Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1933-12-03


who had had long experience as a
county agent and who was skilled both
as an agriculturalist and as soclolo-
giSt.
But. Mr.. Grimes says. he knew little
perience when he selected as the first
stage of his activities the notorious
Scots Run. The valley Of a swift yell.
low river which extends from the out
skirts of the university city about five
miles into the mountains Along the
stream was a succession of the most
sordid sort of mining settlements. II
was the scene of frequent killings. The
valley was famed for its bad men.
It had a mixed population Of foreigners,
colored and mountain whites. Here
whisky and prosperity and whisky and
poverty, both bad mixtures, had done
their worst.
No TenderfoOt, He.
Mfr. Grimes had to go to this rather
notorious community and suggest that
they start gardens on their rocky dill
sides.
These miners were VIGOROUSLY in
hospitable fellows-as the State ponce
could testify. A 'tenderfoot" would
not have had the slightest chance
among them. But Grimes was no
.'tenderfoot." He could be as hard,
when occasion demanded, as the hard
est man in Scots Run. He could talk
with the populace in their own language
He based his appeal on intensely prac-
tical arguments-chiefly on the pros
poets of having something to eat during
the bitter Winter.
He soon found that, as everywhere
else in the world, there were all sorts
of men and women in SCOTS Run
There were some that were the scum
of the earth. There were others, who,
thrown in a better environment. wou!o
have been outstanding citizens. But HE
there was a disheartening spectacle
The geometrically arranged clusters OF
dingy. implanted, boX-shaped nttle
cabins were sordid beyond description
There was no touch of beauty any
where. The people had lost hope
Much of the toughneSs was IN the
nature of an escape mechanism 10
bring momentary relief.
Even in prosperous days Scots Run
had been a place where. in the words
of Charles Kingsley, men must Work
and women must weep. and the sooner
it's over the sooner to sleep" There
had been flush times just after the war
when a good miner could earn as much
as SIS a day. But when Mr.. Grimes
went there most Of the men had been
out of work for a long time. 1t was
place of ragged. sharp-tongued
women and hungry children. The vii
lagos along the run showed some of the
greatest depths of misery that had been
brought about under the old order.
Finds Dormant Ambition.
Grimes found qualities of leadership
among the people. He found many OF
them far from devoid of ambition al
though it might be dormant. He made
the community garden idea a success.
Quite a few of the men had come to
the mines from farms They knew all
about tilling the soil. They had been
drawn away from the land by the sup
poSedly high wages-often leaving the
old home place with the fervid declara-
ton that they were through with farm
ing. No more working from dawn to
dark for a mere pittance when the
mine would pay five or six times as
much for eight hours work day.
1t might be asked why men earning
anywhere from $40 to $40 a day in
flush times didn't save their money for
hard times and made no attempt to
shift for themselves when they were
thrown out of work Why did they
continue to live in those dingy, barely
furnished cabins?
They had been caught. says Mr.
Grimes, in a vicious circle. and the
homeSteaders at Arthurvale confirm
this. In the first place, the apparently
high wages were not so high after all
The men lived in company houses. They
made all their purchases at the COM
pany store. Often there was little
enough left when payday came. Their
there was no indication that flush time:
ever would come to an end. The miner:
spent their SURPRISES freely Then
homes belonged to the company. They
had no inducement to spend their own
money fixing up the company's houses
There was plenty Of land all around
but it was covered with rocks. There
are farmers in Scotland, in New Eng
land. in Nova Scotia who maintain 6
fairly high standard Of living on Just
such rocky land. but they do so only by
unrelieved toll to which they are Injured
by the discipline of generations What
ever is obtained from the land come
Onlv through great effort. II would b
foolish to raise vegetables at the cost Of
far more labor than would be required
to earn the purchase price of these
same vegetables in the mines. And wher
the point was reached where they woulc
gladly have turned to this unproductivt
soil they no longer had money with
which to purchase the minimum Of
garden tools. seeds and fertilizer re.
quired.
A man could no longer go back to the
farm which he had left-perhaps with {
snecr. The old folks also were feeling
the depression. The home farm wa!
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