Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-09-03

= Fora century fGBe 0eep mOHnLaln
the labor sand competltian of thu, fertii.
ceeded generation the people have beco
justments: With modern civilization. n
children sucked at the breasts Of the IA
But much OF tbs area is to be IN.
Guided IN the new Shenandoah National
Park. designed es q Summer playground
for the Eastern States. The days OF
sQuatterS, .tax-free and votelesS, IN the
green hOllOWs beside the mountain
springs are near an end. 10 win be nee
essary to provide them homes elsewhere.
and they win be plunged into the CON.
slant struggle Of daily life.
:. Many Praisewovtby EHerts.
There have been praiseworthy fndi-
vidual efforts to improve their condi-
ton. Summer visitors who come on
their isolated cabins on horseback
iaunts or hikes along the rocky trails
are generous with money. Men like q.
Freeman Pollock of Washington, owner
OF the fashionable mountain resort OF
Skylan6 and OF vast tracts Of noun
tainside upon 'whichv the natives are
squatters, provide them with such work
rs they are able and willing to do dur;
ing the Summer. send doctors among
them. and relieve many cases Of indt-
vidual distress. But the psychology Of
the people is such that individual effort
counts for little, while the basic condi-
:tions--Squalor, undernourisheEnnt and
illiteracy-remain unchanged.
A New York social worker. Mrs.
Evelyn Bevier, who has visited several
Of the hOiloWs, described the living con-
ditions as much worse than ever would
be encountered in the sluns Of New
York, and declared that real progress
can come only from a scientific well.
financed program of social work con-
Quoted by an expert. Such work, says
Mrs. Bevier, must start with improving
the physical condition Of the people,
even before education.
The basic need, says Mrs. Bevier. Is
for trained social workers making con-
slant visits to the cabins to see that
Instructions In sanitation and cleanA-
ness are carried out. Money alone
living conditions.
A DifAcult Problem. ~
The social problem afforded by these
people is much more difflcult than would
be encountered in q city slum. They do
not consregate, In villages. The social
structure has broken down. Each hol-:
low contains only two or three cabins
There are entirely isolated cabins In
cleared patches.
I Each family is an individual problem.
The standard OF living varies greatly,
from that of small mountain farmers
with chickens, hogs and gardens and
with. church and social connections in
the valleys to conditions such as those
found in Corbin Hollow, which are al
most Undesirable. Lack OF roads and
dificulty. The undeveloped sense OF
financial
without expert management almost use
less.
The most hopeful sign is the lack OF
hostility to improvement, Most Of the
people are passive, accepting with APP
parent gratitude whatever help is Of
fered them. The problem seems one
OF psychology rather than poverty. Pow.
.erty does not explain the tiny, crowded
cabins, for all the families have axes
and there is plenty of lumber on the
mountain sides. The most amsteurish
and toolless carpentry could enlarge and
repair these homes. Besides, there Is
no, lack of land for larger patches Of
corn and vegetables. -.
Overcame Hostility.
According to Mr.. Pollock, increasing
contacts with civilization through Sum-
mer visitors and better transportation
actually have brought about an inn
provement In the last generation. When
he flrst came into the mountains 30
years ago he had to deal with q hostile
and lawless people. He is the owner,
by the way. of n 5,00O-acre tract along
the Hughes River, just below the Cor
bin Hollow section, which long has been
known as the Virginia Free State, be-
cause OF the lack OF law enforcement.
Conditions in this great stretch OF
chestnut and hemlock have greatly i'm
proved, he says, and there now is -
school and church there.
i A thorough knowledge Of the condi-
,tionS among the Blue Ridge noun
taineers would require long weeks of
tramping and horseback riding by ex-
pert Sociologists to discover and APP
praise the cultural level of the different
"holl0ws." MT. Pollock estimates that
altogether there are between 200 and
800 persons uneQuipped to make adj
justments when the time comes for
their removal. from the park area
Other estimates are considerably larger,
but all agree that the population Is ap-
proximately stationary.
Never heard America"
II. taken out today they would leave
their homes IN weakened physical con-
dition, without any equipment for earn
ing livelihood and with no sense OF
citizenship. In one of the most progress
siVe Of all the mountain communities
that at Oldrag, itself near the foot of
the mountainr-the teacher reported
that neither parents nor children ever
had heard America" sung. At Nichol-
son Hollow the teacher found that only
three or four eyer had seen the Ameri-
can, fIag--and this. within o hundred
miles OF the Capital Of the United
States.
Occasionally an ambitious boy or girl
escapes from the mountains-often
under the inspiration of Summer visi-
tor. Some have succeeded as farm
hands and farmers in the valleys. But
such escapes" are so uncommon as to
cause comment. BY the time the chill.
dren are old and strong enough to make
their own way in the world the lack of
Education and narrowneSs of contacts
are like high walls shutting them from
the lowlands. ~s
Curiously enough, the lack Of edu-
cation goes far deeper than illitefacy,
which would not necessarily prove q
serious handicap, rs shown in the case
OF many immigrants. These people lack
not alone education in letters, but in
use Of the senses. the ability to concen-
trate attention and make close observa-
tions. 80
One observer at Skyland characterised