The Clio messenger. (Clio, Mich.) 1907-current, 1920-11-18


with load OF expense about him, al
ways with the problem of income and
outlay 10 be solved-had made OF Har-
ris a man very different from the
young idealist OF 'S2. During the first
years OF struggle for bare existence
in some way the flame OF idealism still
burned but with the dawn Of the "bet-
ter times" there came a gradual shift
ing OF standards and new conception
of essentials. The crops OF the early
years were Improbable on account of
the great distance TO market later,
when the railway came TO their doors.
the crops were still Improbable. owing
TO falling prices and diminishing yields
due TO poor cultivation. Then came a
decade during which those who stayed
in the country stayed because they
could not get out, and Ii became cur
rent saying that the more land a man
farmed the deeper he got in debt.
Then came the swing OF the pendu-
lum. No one knows just what started
II prosperitywards. Some said II was
that the farmers. disheartened with
wheat growing were applying them
selves to stock. and certain Il Is that
in mixed farming" the community
eventually found Its salvation; others
attributed the change to improved ag-
ricultural implements, to improved
methods OF farming, TO greater knowl-
edge OF prairie conditions to reduc-
tons In the cost OF transportation and
enlarged facilities for marketing. or to
increasing world demand and higher
world prices for the product OF the
farm. But whatever the causes-and
no doubt all OF the above contributed
the fact gradually dawned upon the
settlers that land-their land-was
worth money.
II was the farmers from the United
States. scouting for cheaper lands than
were available in their own COMMUNE
ties, who first drove the conviction
home. They came with money in their
wallets; they were actually prepared
TO exchange real money for land.
Such a, thing had never before been
heard OF in Plainville district.
But a few transactions took place:
lands were sold at five dollars, six dol
lars, eight dollars an acre. The farm
ers began to realize that land repre-
sented wealth-that it was an asset.
not n llability-and there was rush
for the cheap railway lands that had
so long gone a-begging. Harris was
among the first to sense the change in
the times, and beautiful section Of
railway land that lay next to his
homestead he bought at four dollars
an acre. The first crop more than
paid for the land. and Harris sudden
~ found himself on the way to riches.
The Joy that came with the realiza-
tion that fortune had knocked at his
door and he had heard was the con-
trolling emotion of his heart for
year or more But gradually. like a
fog blown across a moonlit night, came
sense of chill and disappointment.
II only he had bought two sections If
at least he had proved up on his pre-
emption, which he might have had for
nothing! He saw neighbors about him
adding quarter to quarter. None of
them had done better than himself,
but some had done as well. And in
some way the old sense Of oneness,
the old community interest which had
held the little band of pioneers to-
gether amid their privations and their
poverty, began to weaken and dis
solve. and In its place came an indi-
vidualism and q materialism that
measured progress only in dollars and
cents. Harris did not know that his
gods had fallen, that his ideals had
been swept away; even as he sat at
supper this summer evening, with his
daughters arm about his neck. he felt
that he was still bravely, persistently,
pressing on toward the goal, all I'M
aware that years ago he had left that
goal like a lighthouse on a rocky
shore, and was now sweeping along
with the turbulent tide of Mammon-
ism. He still saw the light ahead, but
II was now phantom of the imagina-
ton. He said "When am worth ten
thousand / will have reached IT."
when he was worth ten thousand he
found the faithless light had moved
OH 10 lNtHly-HNt AAC S'iih,
"When / am worth twenty-five thou
sand / will have reached 1t" when he
was worth twenty-five thousand he
saw the glow still ahead. reckoning
him on TO fifty thousand. To stop
now might mean losing sight Of his
goal, and John Harris held nothing In
heaven or earth so great as its attain
ment.
So. gently enough, he disengaged his
daughters arm and finished his sup
per in silence. AS soon as 1t was
ended the men started for the barn,
and in few minutes two wagons rat
tied noisily down the trail.
Beulah helped with the supper dish
es, and then came out with the milk
pals TO the corral where the cows,
putting and chewing, complacently
awaited her arrival. But she had not