Evening star., 1934-09-02

cial Agencies Of Morgantown began
to cope with the problem Of relief in
the neighborhood. 1t was too vast for
them. A group Of friends was sent
down to work with them, financed by
remnants Of the relief fund Of war
days, under Mr.. Hoover's direction.
Quietly, with little glare of publicity,
these people Of peace and brotherly
love lived and worked among the
miners families. The first need for
help was for the children, practically
all Of whom were undernourished.
Whereas mortality from diarrhea and
enteritis among children under 2
years Of age in the United States as
. whole, from 1925 to 1882, was It's,
that for West Virginia, for the same
period, was Coz. This Is one small
Indication Of the conditions that ex-
listed.
The first thing the Friends did was
to teach the men to make gardens for
food and to teach the women the
rudiments Of diet and food preserva-
ton. Much Of the soil Of the region
Is poor-it has been robbed for its
greater riches of coal and oil-but
there are areas that can be cultivated.
On steep .hillsides, in little plots re-
claimed from dump heaps, subsistence
gardens were planted. Garden clubs
were started as one means Of stimu-
lating the people and teaching Co
operation. Monogalia County, in
which Morgantown Is located, boasted
"a Of these garden clubs in 1888. In
addition to what was eaten, $59, ,453
worth Of food from these gardens was
canned and stored.
People Of SeIf-HeIp.
People who have found within
themselves the germ Of self help, in
whom q spirit Of Cooperation has
been stirred, are not likely to be de-
structive members Of q community
like Reedsville. There Is a ferment
at work among these people, and
among them lies genuine capacity
for leadership.
I think of the man Of whom we
stopped to ask the way as we came
into Reedsville. He was planting q
garden. The house behind him was
Ike all Of these sn1udgy, mud brown
houses Of the miners, but he seemed
to have little to do with that back
ground. He was straight and clean,
there was intelligence and fineness IN
his face. There was something strong
and genuinely American about him.
OF men like this the homesteaders
viii be made up. Some win be older,
40 or As, who even at that age have
been thrown out Of the mines, Grip
pied, some Of them, by rheumatism
duo to the underground dampness,
with q hand or eye gone from acci-
dents, and yet with q capacity for
work and an eagerness to begin again.
There are no set rules whereby home
steaderS are chosen. The local COM
mittee Is entrusted with the task of
selection. Its members know those
who win make good members Of the
community.
What win 1t mean to be . home
steader? The homestead family makes
q contract with Uncle Sam, as land
lord, to purchase the house and i've
acres Of land at an approximate cost
Of $4,000. to be paid over period Of
twenty years. They viii live there for
O probationary period Of six months.
after which they become the proprie-
tors Of the place. They do not have
to pay anything at the outset, be-
cause most Of them have nothing to
pay. If the homesteader wants to
buy furniture made by the Noun
taineer Craftsmen's Cooperative As
sociation he can also pay for that on
longtime payments. Uncle Sam
makes these terms because 1t Is the
only way the homesteaders can get
start.
The farm land that goes with the
house enables the homesteader's fam
lily to be self lf-sustaining. He win have
the benefit of the agricultural experts
of the State University at Morgantown
to advise him In planting his crops.