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Show 1 f3l fa &loi ISpl I K:J UA ' 1 v, Tv-fl ; 4 1 , , -: A , i 'N, '"l. i -v i ACK to the soli ! Idaho or bust 1 ft - 4 J . 4. 'VM luO I Wen. aoyway, Chicago woke up f V 1 M f HhMM L I scene a bit out of the ordinary' F S JV V U T' Hl s .?) I on the grounds of the Chicago k V ! A V d liVt9f' ilotor club at Sixtieth street and V ? If ft,, r&th A-ll V sM Cottage Grove avenue' wlthlD n v I ? 1 " i-irtl -1 T stone's throw of the Midway of X ! JL . 5 W ," f wZT L OJ World's fair fame. First im- V, , i (Tf , C r TTll'x'!r pressions recorded several big . M 4 1 " Ji X ' rS-W rmy trucks, 25 automobiles of varied vintages X " ! CK x l $ ' I i . f " " and makes, a score or more of "bungalow trailers," fikk " "-vl I t V 1 men and women In khaki, children of all ages. S . v- s Z LZ'S t if family washing flapping on lines, fires going, the jj "kI T L,T t smell of bacon and coffee, family breakfast groups. s - .r4?J . x , hz? -m r Sf- v f and a big sign that set forth that the Chicago ' frr1 tT I - ?? ' Ji r- Motor club was entertaining "Gen." W. D. Scott's &JA&$2T Att2 JX&.JCOrr , T modern caravan, en route from Brooklyn, N. Y, sJ' 'L! i "jy to Buhl, Idaho. moral and financial. He will find a real home -s s i A t-iu'' -VX" a 1 "Times change and we with them," sagely re- And old Mother Nature will likely throw in health J C 5 XsSM5 marked an ancient philosopher. They do, indeed, strength and happiness for good measure. i-SW i h fs f" 1 rf."r though probably we change less Uian do the times. One of the photographs reproduced herewith .Ll I V For Chicago, young as It is-it was not incor- fhows Koya, N A1,en of the CWca Motor clul, If " " J HJm" 5 porated as a city until 1837 has seen many a welcoming William D. Scott, leader of the cara V v' Y i T'- " caravan headed west in the old days. But they van jjr gcott used to ,.ve .Q Mlnnenpoiis. Then - were caravans of "prairie schooners," drawn by ne went t0 Boston. Later he became a successful L oxen or mules. And the men and women were go- sales maDager ln Brooklyn, with a home at 23(5 Arr S'rfnrFnTP'rf nr -an!. lng forth to face the unknown, fight Indians, turn Decatur street. He is a middle-aged man. with a OOTTfrj aTJXOIV?- up the prairie sod, contend with grasshoppers and wife and tw children. Dnrine the war he made 272? JflftZZT ZZjff-- ACK to the soi ! Idaho or bust 1 Well, anyway, Chicago woke up wi. J the other morning to stare at a L I scene a bit out of the ordinary p O I on the grounds of the Chicago A I ,rf V Motor club at Sixtieth street and (a fyr Cottage Grove avenue, within a r stone's throw of the Midway of y fl World's fair fame. First im-'(-fir presSions recorded several big rmy trucks, 25 automobiles of varied vintages and makes, .a score or more of "bungalow trailers," men and women ln khaki, children of all ages, family washing flapping on lines, fires going, the smell of bacon and coffee, family breakfast groups, and a big sign that set forth that the Chicago Motor club was entertaining "Gen." W. D. Scott's modern caravan, en route from Brooklyn, N. Y to Buhl, Idaho. "Times change and we with them," sagely remarked re-marked an ancient philosopher. They do, indeed, though probably we change less than do the times. For Chicago, young as it is it was not incorporated incor-porated as a city until 1S37 has seen many a caravan headed west in the old days. But they were caravans of "prairie schooners," drawn by oxen or mules. And the men and women were going go-ing forth to face the unknown, fight Indians, turn up the prairie sod, contend with grasshoppers and drought and put up a fifty-fifty battle with fate for a home and a living. Not so this caravan. It was traveling in comfort com-fort and at speed. It knew Just where It was going. go-ing. It was scheduled for kindly attentions along the way and a warm welcome. Its land was secured. se-cured. There was water for irrigation. Houses and warehouses were ready. Everything down to Ihe last detail had been arranged. Failure was unthinkable. Success seemed assured. Shades of Kit Carson, Marcus Whitman and Brlgham Young! What a contrast the Lincoln highway of 1921 to the Santa Fe trail of the Thirties, the Oregon trail of the Forties, the Mor-pion Mor-pion trail of the Fifties, the "Flke's Peak-or Bust" of the Sixties! The figures of the census of 1920 show that the trend of the population from the country to tie city has become greatly accentuated since 1910. Now, for the first time ln the country's history, more than half the entire population is living In "urban territory." That Is to say that of the population popu-lation of 105,683,108 persons 51.9 per cent are living liv-ing ln cities and 48.1 per cent in rural communities. In the census of 1910 the corresponding percentages percent-ages were 46.3 and 53.7. Tills Is a condition that Is regarded as neither desirable nor entirely safe. Therefore many are the projects to get city dwellers back to the soil. Back to the soil ! An American slogan for Americans Amer-icans Yet the country does not extend a general Invitation to' all comers. It Is not ready to support an indefinite number of miscellaneous applicants. Mother Nature is very far from being the benevolent benevo-lent old