Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 32, Number 42, Decatur, Adams County, 17 February 1934 — Page 5

Ivernment Is Testing Of Subsistence " 1 Homesteads In Nation

W 'TTriic7oih>«iug ui- 1 3 W by M • - national 11 " a ®l,\rP'»"'' ll m '»« N «* Menl"" 1 made 01 gff Homestead project.)»ecld „. r ,i td’" >ly 4lHs.hk tn >'"■ ' ,arly dp,ade! ' •ne lW* nr v. ha" automatically ==Wf...|t dmmg the depresW . result there has devellA ■,,de.pre»'l 111 tIU ; r K»tl>m of " I,lUß,ry fr ■Jopmen: <’f no '’ rdpl ' of .. have termed in the ■Lime farming "'. a devel «hich *« r i kpra ■L on small tracts of land ■J,’ iart <>t the family tn■“Ximt tn addition cash Y ■ I meet the < ash needs, n- ■ would be mailer where y. 3 bP , n position to oh- ■..- „ f th. ■ Hhnod from land. ■Lpnre farm r. is not new B\. f id el .otiaiiltnral econo- ■ u ‘ r .-e numbers of families ; . v the i. n--us as agricul’’,..w . always have < i.-mers. These |Btei' luitiid ’be mountains E18,,;-'.: ■ I‘"' rt> S | ' ,l ‘ ;□ m<l • outside the |Be»-»- of <. a. vial agricul M rJu-.tieii urietiltural ecK | UV . . calling this ,(vn t -hlv estimated census class|Bh of •■imilies in the . >■ ntially subfamrr-. At least, they |BV ■■ mmued in comagrieii. nal production a;.-! noticeably betfL.it many urban E: t : ,.. tropic of small o .urban tracts ;||LV 1 live a type of still be avail|B I-.' ' 111 industry, t Effort. ■> teltce home I . {jß « . had our midst but '!■ V- ,'., nt OH the one elrializatnm .m the other. j ' el f.’.'i. > . .naming t his >• itv B r ‘a 1 ' iiltiiral econo K; ailed part farming and what the city j B*'* itao . garden cities &dett suburbs. |B r?r "* : ' :: ' vhen an eighty ■ ■■■..,! See'ion Ins. ‘“'l i» National Indus- ■ Rrtovi’rv \. r by Congress n*peat it here: To provide for aid the r.il: 'iibution of th" ,.f population in <. m.es $25,000,1,30 hereby n .01. available to I’resid.'m. to be used by 'iiri.iu.! Hell agencies as B> nuiv establish and under ri gula: ..ms as he may IB**' for .iking loans for I

I Figure in Investigation of Army Contracts I V I wffe "ww Rml ■tb» vly * > <« I ? i<?« 3 Jk IKMM - Jr" ' &Siv ■ Att y- Gtn - Cuaauiugs ■ |bi fjOSii of War Dem ' Scc Ed " ald H "hiJe Washington is still easn:nr from the effects oi revelations brought to l<ht by the Senate probe of 7’" and air mail contracts" nXf"sensation is on the way as Secretary o VV r ar Dern with approval President Roosevelt pushes the probe into army contracts. Startling disclosures aie hinted at by Attn Hom.r .nd »»v those in the know, indictment of at least two national figures is «P*cte<l. Om rs So . 7vSs ffitant of War Harry Woodring, who was followed by ; Wri war fli«. n«mber rs Indiana National Guard and official of the Legion. In allo is Edward Hajes, National Commander of the Legion, whois believed to be petinvestigating rumored that Legion officials offered to influence War Department purchase, for retainers as high as $50,000.

I and otherwise aiding in the purchase of aubiiistence homesteads. The moneys collected as repayment of said loans shall constitute a revolving fund to be administered as directed by the President for the purposes of this section. Subsequently President Roosevelt issued an executive order placing administration of the fund under Secretary Ickes of the Department of the Interior and the Division of Subsistence Homesteads was established. Thirty Projects Approved. To date there have been approved more than thirty projects for establishing subsistence homestead involving a total outlay of about i 10.000.000, with development now in varying stages All of the projects approved have characteristics ot tiielr own. differing as the nature of the soil, the climate, the opportunities for employment and the type of people who will occupy the homesteads differ. In some cases much emphasis is being placed on attaining a high degree of self-sufficiency. In certain developments the occupant will grow vegetables and fruits but may not attempt to raise poultry as in other case® in others the occupant will have a cow and other livestock to supply tlie family's i needs. The sunt of |25.0m1,0t»(» is not adequate to undertake a wholesale movement of this type hut it will be of demon.-.tratloaul value and provide a testing ground in this field in addition to being some 10,000 to 12.000 families or more gain a start in this way of life 1 through which they can combine community life with rural life—in I other words, eliminating them selves from complete dependence on . either agriculture or industry while developing instead an inter'dependence on hoth. So that they may be of the greatest possible demonstrational value, I the sites for development are be- . ing selected very carefully and i with a view of placing them at many points over the nation. Homesteads in Ohio. The first loan approved soon al | ter the division was organized m ; September was $50,000 to the unit ' committee of the Dayton Council i of Social Agencies. Inc., at Dayton. ' Ohio, for the establishment of thirty-five homesteads with two to I three acres for each on a trad of I laud only three miles from that industrial city. ' Here the principle of self-help i has been injected, with the unit committee selecting settlers from a large number of applicants so as to have available a variety of artisan and other skills within the mem bers of the community. Many of those selected were unemployed some of whom have now obtained gainful employment; others are employed on a part-time basis. In all cases, however, the members of this community have been drawn from among the low income group. They are doing most of the work of building their homes themselves, with the government loan covering principally the purchase of ma-

