristan
 Curzon, Sir Thomas Horation/ Me-
 Gregor McGeorge, Sir Robert Leslie,
 and other relatives and friends of Mrs.
 Elsie Falconie French and William
 Leslie French, the founders of this
 memorial farm.
 A special feature was the dedica- tion of plots and flags to the departed n embers of the Woman Suffrage party.
 members of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, and
 the dramatic and musical professions.
 After few hymns and patriotic songs the sons of the Revolution marched to
 the front of the farm and there dedi-
 cated a memorial flag to Lieutenant
 William Glenney, one of the charter
 members of the order of the Cincin- natl. Miss Jennie B. Kent, former regent of the Putnam Chapter of the Daughters of the Revolution, Green wich, Conn.,; Messrs. Halsey W. Kent, l IQ ToTt D Hydn
 French carried the flag to the spot selected, and after MT. Hyde read the address used by the Sons of the Rev. olution, the flag was raised and salut- ed The entire ceremonies were marked by the. utmost simplicity.
 A novel effect was produced by the plots being in each case marked by the 1 flags of the various nationalities whose descendants were thus memorialized. It is interesting to note how this memorial farm came to be founded. Back in 1849 Reverend William Glen ney French accompanied by his broth [ CT, Louis French, a child of seven, and | a number of others, blaised trail from the Atlantic Littoral back to the mountains. of North Carolina where they started an institution known as "Valle Crucis,' which at. the present time is engaged in agricultural work, educational and practical. :, S-
 With this in mind, Mrs. French and her son decided that it would be a good idea to carry out here in the North several ideas of her deceased husband and so they started this farm where children are taught scientific farming and allied subjects. It is cooperative in its scope, and the plan calls for a place where each lad can become self supporting and still get his education. It is a semi philanthropy.
 In speaking of the raison D'etre of this farm,I MT. French said: This is a little work for little men. Our idea is that in the present it is somewhat better to give memorials which will live in others by their works, than in wood and stone. A live child is bet ter than an inanimate object. The child may become a good-citizen. And there is nothing like outdoor life and contact with nature to produce this result. Hence," he went on, i've teach the boys all forms of agriculture and Horticulture, and then sell the pro- duce raised, canned and preserved, to personal friends and others. Each boy earns certain amount based on his earning capacity, which is applied to his support, and he is compelled to lay by certain amount weekly towards his future. The education ia given without cost. This is merely my own contribution to help the lads get along. Where people have given funds to cover the expense of one or more,-aad several have-the lad sup ported by this foundation pays back from his earnings so that after he has graduated another and another can still be benefited.
 ''The boys sleep .out of doors the year roLnd, take cold bath each morning, and have a talsnced raison the same as the other. animals on the farm. We have bean fortunate that for over a year, not ore boy has been 1tl ;n ny way. No doctors bills for tie toys. They are taught to cook,
 carve, mend their, own clothes, all forms of athletics. and manual training
 in addition to the agricultural end.
 English and French are compulsory.
 The boys have built large frame
 work on which stand soil, trees, and an electric ra,'way. This is the agri-
 cultural map of this country. It is
 divided into sections representing the states of the Union. Thus the boys
 transport over the railways the pro-
 ducts grown in>every section of the
 country and learn their geography and
 arithmetic. Also, each, lad has to act
 as traffic manager, purchasing agent and so on, so as to get a practical
 Knowledge of railroading.r A short
 cut method.
 "I have been demonstrating and e4- perimenting how to give the boys ethi-
 cal training without advice" MT.
 French laughed. And it worried the heart out of me until finally devised a method. Our memorial garden
 plots are divided up among the boys
 and myself. They have been told
 that the vegetable life and flowers are
 symbolical of the people gone overV I their character and traits. For ex-
 ample, tomatoes represent popularity,
 strength of purpose. Potatoes. reso-
 lution as they give power. And so
 on. Thus the lad who is assigned to a series of plots knows how strong his Ipeople were and feels that he must be irresponsible and act as they did when living. It is rather funny" he ex- claimed, "how the youngsters take this Iidea to heart, I had to jump in. break up Kilkenny row, for two of them were ready to fight, because each Insisted that his dead friends were bet ter than those of the other. In this way, we teach the continuity of life. D | As Mir French is known as the lead