CHAPTER XII 



THE CRUSADE FOR THE COUN- 

 TRY SCHOOL* 



IN most of its aspects city life is com- 

 monly thought more desirable than life 

 in the country. To date it has probably 

 been superior on the whole, and it may still 

 be so; but the advantage, if it exists, is less 

 and less pronounced. In a hundred ways 

 country residence is growing in desirable- 

 ness. Elegant mansions, vicing with the 

 best city houses in almost all imaginable 

 comforts steam heat, running water in 

 rooms, gas for cooking and illumination, 

 electric lights and in art and luxury as 

 well, are numerous now far out upon the 

 prairie, miles from railroads; and such 

 establishments multiply yearly. The free 

 delivery of mails, already general in many 

 rural parts, will increase as roads improve. 

 Motor carriages will supplant horses. To 

 say nothing of 'phone and wire messages, 

 newspapers and other intelligence by mail 



* Reprinted, by permission, from 'the Educational Review. 

 226 