soul she Is pictured by the fictlonists who write farm prospectuses. She does not give her bounties for nothing. She demands full payment. And she exacts full penalty for mistakes. It Is the surest kind of a sure thing that the country home that pays Its own way means hard work for somebody. There will be blisters, backaches back-aches and sore muscles that will have to be worked from soreness into strength. Ere the billowing grain delights his eye, the city man will understand under-stand why providence or nature or evolution provided pro-vided him with eyebrows. Moreover, there Is a slowness and a deliberation in nnture's ways and methods that to the city man, used to doing things upon the Instant, will be little less than maddening. It is useless to rage agnlnst ' the ordered processes; they cannot be hurried. The city man must learn to wait for seed time and harvest and to possess his soul in patience. So It is evident that there Is a balance to be struck. The city is one thir.g; the country' is another. an-other. The city cannot be transplanted in the country. And no ona can strike this balance for the would-be back-to-the-lander ; he must do It for himself. In striking this balance, however, there is mure to be taken Into account than the dollars. There are the beauties of nature. There is pure air. undetiled by smoke and soot; a place in the sun. wHh no skyscrapers overhead to shut out the blue sky and the stars and the moon ; honest thfrst that makes nectar of the gods out of water from the well and buttermilk from the spring-house; an appetite that would put a soul under the rib- of Death; sleep the like of which no city man ever knows. From many viewpoints fanning is the highest and best of callings. Farming is an honest business. busi-ness. The farmer is no useless consumer, no parasite. para-site. He is a producer; he contributes directly to the wealth of the nation. He is Independent and Is beholden to so man for place or favor. He does not climb up by dragging others down. Land Is the fundamental natural resource from which the nation draws Its life. And the farmer Is the bulwark of the country. Yes ; back-to-the-land Is the right thing for the right man. He will find Independence mental, moral and financial. He will find a real home. And old Mother Nature will likely throw in health, strength and happiness for good measure. One of the photographs reproduced herewith shows Koyal N. Allen of the Chicago Motor club welcoming William D. Scott, leader of the caravan. cara-van. Mr. Scott used to live in Minneapolis. Then he went to Boston. Later he became a successful sales manager in Brooklyn, with a home at 230 Decatur street. He is a middle-aged man, with a wife and two children. Durlne the war he made a reputation as a "four-minute man." He had made up his mind to drive to the West this summer, sum-mer, buy a ranch, hang up his hat and grow up with the country. Several of his neighbors grew interested and asked to go along. And that's how the colony Idea started. state and county officials ln different parts of the West. Gov. David W. Davis of Idaho responded promptly with' a definite offer. Mr. Scott went to Idaho and made a study of land In Twin Falls county, along the Snake river. Here's the way Mr. Scott tells it: "That settled it. When I saw that land I knew it was just the place I was looking for, and I immediately im-mediately took an option on 5,120 acres. The land was offered to me at the uniform price of $125 an acre, with water rights, 525 an acre to be paid down at purchase and the balance within ten years at 6 per cent interest. "This whole land project Is supervised by the state. It is financed by the Idaho Farm Development Develop-ment company, the president of which Is E. T. Meredith, who was President Wilson's secretary' of agriculture and who Is a practical fanner and the proprietor of an agricultural newspaper lu Des Moines, la. Mr. Meredith and his associates, Incorporating under the Cary act, spent 5625,000 developing these tracts. The waters of three tributaries trib-utaries of the Snake river, draining the watershed of the Jarbldge mountains, 47 miles southwest-ward southwest-ward from our colony, were dammed and '.m-pounded '.m-pounded in the Cedar Creek reservoir. Thence a steel flume leads the water down through the canyon of the Little Salmon river, irrigating the lands which we have taken up for our future homes and ranches. We have, in nil. an area of about three miles by six. "This irrigation enterprise immediately ' made marvelously fertile many thousands of acres which theretofore had been merely a sagebrush prairie. The area had been used only as cattle range and was one of the most sparsely settled districts In the state. With irrigation, there isn't a better country for growing alfalfa, onions and the famous Idaho potatoes. On farms in the same neighborhood and enjoying like advantages to ours there have been grown world record crops of alfalfa, wheat to the tune of 92 bushel to the acre, and potatoes rating as high as 642 bushels to the acre. "Buhl, our nearest railroad town, is about 12 miles from the most distant ranches of our colony. It is a lively town only nine years old, but with about 7,000 population. A fine road, which is