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1931.

terials. Several houses are nearly complete. A Farm Factory. In .Monmouth County, N. J., near I Hightstown, a project is being | worked out to provide homestead t opportunities for about 200 Jewish t needle workers from the clothing r trades of New York, with a few t from Newark, Jersey City and t Philadelphia. Here a factory, prl- ■ vately financed, will be established land the factory management will | keep dose contact with the New I York market, fifty miles away. The unfinished goods will be • brought out frojn New York by r truck, finished and returned for 1, the filling of orders. t Tho workers will have an opporf tnnity to leave the centre of one of | the most congested industries and , yet to continue in their trade, em- . ploying theii spare time and peri- . ods of unemplyoment in providing . themselves with vegetables, fruits > and other products which they s have limited ability to buy. Are industries willing to deccni tralize? There is much evidence j that many of those suited to rural t locations are ready to take this t step. A sieedlng up of the tempo , of business generally may start a . heavy movement in that direction, ~ and such a movement, in turn, , with its attendant building activity and re-equipping, might contribute J to maintaining the tempo. I An Indiana Project. 1 At Decatur, Ind., a project cons isting ot forty-six homesteads is being j undertaken. Decatur is a small ; city of diversified industry repre- > s< nting a type of decentralized in--1 diistrial development, it has a hous- ) lug shortage, a relief problem and, > ot course, an unemployment prob- ,• lein. In this instance the occupants . are being selected from among lowincome groups who are ordinarily hard-pressed to make both ends meet, whose standards of living )‘;*»e been limited, and who have I idle time which can be put to use. ( The occupants are being chosen largely from the groups with a ru‘rjl background. Living on small tracts of land, these families will I b» able to produce food which they cannot now buy and which, when ( upplied for themselves, will re t iea.-e other portions of their small ! income for other foodc and other goods which "iey could not buy unj less their iucoines were larger and ( on a more stable basis. For inf stance, they will be able, if their trouey income remains the same, to j buy more flour, meat, and such inI direct and direct products of agri- , culture as cotton and woolen clothII . , . ing and shoes. * I t ! Sutmarginal Farmers. I 1 In Georgia quite a different type j | of development is being undertaken I j There, in Jasper and Putnam Couu- - j ties, a situation exists which has Ju duplicate in many other sections f through the South. These counties , 1 lie in the Piedmont. Farmers are . | living there on poor, eroded lands. < I many of them requiring relief, often , : isolated, and. in a few instances, J without a community life of any consequence judged from the best

