Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-04-30
BY THOMAS COLLINS

AANAN S3SAGb Va SWIVEL
years for you. II contains the
romance and adventure you
have associated with retire.
ment. and 1t contains a way Of
life that will give you prestige
and luxury for 5000 a month.
1t also contains a few cookie
burs.
The basket is a creation of
Mr.. and Mrs. Herbert r. Wat
kins. ages 81 and IS. They are
a city-bred couple. accustomed
to an average standard Of
living, who retired January ],
1857.
Their total wealth was $1,000.
Their total retirement income
was S208.50 q month.
This is what they did. in Mr..
Watkins words:
For three or four years we
had been using our vacations
TO sound out various parts Of
the country for q retirement
home. We hadn't found any
thing that just knocked us of
our feet.
Then one night we were
stopping over at o motel in
South Carolina, en- route to
Florida. I was scanning the
town newspaper and came
across . want ad. It was by O
local doctor and was Offering .
i4-acre piece Of land with q
cabin on It for $500. -. The
next morning We stayed over
and drove out to see It."
Doctors Retreat
Il was 4 miles out Of town,
and the doctor had been using
1t for q retreat. The land was
covered with pine trees, and in
q clearing was the cabin, crude
but livable. 1t had q large liv-
ing room, a kitchen and two
bedrooms. 1t has electricity,
running water in the kitchen
sink that was pumped from a
back yard well, and no bath
room.
It'd take a book to explain
what we went through after
that" Mr.. Watkins says. I'VE
worried. dreamed, negotiated
with the doctor, asked ques-
tons Of natives. went home and
worried some more. Then we
bought it."
They bought 1t for $1,000.
They had a bathroom built on,
with local labor. for $40o before
they moved in. and spent
around $500 additional, also
using local farm handymen,
for other improvements. They
moved in just over a year ago
and have been working steadily
on the place since.
Couples Discoveries
What they've discovered, &C.
cording to Mr.. Watkins:
!. Places like ours, at what
we paid. are all over the South
and easy to find. provided you
look outside the small towns
and not the cities. You usually
get a farm cabin instead OF a
doctors retreat. but improve
ments would run about the
same.
2. Taxes are negligible.
Pressure to buy things and
spend money is negligible. Com
ing In from life in the city with
city furnishings end $208 a
month. and with land but no
mortgage you are rich, rela-
lively. And all life is relative.
3. There is no money to be
made. Whom would you make
1t from in Small Town, r. Ed?
But in our case there's a nest
egg Of pine trees we could sell
to q sawmill. And on our IA
acres there is room for vege-
tables. a COW and pigs, II we
choose.
4. Property such as ours is
isolated-4 miles to the drug
store is not 10 minutes down a
busy boulevard but 10 minutes
over a hill and across a desc
late creek. That's actually not
bad. but sometimes 1t seems so.
Life Is lonely-not for people
because plenty Of folks here
about pass by every day to say
howdy-but for the kind of
people a city accustomed you to.
D. There's a lot of nonsense
about culture, and most of us
can take Libraries, museums.
concerts. theaters and such, or
we can leave them alone. Still,
you miss thesGthings. And the
only four-engined airliner you
ever see is 10000 feet up in the
MONDAY sky. You wonder II
you're missing something.
People Are Closer
8. "People are closer To vnll