there has been a change in these respects, and much time and money are expended on these processes.

The Italians devote some time to their flower gardens, and each of the houses has a flower bed beside the path to the front door. Many varieties of the common flowers are found. At the side of the houses are the vegetable gardens, and extending beyond these are the vineyards and orchards.

MARKETS AND MARKETING FACILITIES.

The apple crop is usually sold in the orchard, the buyer doing the grading and packing. Small lots are generally graded by the farmer and sold to the buyer in boxes or barrels. Usually only one grade is barreled. The culls are sold as evaporator stock, for the evaporatedapple industry has grown in proportion to increased apple production. There are several large evaporators in the neighborhood, owned by Americans, but only one of the Italians has a small plant at his home. None of the fruit is wasted, the very poorest being made into vinegar. An Italian owns one of the largest vinegar plants in the neighborhood, which consumes large quantities of poor stock and waste.

Peaches and strawberries are shipped to northern markets in refrigerator cars. In Springdale farmer's organizations have been formed which handle a large percentage of these two crops. The Italians are not members of these organizations, though there is some talk of their forming an association among themselves.

Grapes are sold in small quantities, being shipped in baskets, but the most of this crop is crushed and made into a sour wine which is sold locally. Many of the vegetables grown are sold to the residents of the town of Springdale, although some small quantities are shipped to northern points.

The transportation facilities are fairly good. The St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad passes through Springdale, connecting northern and southern points. The wagon road between Tontitown and Springdale is one of the best in the county and crops can be hauled to market with little difficulty. The markets for apples are nearly all south or northwest of Springdale; Kansas City, Sioux City, and Texas points are the principal destinations of apple shipments. Very little of the crop is shipped northward, unless the New York crop fails.

PROPERTY OWNED.

Since coming to this locality the Italians have nearly tripled their original holdings of land. The houses have grown from small, oneroom log cabins, whose cracks were plastered with mud, to buildings creditable to any small agricultural community. Seventy families own their land, and all but a few have their property free from debt. The Italians have more than doubled the value of their property. The land for which they paid $8 to $15 per acre ten years ago is now worth $50 to $75 per acre; highly improved land or that lying near Tontitown is worth $100 per acre. This increase has been largely due to the influx of immigrants, who have taken the uncleared land, cut down the trees, and set out the orchards that are now making the land valuable. The estimated value of the Italian property in 1909 was $175,000.

Some of the more prosperous farmers have bank accounts and many have very respectable balances to their credit. They are noted for their ability to save. Some money is used to buy more land, but the greater part is used to improve their properties, to clear more land and to set out greater numbers of fruit trees; for it is from the fruit industry that the colony does and undoubtedly will continue to derive its greatest revenue. The Italians are noted throughout the locality for their capacity for hard work. They seem to toil throughout the entire year, working in the fields day after day.

The productivity of the apple crop a few years ago, as has been noted, greatly stimulated apple growing and aroused the entire community to increased activity in this direction; farmers that had suitable timbered land cleared it and set out apple trees. consequence, practically all of the available land is now in orchards, and the resulting high prices and scarcity of land is one of the hindrances to the rapid settlement of the community.

STANDARD OF LIVING.

There is very little to distinguish the clothing worn by the Italians from that worn by the natives in this community. Occasionally the women are seen in the fields with shawls tied around their heads, no matter how warm the day may be. On Sunday they drive from their farms to the church in vehicles that speak well for the prosperity of the colony.

The houses are neatly painted, appear to be in good repair, and are generally very comfortable. Within, many of them are plastered and in some cases the plaster has been painted or the walls papered, the rooms being neat and well furnished. Every Italian furnishes his table the greater part of the year with products from his cattle, hogs, poultry, and garden, and buys only what is necessary at the stores. There is little opportunity for outside labor and the women and children very seldom do anything but their own housework, or occasionally domestic service in Springdale. They seem to prefer to remain on the farm and, contrary to the custom almost universal in other immigrant localities, the women seldom do any outdoor work except to attend to the flower gardens. Occasionally, in harvest time, they help their husbands in the fields, but for a few days only. This fact is in direct contrast to what is found in most other Italian colonies throughout the South.

Very little sickness has occurred in Tontitown for the land is high and the air is dry and pure. The surroundings are more nearly like those found in Italy than were those at Sunnyside. What sickness there is, is generally among the young children. In the locality during the past five years a total of 11 deaths have occurred, 2 adults and 9 infants. In the corresponding period 79 births are recorded, making a natural increase of 68. The Italians have an organization that employs a doctor from a near-by town. He attends all cases of sickness and gives medicine to all members of the organization. The expense is defrayed by a small monthly assessment levied on each Italian family.

OPPORTUNITY FOR EMPLOYΜΕΝΤ.

During the first few years of the colony's existence practically all the men and young boys that were old enough went into the neighboring coal mines of Kansas and Missouri for the winter months. The money that they earned while working in the mines served to aid them in freeing their land from debt and making the necessary improvements on their farms. A few of the young men continue to go every winter to the neighboring coal mines, working from two to six months during the year, and returning with $100, or sometimes even $200 in earnings.

There is little or no opportunity for outside employment near Tontitown, the Italians doing all their labor themselves. Near Springdale farm help is needed occasionally during the berry-picking season and throughout the summer on the large farms; the usual wages run from $1.25 to $1.50 a day. Sometimes a few of the Italians secure work as section hands on the railroad, getting $1.25 for a tenhour day, but this work is some distance from Springdale. Two of the Italians have opened small grocery stores. These stores, together with a vinegar mill, constitute all the non-agricultural enterprises conducted by the immigrants in Tontitown.

SOCIAL CONDITIONS.

The Italians have social gatherings among themselves. Twenty of them have organized a brass band and furnish music on both American and Italian national holidays.

