The Forrest City times. [volume], August 18, 1911, Image 10

About The Forrest City times. [volume] (Forrest City, Ark.) 1871-1919

Image provided by: Arkansas State Archives

                
. .RM Opporw^iw for
Cl'TY POOR_y^
copypjwr jay pp/i/?josy pjyja. co. / *9 GQv£/?frOP o/~Pf/jjoz/P/
f* T Is difficult lor those who are
concerned more with enjoying the
~\ luxuries and pleasures of life than
they are In securing its necessities
J to understand the feelings of those
J to whom hunger is not an unusual
experience. And, yet, we are told
that one tenth of the American peo
ple do not get enough to eat; that
four-fifths of our wage earners do
not earn In excess of |600 a year.
Living on such an income is like
wise more or less Incomprehensible
to those to whom the expenditure
of such a year's earnings in a brief outing in the
moui talna, the northern woods or at the seashore
Is not an unusual experience.
The problem of achievement of ambition and of
success mat confront the business or the profes
sional man is radically different from that prob
- 1 ' -
ci/jr/eA'jjzryj Ar/?*sn//?f
GAT/ff/tJ/IG r/Y£ GTA//V
lent of existence that
daily demands a solu
(ion from 75,000,000 of
people in the United
States alone. Thisprob
lem is. of course, most
acute in those centers
of population and indus
try where great wealth
and great poverty exist
side by side in striking
contrast. While poverty
and misfortune are not
unknown In the coun
try districts, they exist
there generally as a re
sult of accident, misfor
r-rr - ■■
/t-/v5 S/M3T CS?OJ° OS
sosaros^ ^(p
turn? or disease, and
not from the lac k of opportunities or the discrim
inition and Injustice apparently incident to our
present industrial system. While the problem of
t Je poor has always been, and doubtless will al
ways be, with us, that Is no reason why we should
accept with complacency conditions which, If
not callable of being completely reformed, are,
at least, capable of considerable correction.
1 he increase in the cost of living in recent
years 1ms given a new Interest to attempted ex
planations of existing conditions, and various the
ories are offered. \\ e are told that the increase
in tlie amount of gold production, or rather tho
decrease in the cost of gold production, has low
ered ils value, and, therefore, enlarged our meas
ure of value, with a consequent Increase in tho
post of necessities as well as the luxuries of life
without a corresponding Increase in wages and
salaries; that combinations and trusts have in
creased the price of their products by arbitrarily
fixing the price of the raw material to tho pro
ducer and tile price of the finished product to the
consumer; that labor unions have increased the
cost of tho necessaries of life by the increase
that they have brought about in wages; and
finally, the explanation is offered that supply has
not kept pace with demand; that consumption has
increased more rapidly than has production.
It is unusual that a general condition is to be
attributed to any one cause. That all of these
influences are more or less responsible for the
present conditions Is probably true. That a per
tnauent correction of the tendency of the price of
the necessities of life to increase must be based
upon a proper teiation between supply and de
mand. is at once apparent. A demand increas
ing out of proportion (o the available supply is
sufficient In and of itself to cause an increase in
prices And any correction of the other conditions
which may have helped to bring about the in
crease in tlie cost of li\ing must necessarily fail
unless there is maintained a proper relation be
tween consumption and production. The fart that
in 1909 the value of our exports of food stuffs de
creased. as compared with 1908, eighty-seven mil
lions of dollars, while the value of the foodstuffs
imported into the country increased thirty seven
millions of dollars, making a charge of one hun
dred and twenty four millions of dollars upon the
wrong side <>t our national ledger, shows that the
consumption of that which wo produce has been
Increasing more than has the production.
To bilng about a correction of these conditions
it is apparent at once that there must be an in
crease in production, and the question is how is
tills to he accomplished We must either use to
better advantage the soil that Is already in culti
vation, or cultivate that which Is now uncultivated.
The truth is, we must do both. Production la
this country, a- compared with other countries,
shows that wo are not using to the best advan
tage the great resources with which nature lias
endowed us. The average production of wheat
in the Netherlands is 34 bushels to the. acre; in
England, 32 in Germany, 2S. In France, 20, while
In the United States it is only 14 The same dis
parity is found in fields of corn properly cultivated
compared with those not properly cultivated.