more than 50 miles long and which runs directly through our tract, connects Buhl with the new mining town of Jarbldge. Out of the Jarbidge mountains the Guggenheim Interests have taken more gold than all the yellow metal yielded by Alaska. The town of Jarbidge Is the natural center of that rich country, coun-try, and our colony will be Its nearest source of supply, with a good road running straight Into It." Mr. Scott returned to Brooklyn bubbling over with enthusiasm. His enthusiasm was infectious. He was besieged with applications for membership. member-ship. Put Ihe 5,120 acres will make only 12S tracts of 40 acres each. So a weeding-out process was begun. Every prospective member was put through the third degrje. The rule was laid down that every accepted member must be "100 per cent American"; must have at least $3,000 In cash: must he able to take care of himself and family until the first crops are marketed. Even then the 12S members of the colony were quickly secured. In the meantime, the Idaho people, who had evidently evi-dently taken a shine to the Brooklyn people, were doing their part.- Governor Davis visited Brooklyn Brook-lyn and addressed a meeting of the colonists. The Buhl chamber of commerce sent Ben H. Bushman, one of Its leaders and secretary of the Kotary club, with offers of service from the chamber and the club. So the deal went through without a hitch aud the start was made from Brooklyn on July 28, . The only semblance of trouble was over the selection se-lection of those to form the first caravan. 01 course, there was disappointment on the part ol those who had to wait. But there were reasons why all could not go. The principal one Is that il ,o jinjjvooiuie 10 clear roe sageDrusn orr an ol me 5,120 acres all at once and prepare the land foi cultivation. Also, some members require time to close out their business interests to advantage. Probably the second caravan will not set out till next summer. Of the colonists as a whole Mr, Scott says this: "Of the 400 or more ln our colony about 60 per cent are Brooklynites. Approximately 25 per cent now live In other boroughs of New York city) about 10 per cent hall from New Jersey or New England, while the remaining Ave per cent coma ' from scattered localities, some of them in tha South. About 10 per cent of the whole number of these pioneers are former residents of the West, but not more than 15 per cent of them have had any practical experience at farming either ln the East or In the West. "Nobody Is borrowing trouble because of lack of experience, however. Idaho is by no means shortsighted to the advantages the success of so widely advertised an enterprise holds out. Experts from the Idaho Agricultural college are to provide supervision ' and skilled labor for the first year. We are told that If we work in harmony with these experts, obeying their directions, they will guarantee guaran-tee results. The Idaho authorities predict that wa can pay out by the end of the third year on the proceeds of alfalfa, onion seed and potato crops. As further evidence that Idaho waits for us with welcoming arms outstretched, a construction company already Is at work erecting permanent bungalow homes for many of our party, to be available directly on our arrival. And there Is being built a warehouse in which may be stored such household effects pending their occupancy of their new domiciles as the colonists may elect to forward to Idaho instead of consigning to the auction man before they shake the dust of Brooklyn Brook-lyn from their feet. Probably there will be not lesi thn 30 carloads of freight, chiefly household effects, ef-fects, to be forwarded by rail." Some people would doubtless think that an automobile auto-mobile journey of 2,500 miles was quite a trip under un-der the circumstances and that the railroad could do the job not only faster but easier. The colonists colon-ists have figured that all out. Says Mr. Scott: "In the first place, railroad transportation rates are awfully high; we travel much more cheaply j this way. Besides, a motor car is an essential on i an Idaho ranch; why not kill two birds with one stone? We've got a pretty complete caravan;' we're traveling pretty comfortably. Speeding Is I not permitted, the Idea being to maintain a steady pace of about 12 miles on hour on an average, tho caravan touring only during the day and pitching its bivouac each night. In addition fo the passen- I ger cars and the bungalow trailers, there are three three-ton service trucks, an administration car. a traveling postoflice and a quartermaster's I car and a pair of extra trucks whose duty It will j be to run ahead of the caravan during the nights j to keep it properly supplied with provisions and equipment. j "And finally, the tour Itself appeals to us sentl- ; mentally. We're seeing the country to advantage : and we're going to have the delight of going j through Yellowstone National park." j The caravan reached Chicago by way of Albany, ! Buffalo and Niagara Falls, Cleveland and Toledo. : It started west from Chicago over the Lincoln high- way. It will follow the Way to Cheyenne. Wyo., ! where great doings were scheduled bronot:o- , busting, a barbecue and a regular "Out-where-the- j West-begins" celebration. j |