social standards, and with narrow. educational opportunltlua. There are in the same counties t large areas of good land where the economic opportunity for the farm er would pave the way for iMlftutlon ut many other things. The sum of $l,()0u,00u has buen allocat- | ed for this project, which is being | worked out in cooperation with the • Cnlversity System of Georgia, comj prising seventeen institutions, and , with other government agencies. The plan for this project ante- j dates the appropriation for subsis-! fence homesteads by Congress. It calls for a settlement program rec- 1 ognizing the importance of schools ■ . and of community life and of mak-. I ing available to the farm families t i now living on worn-out lands an . o, r.ortunlty to resettle on good ~ j lands. The poor lands will be taken j I out of production of farm products . and turned into forests and other I uses which will make possible a I halt in the damages wrought by , erosion and the rebuilding of the land for such need as may arise in , generations to come. , The Georgia program recognizes r that the net area devoted to commercial agricultural production should not be increased at this I timx Small industries will be deI vcloped there, privately financed. . to provide opportunities for em- . rloyment, particularly in connect tion with the processing of pros ducts ot a more intensive agricul- . ture than now exists la those conn ties. Stranded Miners. ] Through the Appalachians the dis vision is attemptrng to meet one a of the most nerious challenges of 1 all —but again it cannot hope to do • bo on a wholesale sca.e ror the pre- ■ sent. There are found hundreds of miners, no longer operating because of the smaller demand and lower prices for coal and tho development o f better machinery for handling it. When tho owner closed down operations, he left behind the ’ miners and their families. S In some of these regions, partic I ularly in Pennsylvania. West Vir- • ginia. Kentucky, and Tennessee. • there are miners who have been i- receiving public or private relief I. funds for as many as five years. >- Some of them fortunately were los sated on lands which they could - cultivate, but the mast serious v problem is presented by those livs ing near tho mouths of mines in g areas of poor land where even the u most devoted effort in homo pro- ■. duction of food brings small return a in proportion to the effort expendl- ed. I In Tygart Valley, West Virginia, 1 neur Elkins, a community is befng y established where three groups of n stranded people will seceive an e opportunity to settle. The first 1 group is composed of miners; the r second of lumber workers left afi- t>r the shutting down of commer--1 cial timbering operations; and i- third, of submarginal farmers who r have marched steadily up the inouno tain sides as erodism washed ai- way tlie top soil of their farms. As I- the farmers moved up tlie slopes i- their standards of living fell and they became more isolated, with long dstances to market, to school and the benefits which come with assoc rat ii n with other people. t . The Tygart Valley development j Involves the establishment of a new community. It lies adjacent to s the comparatively new and expaudB ing Monongahela National Forest, B where there Will be opportunities B for employment for some of the homestead occupants. I’riwate capiu tai is interesting itse.i in the poss- . ibilities of establishing iudustrieu there involving the use of tho rich t wood lesouries. There, as in all other cases, the division considers this way of life a involving agricultural production in terms of home use and community exchange and not a» an attempt to compete with commercial agriculture. In Steel Districts. At Youngstown, Ohio, and Birmingham. Ala., projects of quite a different character arc being attempted. At hoth of these centres of- the stool industry there is a heavy unemployment problem and therefore a heavy relief problem. At Birmingham nearly 300 homesteads will be established where it will be possible for the occupants to supplement the income they have or may have in coming yours by producing many of their needs lot foisl and fuel. There the homesteads will form four siq.arato communities. At Yotiugilown Hie division will make an experiment incidental to the development of the imssibilit i< of "spotting'' the homesteads instead of having them formed into compact groupings. In some cases two or three will set up alongside one another; in others, five or xtx, and. in a few instancei. a home stead will be established at some distance from auy other, but adjaiient to existing subutbau developments and small commercial farms land with' facilities such as schools, tiaiisportalion and elec tricity available. A’ Rochester. N i., and at Wil mingloii, Del., the garden home Mead type of. development will be undertaken—small tract., of land from ma acre to three acres. There are certain essentials

Death by the Blue Dan jbe j, The body of a Socialist soldier who took part in the rioting on Austria s “Red Sunday" is regarded as a curiosity by citizens in a V ienna street. Violent death is no more a novelty in the Austrian capital, where Socialist revolution has resulted in a frightful toll of killed and wounded.

w lilch we have emphasized. One of them is that the land selected for platting into subsistence homest. adu must be of good quality. 'lt may be an dsland of good land, as j Is so frequently found, but It must be capable of intensive cultivation and of rich returns in proportion to effort expended. Moreover, it must be low in price, because we | must make certain as far as poss- ' ible that the occupant of the home- 1 stead does not acquire an obliga- ' tion which he can not reasonably ' be expected to repay to the govern- I ' nient over a period of years—twen-, j ty, in most instances. Type of Land Acquired. I We have acquired very good I i land so far, in some cases so lo- ! cated that the occupant of the - . homestead will not have a great i ' distance to go to work, and where i electricity, good roads and often waler services are available, for j less than SSO an acr. i. Forth most part the land obtained for homesteads was at the time under cultivation and employed in commercial agricultural production, with the result that the division i will contribute to a curtailment of the commercial farming aria in- , stead of increasing it. Always, before land is bought, it ■ 'is appraised on the basis of its agI ricultural value; a survey of soil j and of drainage problems is made. ■ Then a topographical survey is made and the layout Os the develop ment undertaken with a view of | ! availing ourselves of the many significant discoveries in recent years of the town and country planners. The houses will vary consider-, ably in cost, in keeping with elhna