In a recent report P was stated that ap
proximately 40 per cent of the soil that was cul
tivated was used in such a way as to decrease,
rattier than increase, its productivity. The cor
rection of this condition of inadequate production,
duo to lack of scientific methods of cultivation,
must come from the agricultural department of
the United States and the agricultural colleges of
the different states. From these sources the farm
ers must g< the scientific information which will
enable them to adopt not only effective methods
of agriculture, but effective methods for conserv
lag the productivity of the soil. The other cor
rection must be accomplished by inducing a
larger portion of our population to engage in the
cultivation of the soil.
We can all agree as to the advisability of the
“Back to the Soil" movement But how to make
ft effective and successful Is another and far more
diC'.cul: problem Stime ago George A;'.e. the
rr tn£ £££ or r/y£ /v/jr/£jr
great American humorist, said .n a speech before
tlie representatives of the Associated Press that
everybody thought they could ‘‘write a play, run
a hotel or edit a newspaper." He might have en
larged his list by adding "become a successful
farmer." To put seed in the ground and see It
grow seems so easy that almost every one imag
ines himself capable of doing It successfully. Put
"e know that farming, that Is, successful farm
ing. is both a science and a business. One can
make just as complete a failure of farming as he
ran of practicing law, running a hotel or edit
ing a newspaper. It would be worse than useless
to encourage the "Pack to the Soil" movement If
it is not planned and executed in a way that is
likely to be successful The natural yearning to
get back to the soil" that comes to most people
causes such a movement to appeal to those who
arc well qualified, as well as to those who are
poorly qualified successfully to do their part as
cultivators of the soil. To go back to the soil
is to the man of ordinary means and under ordi
nary ctr< umstances sctnethlng like pioneering,
an l not • vt ry man, by any means, is < e of
becoming a successful pioneer. To undertake in
discriminately, unscientifically and without ptoper
method and organization, to get people hark to
the soil will p-sitlt in more of failures than sue
cesses; in more of Injury than of good. Put this
work can he accomplished in a way that will be
both effective and successful and which will in
crease the proportion of producers as compared
with consumers All that is necessary for the
accomplishment of this result is that the same fore
sight and organization should be adopted in start
mg tne fiuslness ot farming as is adopted in the
inauguration of any other business enterprise If
men of means, who also have the disposition to
help their fellow men, would realize that thev
oouh! make a good paying investment as well as
relieve distress and suffering by helping others
to return to the soil In the right way, the ' back to
the soil" movement would then give promise of
accomplishing all that Its enthusiasts have claim
ed for it. Such a movement must, of course he
under taken on a buslnes basis; upon a plan which
will promise not only a profitable return on the
investment, but result in giving good homes and
steady employment to many people who need both
It is easy enough to say to the poor of the large
cities that they should "go back to the
sots; but for the successful accomplishment of
■ t, a Jesuit money, and considerable money, is
required. On.- cannot expect to make a living on
a lew hundred dollars Invested In a farm and tlm
niach;m ry necessary for its cultivation, any more'
Joan one can expect to make a living on the same
amount invested in any other business. So, in
the first place, it requires money or credit to
buy a farm, and money or credit to secure r.eces
i ary implements, machinery, horses, cows etc to
successfully conduct it It will take from five to
one hundred and sixty acres, according to the char
acter of the soil and the methods of its cultivation,
to support a family. You cannot expect large re
turns m-m a poor farm, or from a good farm, poor
ly cultivated. You cannot expect to receive a re
turn from a farming investment out of all pro
portion to the value of the Investment and the
labor expended thereon The difficulty in this
l-ro;v.-.t;on b s‘r.s at o::„-c Many of those v.hcrn
we all agree should be brought back to the soil
have neither the money nor the rredit necessary
to accomplish it. it is as to the method by which
this difficulty can be overcome and this deficiency
supplied that this article is written.
