Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-07-29

tried to cheat him out Of $40, more or
less. Vigorized by that event. the mind
of Oscar Benson turned pedagogic.
mission was grooved into his intentions;
he would change, SO far as he could, the
mental attitude of his small public.
While completing his preparation. oscar
Benson studied at normal schools. col
leges and universities. At the age OF
nineteen he was teacher in the country.
He taught at later day in villages and
cities. But he felt all along that the
work of his life was to be found in rural
were leaving the farms and streaming
away over the hills and through the val
leys toward mirages, salaried jobs and
ultimate effacement.
Superintendent of all the schools, some
$50. in Wright county. when he was thir-
ty, Oscar Benson started the work that
was to make him a really great American
and send him five years later to Wash
ington. About the first thing he under
took was Survey of the schoolboys
within his Jurisdiction.
What business do you intend to fol-
low?" was one of the questions he asked.
Farming" replied eleven Of the boys.
big and little. The other boys. several
lawyers. preachers, physicians, merchants.
clerks. brakemen, locomotive firemen.
street car conductors and so on. Oscar
Benson sat himself down and wrote
PeTnapS a series OF ORDERS
would better describe his labors. Teach
ers were TO teach-and Oscar Benson was
to choose them-the dignity of farming.
the Importance of farming. the freedom
of farming and the profit of farming.
when intelligently pursued.
The program was carried out In three
years another survey was made. All
the boys in the rural schools of Wright
county but three, answering the question.
What business do you intend to follow"
81
fame of Benson having spread in all di-
rections the blackberry gambler of
Delhi became an officer of the Depart
ment of Agriculture at the National Cap
sital. Boys and girls. living on farms and
in villages, are his specialties. He or
ganizes them into corn clubs. pig clubs
poultry clubs. potato clubs. garden clubs
and home economy clubs.
Petain, Haig and Pershing are fighting
Hindenburg So Is Benson. Behind him
are thousands of boys and girls and
their mothers. Cannon, rifles and bayo-
nets are the weapons along the French
and Belgian battle lines. Here in the
United States. Benson and his hosts are
armed with kettles. long handled spoons
and glass bottles. A user of slang could
say that Benson is helping to "can the
Prussians." This he is doing with corn,
beans. peas. tomatoes. peaches. cherries.
plums. pears and berries. which he is
saving against the day Of food shortage
The enterprise is gigantic Recently
Mr.. Benson filled a Broadway theater
in New York twice day with women,
rich and poor, who heard him say, at
the start, that IL is n relatively simple
matter to can practically any food
product in the home with ordinary
kitchen equipment and with compare
lively little labor.
First of all. Mr. Benson has person
.1i
gized with enthusiasm. He believes
that his preachments put into practice
will save the people of this country
many millions of dollars. Farmers and
their wives. when they cannot sell or
use garden or an orchard product,
often let it go to waste.
Can it, shouts Benson. Canned
tomatoes or corn or peas" he said to
the writer, ARE as staple as wheat, cot =
ton or smoked meat"
In twenty minutes" he declared to
the writer, Il can teach twelve-Sear-
old boy to cut sweet corn from the cob
and put II into glass jars So that il
Will keep indefinitely, and. once the
boy has learned to do the trick with
corn, he can apply the same knowledge
vegetable"
why teach twelve-year-o boy?''
the interviewer asked. Couldn't you
teach his mother"
but not so easily. The boys mind Is
empty, with respect to canning, where
as his mothers mind is filled with ira =
ditions handed down in her family for
several generations. Grandma did il
this way. she says. and so did mother
All OF such lumber has TO be swept
away before her mind can receive mod
ern methods. Sometimes IL can't be
swept away. Grandma and mother are
too much for us.
SO l like to work with boys and
girls. They don't have to unlearn a
headful Of rubbish. But thousands OF
women are following our instruction
with the best of results. The surplus
on farms is being conserved and turned
into money. When peaches are a drug
in the market we show how they can
be saved and sold ultimately
Il have seen pigs in orchards eating
apples that nobody wanted Such
waste is wicked. and the men and won,
en- who are stopping it are truly aery-