“There’s The Doorbell Again” SUPPOSE daily to your door came the butcher, the grocer, the clothier, the furrier, the furniture man, and every other merchant with whom you deal? W hat a tedium of doorbell answering that would mean! • It would be even more impractical for you to visit daily ail these stores to find out w hat they have to otter and the price. j And yet you need those merchants’ service quite as much as they need your patronage. Contact between seller and consumer is essential in the supplying of human needs. Before a sale can be closed the goods must be offered. Every day, through the advertising columns of this newspaper, the merchants of this city come to your home with their choicest wares. Easily, quickly, you get the news of all that is worth while in •the market-places of the world. They arc not strangers at the door, but merchants you know and trust. You are always surer of high quality and fair price when you buy an article advertised by a reputable linn. -nirrnrr-jr — , m-tTiinjiiii fi

atic conditions and the ability of the prospective occupants to pay, even under very liberal financing arrangements; emphasis will lie placed on utility, comfort, convenience and design. Cost of the Houses. I Most of the money will be spent j for the houses. The average home- I ' stead may run up to $2,500 in cost j and in those cases the cost of the i houses is certain to represent an ' outlay of from $2,000 to $2,200. We hope to build houses in some comI inunities for less than $1,500, but it ' will have to bo at tho sacrifice of improvements which I believe every house should have—electrical , 1 running water and a i bathroom. Where any of these t i must be sacrificed the bouse will, i be designed to permit their addi-, ! tion at some future date when the occupant is financially able to ok-1 tain them. Likewise the house: will be designed as to permit of: their enlargement without disturb- ' ing their unity. The Cape Cod ‘ i type of bouse appears unusually . ' well adapted to thia. The houses will vary in size from i three rooms upward, with most of j them in the four-and-five-room sizes aud a few of six rooms. The problem of mounting costs in recent months has not contributed to the ease with which the need for extremely low-cost housing can be met. Restoring Town Hall Salem. Mass. dj.R,' —This “Witch 'City'' is restoring the Old Town, , Hall, which for 12S years has stood.' j rather forlornly, in Derby Square.'

ANCIENT KIDNAP YARN IS SPIKED Philadelphia,—- (U.R>—The recent wave of abductionH throughout the country has revived interest in the legendary tale relating the contemplated kidnaping of William Fenn in 1682. But Dr. Albert Cook Myers, foremost William Penn authority, describes the talc as a myth without basis of fact. The story had its inception in 1870, when a Pennsylvania newspaper published a letter purporting to- have been writtten by Cotton I Mather, famous Puritan clergyman. The letter was dated "September ye 15, 1682," and was addressed to "ye aged and beloved Mr. John Higginson " The letter said, "There is now at sea a ship called the Welcome, which lias on board an hundred or more of the heretics and malig- | nants called Quakers. W. Penn, ! who is the chief scamp, at the head | of them. “The general court has accord-

( WAT IS A . <GARDEN?J

1934 Models in Annual Flowers

Grandmother's garden was largely made of old-fashioned annuals, with delightful names. Do you remember some of them? Kiss-me-cver-the-gardcn-gale. snow-on-the-mountain, love-in-the-mist, i names which were poems in themselves. We still have these flowers, but , grandmother might not recognize some of them, because of the vast i improvements which have been! made by the art of plant breeding. | lt sometimes seems as though there 1 were a race among the plants to see which class shall produce the most beautiful flowers. Perennial flowers have long hud the advantage for a very apparent I reason. They live for years, while annuals must complete their growth in a single season. Os course, a i peony, which does not begin to blossom until it is three years old (from seed) should grow larger , than a poppy, which is Sown in April and must produce its largest bloom in three months or so. lint does it? In favorable sections peony-flowered poppies have approached the peony so closely in size and beauty, it is beginning to be a question whether in another (few years the poppies may not take i the lead.

Page Five

ingly given sucn*l orders ... to [ waylay the said Welcome . . . and to make captive the said Penn and 1 his ungodly crew." The letter recommended "selling the holo lot to zJarbudous where slaves fetch good prices in rum and sugar.'* Dr. Myers points out that tho word "scamp" was unknown until long after 1682 and that Cotton Mather was but ID years old when the letter was said to have been written He points out further, that James F. Shuuk. whose newspaper, the Argus, printed the letter, admitted that the document was a hoax. o Squirrels Gnaw Cables 1- I New Haven, Conn., —(UP)—The strange westward exodus of Connecticut squirrels, observed throughout the Winter, resulted in considerable losees to tlie Southern New England Telephone Company. Fifty cables were reported to have been gnawed by migrating squirrels, who had to have some thing on which to sharpen their teeth. Shortage ot acorns is now bej lieved to have caused the niigration.

So the whole class of annual Howers is advancing, especially In size, variety of form ami range of color, and each year they become more important in the garden 'display.. They seem, indeed, to be gaining on the perennials, in spite of the advantage of longer life which the latter have always possessed. i Plant breeding is carried on among perennials just ar much, and perhaps by a larger number of breeders: but the annuals have a great advantage here in the very point which is a handicap in their individual development. Every year there is a new- generation of annuals, so that experimentation is speeded up. A check on last year's work is made each summer, ami new experiments are prepared With perennials it always take two years, and sometimes three to five, before the merit of a hybrid seedling can be known, and further improvement upon it be attempted. So look among tho annuals this year for new colors, and new types, and try as many of the novelties as you have room for, in order to keep abreast of the great improvements which are being made by tieplant breeds.