There have been successfully established in
Missouri and other states in recent years a num
ber of farm home colonies, which seem to offer the
best method for bringing people back to the soil
in a way w hich is likely to make the experiment a
successful one. The general j lan of these farm
home colonies is for some individual or associa
tion to divide a tract of land available for farming
and fruit raising into a number of small farms,
which are sold on easy terms or rented to per
sons who desire to go back to the soil, with a cen
tral or home farm conducted in a way and with
the appliances necessary not only to encourage
and to instruct, but also to assist those liivng
upon the other farms; the Idea being that the cen
tral farm, under the control of an experienced
farmer, will be a source of example, and with the
establishment at some centra! place of a church,
schoolhouse, blacksmith shop, creamery, silos,
milk separators and other modern conveniences
and necessities of the farm, the chances of sue
ces swill he increased and th ■ chances of failure
correspondingly lessened
The isolation and Ion* sorne
ness Incident to individual
effort in getting back to tho
soil is thus, of course, avoid
ed. with a consequent im
provement of conditions of
social life.
1'nder the auspices of tho
Catholic "huroh, and par
ticularly under the direc
tion of Archbishop John J.
Glennon of the St. Ixtuis
diocese, there have been es
tablished in Missouri a num
ber of such farm home set
tlements which have proven
both interesting and benefi
cial. One was established
some years ago at Knob
view as an Italian colony,
which has enjoyed a most
successful career. There has
resulted a marked benefit to the settlers, as eu
as to the people of the surrounding country who
have been taught many things in the use of the
soli by these foreign I'arniers that they had not
known before.
One of the farm colonies that promises the most
successful results is a Sw iss colony recently estuO
lished In Howell county, Missouri.
Another settlement of similar character has been
established by Col, J. 1,. Torrey. who was the organ
izer of one of the "Hough Rider Regiments" in
the war with Spain, and whose regiment through
the unfortunate accident of a railroad wreck was
perhaps deprived of the opportunity for actual serv
ice. Col. Torrey purchase 1 a tract of 10,000
acres upon the southern slope of the Ozarks, which
he is selling to deserving people upon terms whic h
practically place it within the reach of all who are
looking for an opportunity to engage in farm life
who have not the means available to do so. That
Col, Torrey is intere sted in developing good
citizens, as well as good farmers, is manifest from
the fact that he insists that every one of his ten
ants, or those to whom he sells a farm, shall own
an American flag which they shall, on proper occa
sion, display from their homes.
These farm home colonies are all established or.
the same general plan. A tract of land is divided
up Into different farms with a central farm and
village. 1 he land is sc id or rented on such terms
us puts the opportunity ter become a farmer within
the reach of any deserving man. The profits or
returns to bo realized from site'll an investment will,
of course, vary according to the size of the farm
purc hased and the character of the soil. Horace
Greeley said that a man could make a living for
himself and his family upon five acres of land.
This is true of some land and not true of other
land. Rut it is true that w-ith a small acreage
properly cultivated, with cows, hogs and chickens
well managed, a good living can be made on a
comparative!, small investment if the enterprise
is conducted with industry and intelligence. It is.
however, always dangerous to "count your chickens
before they are hatched. The results In farm
ing enterprises, as in other enterprises, will usually
fall short of expectation Had luck, accidents and
other misfortunes will, of course, confront the farm
er. Rut if he has "the right stuff in him," the land
will yield him a liberal return if he will use good
judgment, work hard and stick to it. R? can then
he independent of the beef trusts and other trusts
enjoy luxuries that the city man of means cannot
secure, and view with complacency an increase in
the cost of living when he realizes that he 13 a
producer as ^ell as a consumer.
When President Roosevelt’s Country I.ife com
mission, after an extended Investigation of condi
tions 01 country life throughout the country, made
its report to the effect that improvement in the
social life of the farmer was one of our most Im
portant problems, many regarded this statement as
a mere academic or theoretical utterance But
frvy veaUy f;1niUar wl,h ,he Editions of court
tr> life knows full well that the limited social life
of the count,,- is one of the greatest disadvantage
ofathe°r«ll",B? C°7eCti0n *i!h the cultivation
(t the soli 10 Provide a proper social life is a-i
““ 80*1- movement i* to
he m-Uv 0 „ r„.., succc^stuL
SPIDERS THAT CHANGE HUE
Chamelecn-Like Insects Take Color of
Leaves and Flowers to
Catch Prey.
