64 NATURE STUDY REVIEW [8:2— Feb., 1912 



cago I came to the conclusion that those who Hved there were 

 doomed. We have studied history all these generations, and 

 have been taught that all congested cities were doomed to fall. 

 Rome, among other ancient cities, fell, because its men of blood 

 and muscle had to go to the wars, and the people of the con- 

 gested parts lost their vitality. Every third generation ought 

 to revert to the soil. I came back to Dubuque and congratulated 

 the people of my ward upon the happy conditions in which they 

 live. The majority of them own their own homes. 



After seeing the conditions in the large cities and studying 

 the happy conditions of our own laboring men; after hearing 

 some one say that no one should be allowed to live on the streets, 

 but in parks, and another say that children should be educated 

 in the open air; that they should be taught homecraft, agri- 

 culture, etc. — those things that ^ help to make happy, con- 

 tented homes ; and another that the weakest point in our edu- 

 cational system is the long vacation ; after considering all 

 these conditions, I thought of a plan that would do away with 

 these evils. We selected the name "Park Life," — as suggestive 

 of people with homes of their own, with little parks around 

 these, and with surely an ideal place to live. They will live 

 "Park Life", not slum or tenement life. People so raised and 

 educated, whether in school or home, become steady, reliable, 

 and skilled workmen. ]\Ianufacturers can depend upon them 

 and are coming to realize this, and will establish factories in 

 cities that have laborers of this class. 



Now the object of "Park Life" is to teach the children 

 how to raise the different vegetables, fruits, and flowers, and 

 to take care of things so raised, and to teach them to cook 

 these. Then they can go home and run their own gardens, keep 

 their own chickens, and help to make life happy and contented. 



There is a good deal in the old saying about the need of 

 returning to the soil every third generation: "Park Life" has 

 to do with the vitality of the child. The internal conditions 

 of a life are more important than the external. A person who 

 has the vitality, the resisting power to beat off every onslaught 

 of disease, is far better off than he who is kept well simply by 

 guarding himself. 



Therefore you can readily see that the boys who are brought 

 up in a school like "Park Life" are trained in the right channel, 

 and built up with strong, healthy bodies. They become men and 

 women who desire a home with a piece of ground on which to 

 raise their children. 



