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HOME AXD FLOWERS 



every penny of their income wisely in the pur- 

 chase of food and clothes, they could not obtain 

 the necessaries for a proper physical life. He 

 shows, further, that another eighteen per cent 

 of the population lived in chronic poverty, al- 

 though their incomes, if properly expended, 

 would suffice to guarantee physical efficiency. 

 That is to say, twenty-eight per cent of the 

 population of a typical English town are in 

 poverty. And these figures agree very closely 

 with those arrived at in Mr. Booth's book "In 

 Darkest England." Mr. Kowntree's book aroused 

 interest among public-spirited citizens of Man- 

 chester. It will be remembered that in Great 

 Britain the corporation of the cities have been 

 intrusted with large powers in the matter of 

 housing the poor and working class. Soon 

 after the publication of Mr. Rowntree's book 

 (early in 1901) a few ladies and gentlemen of 

 Manchester who had long been convinced that 

 *'the tone of life in our large cities is degener- 

 ating and that drunkenness, betting and other 

 vices are steadily claiming more devotees," 

 formed a committee to do away, if possible, 

 with soma of "the terrible squalor and misery 

 of the Manchester poor." One of the most 

 striking facts which impelled them to this 

 movement was the action of the army recruiting 

 officials in rejecting as unfit 8,000 out of 11,000 

 who volunteered for service in South Africa. 

 The fact that eight out of every eleven volun- 

 teers were unfit because of improper conditions 

 of life alarmed the citizens' committee, and it 

 at once began an investigation into the condi- 

 tions of life among the "lower classes." A 

 searching inquiry of clergymen, teachers, doc- 

 tors, lawyers, heads of large mercantile estab- 

 lishments and others whose positions gave them 

 large knowledge of the conditions of life among 

 great masses of people showed that special a-rt- 

 tentii)n must be paid to the problem of housing. 

 In many parts of the city it was found that 

 terrible overcrowding was common, and besides 

 a large number of the houses were, from a 

 sanitary point of view, totally unfit for human 

 habitation. The corporation succeeded in arous- 

 ing public spirit, and at once set about working 

 out a definite program. It had already acquired 

 a large estate in tiie suburbs on which it was 

 purposed to erect Avorkingmen's cottages. By 

 the suggestion of, and with the assistance of 

 the citizens' committee, the corporation drew 

 up plans for a series of cottages of five differ- 

 ent tA^es, varying in size and external appear- 

 ances. In most of these provision is made for 

 a large living room, three bed rooms, and a 

 bath room, and also a kitchen, small pantry and 

 coal house. Gardens are planned for each 

 house, which, whenever possible, faces on a 

 xvide street east and west, . so that the full 



benefit of sunshine may be obtained every day. 



The secretary (^^Ir. T. R. Marr) of "The Cit- 

 izens' Committee for the Improvement of the 

 Unwholesome Dwellings and Surroundings of 

 the People" (which is the rather cumbersome 

 name of this betterment association) writes 

 that all the better element of the town is acting 

 in earnest cooperation with the committee. 



"To the healthy mind there is something in- 

 vigorating in the thought of winter pastimes, 

 and especially in those that demand brisk exer- 

 cise in the keen outdoor air. Tropical winds 

 are delicious, but the snap of ice and the glitter 

 of frost suggest a reser^^e of moral support. 

 When the wind almost screams and the snow- 

 dust is whirled about, and one's shoes growl 

 and complain as one walks on the dazzling 

 white ground, then come that physical vigor 

 and that spiritual vim which defy cold and 

 revel in the rough caresses of the polar currents. 

 The warm room, with its sputtering grate or 

 crackling wood fire, is a charming place, but a 

 whiff of crystal-bearing air and a tingling sense 

 in cheeks and ears are enough to make one for- 

 get fire and rugs and easy chairs, if one really 

 is a lover of outdoor -pastimes."— Maurice 

 Thompson. 



Nervous Prosperity** 



A speaker at the recent conference of the 

 improvement associations of Cook county, Illi- 

 nois, scored modern life very severely and 

 wittily. Among other epigrammatic sentences 

 he gave these: "We are now suffering from the 

 disease of ci^dlization, the most acute phase of 

 which is nervous prosperity. To recover, we 

 must get back to nature, and must realize that, 

 among other things, just what lungs are to a 

 healthy, happy man, parks are to a healthy, 

 happy city life." 



Great Things Planned for PIiiladelpEia 



Philadelphia is evidently very much in 

 earnest over her new parkway project, if one 

 may judge from the arguments advanced and 

 plans made by the prominent men whose names 

 appear in a handsomely illustrated brochure 

 just published by the Parkway Association. It 

 is compiled by Mr. Albert Kelsey, secretary of 

 the association, and contains an argument and 

 plea by the Hon. James M. Beck, with press 

 opinions and letters from leading citizens. A 

 city, declares Mr. Beck, must make itself at- 

 tractive at the peril of falling behind in the 

 competition of modern life. The American city 

 whieh first realizes this fact, he says further, 

 "will hold the ultimate primacy on this con- 

 tinent." The special feature now advocated 

 by the Parkway Association is a splendid mod- 

 ern boulevard to extend from the City Hall to 

 Fairmount Park. Philadelxjhia, it contends, 