Every traveler that returns from
tropical regions has extraordinary
stories to tell of the strange mimicry
of leaves and flowers by insects.
Sometimes the purpose of the imita
tion seems to be concealment and
sometimes the laying of a snare to
catch other Insects. A curious in
stance of this was noticed on the
Gold coast of Africa by a member of
a British scientific expedition when
he stopped to examine a singular look
ing white flower with a blue center.
He found, to his astonishment, that
it was not a flower at all, but a spi
der's web. and that the supposed light
blue heart of the flower was the spi
der itself lying in wait for its prey.
The legs of the cunning spider, yel
low mottled with brown, were ex
tended In such a way as to resemble
the divisions between the petals of
the flower.
The web Itself, very delicately
woven Into a rosette pattern, with
white, and three threads that sus
pended it from the bushes were so
fine as to be almost invisible. The
whole thing had the appearance of
being suspended in the air upon a
stem concealed beneath.
When the scientist knocked the
spider from its perch into a white
gauze net his surprise was increased
upon seeing his captive instantly turn
from biue to white. Its former mimi
cry had been practiced as a snare;
now it was playing a similar game for
the sake of concealment.
But the end of the performance was
not yet reached. When the investiga
tor shook his captive its body again
changed color, becoming this time of
a dull greenish-brown. Later he cap
tured another larger specimen of the
same species of spidf r. whose flow er
web resetvbled an orchid. This spider
exhibited the sam remarkable power
of changing its color.—Harper's
Weekly.
TRAPS ALWAYS MEAN MICE
How Window Display of Neighboring
Hardware Dealer Frightened Away
the Prospective Tenant.
"It’s the mice.’’ said the woman who
had returned from an inspection of
the renting agent’s choicest fiats.
"The place must be fairly alive wiih
them. I never could stand mice.’’
In vain did the agent protest that
mice could not be hired to live in
such immaculate apartments as his.
The woman cut short his protestations
with a sweetly incredulous smile.
"Don't tell me that,” she said. "If
the neighborhood isn't alive with
them, why does the hardware dealer
on the corner keep all those mouse
traps in the window? That is an un
failing sign. I have lived in flats for
twenty years, and have learned that
if the stores in a neighborhood make
a big display of mouse-traps the
flats provide the mice for them to
catch. So often have I had that les
son hammered home that I study the
mouse-trap situation before signing a
j lease."
Maybe that is the way those twen
ty-odd other women who scorned my
flats on account of mice found out
they were there.” mused the agent.
Then, before showing the flats
again he persuaded the dealer to ro
i move his mouse-traps to a less con
I spicuous place.
Hatched Out Thrushes' Eggs.
An interesting experiment with
thrushes' eggs in an incubator has
been carried out lately at Norfolk,
Ragland. The little grandson of a
larmer who owns an incubator, plead
ed with the farmer to put the threo
iittie eggs in the incubator. To
please the child he did so, though ho
did not think the experiment would
l>e successful, a- he was running ttio
incubator at a teat of 102 degrees.
Hut the eggs hatched, and they were
then placed in a blackbird's nest
which contained four eggs. The fos
ter parents cared for the little
strangers, and now both the young
thrushes and the blackbirds have
flown.
A Black Moment.
This is a true story, its victim Is
altve and very mucn ashamed of the
following disgraceful incident in his
past:
He had just arrived at college, very
young very callow It was his wish
to do the right thing by literature.
Rducation, said he—nothing like it.
. o finding himself once in a gathering
of upper classmen who were airily
bandying about the names of great
poets, the youth suddenly blurted
this:
*',ay, tell me—where can I get a
good Kngllsh translation of Rosetti?”
'Wars of frantic atonement have not
washed it away.
Semi-Indirect Lighting.
A well known company that spe
cializes in lighting fixtures is at pres
ent experimenting on what may bo
called a semi-indirect lighting system.