Three years ago a dramatic club was formed, and since then a play has been given each year, and there is at Tontitown a council of the fraternal order of the Knights of Columbus. Dances and parties are held frequently, and occasionally during the summer small picnics are held in a neighboring grove. For the past few years the chief attraction during the summer months has been an Italian national picnic, to which the public in general is invited. Notices giving the time and date of the picnic are spread throughout the country and people for miles around come on this day to join in the festivities. The Americans are invited to join, and many of the neighboring farmers accept the hospitality of the Italians. The Italian band plays popular airs, and everybody joins in a "bowery" dance on a wooden platform built for the purpose.

On May 16, 1905, the Italian ambassador to the United States, Baron Mayor des Planches, visited the colony and on that occasion the Americans in Springdale and the Italians at Tontitown united forces to make the day a most notable one in the memory of the people of this county.

The Italians do a great deal of neighborly visiting, but up to the present time they associate with the Americans only in a business way, except at these public picnics. On the other hand, Americanization has progressed more rapidly in this locality than in the Italian settlements that are found in the cotton-growing sections of the United States. The old-time prejudice, so pronounced ten or twelve years ago, has slowly died out and very few of the progressive natives have anything to say in disparagement of the Italian settlers. At present in the immediate vicinity of Tontitown there are but few

Americans for the Italians have bought nearly all the land and have transformed this neighborhood into an almost purely Italian settlement.

CHURCH-RELIGIOUS LIFE.

On entering Tontitown from Springdale the first building that comes in view, standing out prominently among the farms, is the new parochial school; the next is the parish house, set in a garden of flowers, and a short distance beyond is the Catholic church. These three buildings were erected by the Italian settlers. The church is already too small to hold the rapidly growing congregation, and plans are now under way to remodel and enlarge it. The church services are conducted in English and in Italian.

EDUCATIONAL CONDITIONS.

As soon as the colony was successfully under way the colonists realized the need of a school. They applied for one to the school board of the district in which they lived, but support from that source was not forthcoming. However, there was an unused schoolhouse at the crossroads, near the center of the Italian settlement, and Father Bandini determined to open this building for the benefit of the Italian children. He secured a teacher from a St. Louis convent and in September, 1898, a school was opened. It is stated that on Friday night following the opening of the school an attempt was made to burn the schoolhouse by a group of young persons who had determined to intimidate or, if possible, drive away the "Dagoes." The fire had been started but a few minutes when Father Bandini noticed it and reached the school in time to put out the blaze before it had done serious damage. The next morning the crowd of incendiaries came out to see the ruins but were met by Father Bandini, backed by a small group of Italians, and after hearing what the clergyman had to say, and seeing that he and his followers were in earnest, the youthful gang, who, after all, represented an irresponsible element, withdrew. Henceforth the school was conducted without molestation. Soon the schoolhouse became overcrowded and a new one was erected and opened in September, 1906. This new building contains 10 well-finished rooms, furnished with modern desks and chairs. The Italians built the school with their own hands and furnished the money necessary for its equipment, the total cost being nearly $5,000. At the present time this is one of the best-equipped graded schools to be found in this section of Arkansas. There are 10 grades and a preparatory school; the teachers are sisters from the neighboring convent. In 1909 there were enrolled 118 pupils, and of this number 18 were Americans. So well is the school managed by these Italians that Americans of the vicinity do not hesitate to send their children to it.

MORAL CONDITIONS.

In all business transactions the Italians have the reputation of keeping their word and meeting their debts as soon as they are due. In selling fruit and wine this idea of honesty is maintained, and it is due to their honesty and uniform business integrity that the prejudice which formerly existed against the Italians has so largely disappeared.

None of the Italians indulge in liquor to excess. They all keep and drink wines, but do not become intoxicated. The universal testimony is that they always conduct themselves in the most orderly manner. At the picnics there are occasional disturbances, but the Italians seldom originate or participate in any breach of peace.

The Italian enjoys home life. Many of the young men and women of the colony have married, but no cases of intermarriage have occurred between the Americans and the Italians. The second generation is rapidly becoming Americanized, mingling quite often with young Americans. Most of the children remain with their parents until they marry, and then they begin to farm for themselves. few have drifted to the cities, but not many, the majority preferring to stay near their parents.

POLITICAL CONDITIONS.

Ꭺ

There are now over 75 voters in the community, and as a rule when election day comes every man is at the ballot box ready to cast his vote.

Father Bandini has looked upon the matter of naturalization as one of great importance and has urged all his followers to secure their papers of citizenship as soon as the law permit ed. None of the Italians have held office, except Father Bandini, and he has been elected to a place on the county advisory board for a number of years. In extent of naturalization this colony was found to be far ahead of any that occupy land in the cotton regions.

They stand together politically on most issues. Doubtless the intelligent influence of the priest has been one of the potent factors in their political solidarity, but from all that can be learned the influence has been wholesome. There is no vote selling and no venality. If they follow their leader rather blindly, it is because they have found the leadership safe.

In fine, the one fact that stands out most clearly in the development and progress of this colony and in contrast to several others studied is the efficient and intelligent leadership which it has enjoyed. Perhaps no Italian colony similarly situated has made more rapid or sure material, educational, or political advancement. A leader who knows both his own people and Americans; who has vision as well as sound business sense; who has secured and can retain the confidence of his followers; who desires to develop a true Americanism and to inspire and instill the love of the highest moral, educational, and political ideals of American life in the foreign-born, is worth a score of years in the progress of a newly established colony. The training of such leaders to protect and teach these children in American life and ideals is a matter worthy of at least partly as much attention by the body politic as the establishment of schools for the civic training of the children in years. The history of Tontitown bears witness to the value of such leadership and such teaching.