Evening star., 1920-09-12

connected with city life. But her
rosy-cheeked little ones playing on
the lawn, the snowy stretches or
blossoming fruit trees in the spring
and the rich yield of fruits and vcge-
tables in their season and the long
rows Of put up" good things to eat
on the cellar shelves for the winter.
the sweet. pure air OF the country
and the pleasures of having farm
pets. not forgetting the good old cow
with her rich milk Gf daddy will
turn milkmaid). furnish recompense
for much that is irksome in suburban
life
BY pooling their spare cash
syndicates sof clerks can purchase
big tracts of farming land near
Washington without waiting for the
real estate dealers to do it for them.
subdivide among themselves one.
two. five or more acres apiece (iye
acres make a big place near thu
city,. and live cheaper. and often
better. than in the cfty-ff their
wives with stand for it. and possess
some Of the pioneer spirit. With
their thirty days OF annual leave,
seven whole holidays and summer
half-holidays, the men and boys win
have time to accomplish wonders in
the garden. orchard or field. cutting
the cost of living to half. and help
ing build up a home and the na~
tion's capital as well. y
Franklin X. Lane. while Secretary
of the Interior. planned a great club
representing all the executive de-
partments. with many thousands 81
members owning q magnificent club
house as well as a great farm near
the city. Some day this will be real
lied. 1t is only a question of the will
to do and the management. The cap
ital is ample. IL only partially taken
from the earnings Of a minority Of
the clerks OF Washington.
what One Man Has Done. -
Let US see what one man has done
in suburban investment. .
Twenty-one years ago he bought
twenty-four acres In Maryland. near
the District line. He was receiving
of the Interior. and his promotion
was slow. He paid less than 500
an acre for the land. put out fruit
trees and a garden. and put in all
his leave and other spare time i'm.
proving the place. He gradually In
creased his holdings by buying "a.
joining land. Today he has over sixty
acres, all paid for: hundreds Of boar
ing apple, pear and other fruit trees,
and has seen some of the land neaf
him sell for six times what he paid
for his. BE has none for sale. but
could get 500 per cent increase on his
investment. That is an average OF
more than 2S per cent a year, and
the enhancement of values will be
much more rapid in the future, for
the vicinity. very sparsely settled
when he bought. is now being sub
divided into lots which in the ag-
gregate sell for several thousands Of
dollars per acre. He is still planting
fruit trees.
Rising at 4:30 in summer, this clerk
manipulated his hoe and rake till Z
o'clock, getting himself into good
sweat that eliminated the accumulated
poisons of the system. took a good
sponge bath. ate his breakfast. and hit
the trail for the electric cars to go to
work. He has had practically no sick
leave during those twenty-one years,
has found time by evening study to
At himself for much higher pay in the
service. and the pay has come. He
says. however, that IL his wife had
not stood by him in those lean years,
but had insisted on going to Bar Har-
Dor or Atlantic City each summer. or
on having swell apartments in tho
northwest or the expensive and most
ly unsatisfactory help" that most
wives want, he never could have made
good. Their child has grown up ro-
bust and hardy. Now they can take
their vacations IL they want to and
have something to spare.