■ n this, instead of throwing all of the
light to the ceiling, from which it may
be dirt used and reflected, a portion
only of the light will he so directed,
while the rest of it will be allowed to
pass downward or outward through
the inside reflector and the outer
idnss casing. Various physiological
and psychological tests are being
i made to determine the proper ratio
between the indent snd the direct
j uguung.—onup Noien ^uwrterly.
THAT
AWFUL
BACKACHE
Cured by Lydia E. Pir,knw
Vegetable Compound
Morton’s flap, Kentucky _«r
fered two years with female disnH^’
ba'l and I
continual bac&b5
awful' Tas SiffiP!J
awtui. I could not
stand on my feJ
Inns enoush to cook
a meal s victuals
without my b«k
n^rly killing
and 1 would bara
such dragging £
sat ions i
hardly bear it $
naa soreness in each side. could
stand tight clothing, and wasirwwff
I was completely run down. oKl
vice I took I.ydia E. Pinkham’sW
table Compound and I Tver Illh
am enjoying good health. It t, nn»
more than two years and I have
had an ache or pain since I do all ter
own work, washing and everythin/
and ne ver have the backache any mow
1 think your medicine is grand and I
praise it to alt my neighbor! If tot
think my testimony will help other,
you may publish it.’’-Mrs. Outre
Woodall, Morton’s Gap, Kentucky.
Backache is a symptom of organic
weakness or derangement, If.™
have backache don’t neglect it To
get permanent relielf you must reach
the root of the trouble. Nothing
know of will do this so surely as Lydia
E. Pinkham’s Compound. 1
Write to Mrs. Pinkham, at
Lynn, Mass., for special adiice
Your letter will bo absolutely
confidential, and tho advice free.
HE HAD THEM IN A CORNER
Clergyman's Rebuke to Thoughtlvi
Youths at Once Neat and
Disconcerting,
A well-known clergyman was one
day in a barber’s shop, when four or
five young . walked in whom ha
knew by their voices, but who did net
recognize the man in the chair, with
lather all over his face. They pro
ceeded to spend the time by telling
stories and using expressions which,
to say the least, were rather strong.
When the barber pulled away the
towel the clergyman, cleanly shaved,
stood before them. So nonplussed
were they that no one tried to take
the vacant chair, and the barber
called several times— Next gentle
man! Next gentleman!”
The clergyman smiled somewhat
grimly as he said:
"It Isn't a bit of use, John. There's
not a man here who has the effront
ery to answer to that name."
HAD CAUGHT THEM.
He (after ho had kissed her)—Mj!
what’s that noise back of us?
She—I guess papa's trying his new
motion picture machine.
Original "Hello Bill.”
William G. Meyers, who died In
Philadelphia, Pa.. January 7, 1911. I*
said to have been the original Hello
mil" of the Fraternal Order of E'is
From the Magazine of American
History.
AT THE PARSONAGE.
Coffee Runs Riot No Longer.
"Wife and I had a serious time of I?
»hile we w ere coffee drinkers.
"She had gastritis, headaches, belc
Ing and would have periods of sc
ness, while I secured a daily headac «
that became chronic.
"We naturally sought relief by drug
without avail, for it is now P*
enough that no drug will cure the 1
eases another drug (coffee) sets up.
particularly, so long as the dru
which causes the trouble is continu _
"Finally we thonght we would
leaving off coffee and using Postum.
noticed that my headaches disappeu*
like magic, and my old ‘trembly ne
ousness left. One day wife said,
you know my gastritis has gone?
"One can hardly realize what 0
um has done for us.
"Then we began to talk to °
Wife’s father and mother "ere ^
coffee drinkers and sufferers. ^ ‘‘
headaches left entirely a short ■
after they changed from coffe*
Postum. _.f.
"I began to enquire among my’ ‘
ishioners nnd found to my :lt,t0
ment that numbers of them u p ^
um In place of coffee. Many 0
ministers who have visited o ■
sonage have become entbusia^ c
plons of Postum.” Name K-'e3
Postum Co., Rattle Creek, Mich.
Read the little book, ‘ The Ro*"’ ,
Wellvllle,” In pkgs. “There’s a reasofW
V.xer rrad <hc bHotc TS'f
, -inf npufnrn ^ *.*-*•*
Irfie Krituuet uuci ***** **
latcrcft