The Times. Published on Tuesday and Friday Afternoons. FRIDAY, JULY 1, 1921. ARTS, GRAFTS AND BEAUTIFYING.

Franklin Times, Volume 9, Issue 646, 1 July 1921, Page 6

The Times. Published on Tuesday and Friday Afternoons.

FRIDAY, JULY 1, 1921. ARTS, GRAFTS AND BEAUTIFYING.

“We nothing extenuate, nor augM set « down in malice.” pi

• The public interest which has been aroused in connection with the proposal to form an Arts and Crafts and Beautifying Society in Pukekohe, must be gratifying to the promoter and also to all interested. The best example of how the idea works out in practice, is, perhaps, that of the town of East Aurora in America, now world famous owing to the activities of Elbert Hubbard and the Roycroft shops. When Hubbard went to East Aurora it was a village of about 2000 inhabitants and was merely a flag station on one of the main lines running out of Boston. To-day it is an important express stop and as a direct result of the work idone by the Roycroft shops, over 100,000 people visit the town yearly, Elbert Huobard pc ssessed an artistic sool. He said tbpt if he had only a dollar left in the world he would buy a loot of

btead and a bunch of white hyacinths because man does not live by bread alone. And that is the meaning of it all. Man does not, or should not, live by bread alone. should bo able to feed his soul with beautiful things. Hubbard beautified East Aurora and made it a lovely place of lawns and flowers. He built all the buildings required for his 300 employees in quaint old English design, and the shops were surrounded by lawns and the workers worked among beautiful paintings and statuary. The theory was that beautiful surroundings came out in beautiful results from the finger tips of the worked, The Roycrofters applied arts and crafts to the plain things of life and reaped a big financial -reward. Behind stained glass windows bookbinders who worked for ,the love of art were busy, craftsmen made furniture which would be a thing of beauty down the ages, carpets were woven which were fit to place in the palaces of kings, and hand beaten copper articles were lovingly made to grace the walls and halls of the lovers of real art. East Aurora ibecame the Mecca of; men of letters, o£ poets, painters, philosophers and thinkers. It attracted the best class of visitor in the world, because it possessed those qualities which do attract, beauty and art applied to crafts. And so, to the organisers of the Pukekohe Society, we say aim high, apply beauty to utility and this town will be a show town and will draw the tourist and traveller. Pukekohe can be made beautiful with trees and flowers and lawns, ugly comers can he transformed into jjpeauty -spots. With the proposed society in operation, suggestions for building and painting residences can be given and phin.4 for landscape, gardening prepared. Those interested wilt have the opportuntiy of learning arts and crafts and who can say that some means of marketing the results may not be found which will make Pukekohe a miniature East Aurora. When the public meeting is called, which it will be in about ten days' time, may the public of both kexes attend in large numbers^and seriously take the matter up remembering the Biblical injunction—man does not live by bread alone.