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ROADTOWN
ROADTOWN
BY
EDGAR CHAMBLESS
NEW YORK
ROADTOWN PRESS
150 NASSAU STREET
_All rights reserved_
COPYRIGHT, 1910
BY
EDGAR CHAMBLESS
DEDICATION
This book is dedicated to J. Pierpont Morgan, a _straight_ player of
a _crooked_ game, who, it is said, played his usual role in the Wall
Street manipulations of the Central Railroad of Georgia securities,
which adroitly and legally absorbed the small savings and happiness of
many unsophisticated investors--an action which, in my case at least,
proved to be a blessing in disguise, for it made me _suffer_ first and
then made me _think_. Hence the gratitude and consequent dedication to
Mr. Morgan for starting the train of thought, which finally resulted in
the invention of Roadtown, a plan for side-stepping the _crooked_ game
as now played so that henceforth whosoever will may become a _straight_
player of a _straight_ game.
FOREWORD
Nineveh, Babylon, Rome, London, New York,--all cities from the twilight
of the past to the high noon of the present have been constructed
on one plan, which is no plan at all. Like Topsy, they jest growed,
with no further aims in view than to huddle together for the sake
of companionship and self-protection against enemies. A map of the
haphazard streets straying crookedly through them looked like cracks in
an earthenware dish. The siege-walls which until recently surrounded
them emphasized the prisoner-like existence of their inhabitants.
Noise, dirt, disease, suffocation and confusion, crime--these spirits
of evil took up their abode in the midst of them, never to be
dislodged, and students of political economy, hygiene, decency and
morality wasted eloquence and logic in showing how bad it all was,
and in suggesting picayune and transient remedies. The true Moses,
with the effectual remedy, which will lead us out of our long Egyptian
bondage, arrives only to-day, and if we will but follow the teachings
of the gospel contained in the ensuing pages, we may be free, healthy,
wealthy and happy forevermore.
This Moses of ours, contemporarily incarnated as Mr. Chambless,
arrives at the psychological moment when we are all ready for him. The
Jeremiahs of rotten conditions and the Cassandras of impending woe had
prepared us for the necessity of change, and the Edisons, Teslas and
Lodges of electrical and other inventions had supplied the means for
it. The great riddle was ripe for the guessing: and Mr. Chambless has
guessed it.
Transportation, distribution, and the middle-man,--what a waste of
time, energy, economy and common sense are involved in our present
handling of these elements? The domestic servant problem,--how sorry
and slipshod a solution of it are the hotel and boarding house of
to-day? The elimination of the open country from our children’s
training and from our own opportunities for peace and sanity,--what a
paltry and impotent substitute for it is the hybrid suburb? Personal
independence, social harmony, full value for work done, adequate
leisure after toil,--does not this sound like the Millennium? Read Mr.
Chambless, O ye captives of Civilization, and burst your shackles!
He takes a map and a ruler and draws you a straight line from the
Atlantic coast to the Alleghanies, thence on to the Mississippi, so
across the prairies to the Rockies, and down to the very sands of the
Pacific. What does this line stand for? It stands for the site of
the New City; and there may be as many more of them as you can make
straight lines from any given point to any other, in any direction
along and athwart the continent. A single line of houses, superimposed
upon three lines of railway, one on top of the other, underground,
two stories of living and working rooms above-ground, a continuous
promenade along the roofs, and gardens and country front and back
all the way. Concrete “poured” houses (Edison’s patent); smokeless,
noiseless, unintermittent, arrow-swift trains, local and express,
bearing you at all times, in no time, to your precise destination and
back; telephones, telegraphs, teleposts, parcel-carriers, freight
service, compact, punctual, prompt, accurate, enabling you to live
along the line from part to part and from end to end, and be served
with the best at the cheapest at all times, while sitting in your
easy chair; house-work done mechanically, and your private trade or
profession followed in your own workrooms at minimum expense of time
and effort and at greatest profit; rent reduced, taxes minimized,
slums exterminated, pure food, fresh air and exercise ad libitum;
politics purified, cut-throat competition supplanted by rational
coöperation,--in short, the means for erecting mankind to its full
stature and rendering everybody free, useful, happy and wise can be
secured by Mr. Chambless’s Roadtown, and the moment to begin is Now!
Read his book and get together. Have we not waited long enough? He
has spent half a lifetime perfecting his plans; they are as practical
as they are attractive, and his only opponents are shiftless habits,
stupid inertia, and blind prejudice.
But before the first Roadtown has been built out ten miles into the
wilderness, it will have become an object-lesson before which all foes
will gladly transform themselves into friends, and all critics become
eulogists. Aviation has a mighty future: but the grand step forward
in Twentieth Century civilization is Roadtown, for not only is it
an incomparable benefit in itself, but it affords all other useful
inventions their best medium toward perfection.
JULIAN HAWTHORNE.
THE MAN CHAMBLESS
BY JOHN HAYNES HOLMES
It was about two years ago that a tall, gaunt, pale young man entered
my church study and said, in quite confident terms--“I want a long talk
with you, sir, for I’ve got something that I believe will interest you.”
Being not wholly unused to the ways of agents, promoters, inventors
and various kinds of visionaries, I felt somewhat impatient at this
unhesitating demand for a liberal share of my time; but I told my
visitor, as pleasantly as possible, to be seated and to describe the
thing which he thought would “interest” me. This was the beginning of
my acquaintance with Mr. Edgar Chambless, the author of this book, and
the opening words of my introduction to Roadtown.
At that time, Roadtown was nothing but a dream,--a crude and imperfect
idea, as compared with the careful and well-tested conception which is
here given to the public. To its inventor it appeared even then, in its
original form, to contain the solution of most every perplexing problem
of modern social life,--to me, to whom it came not as a slowly dawning
idea but as an immediate revelation, it appeared to be only one more
extravagant and utterly impracticable vision, akin to that invention,
once laid before me by a dear old man, whereby light and heat might
be endlessly generated without the combustion of any fuel, or to that
other wonderful idea, commended to me by a devoted enthusiast, whereby
the drama was to be made the oasis of all ethical instruction and the
theater the school of morals.
Something in Mr. Chambless’ personality, however, held my attention
and won my sympathy. In our first talk together, I was made to believe
in him even while I could not find it within reason to believe in the
revolutionary possibilities of his conception, and so I asked him to
call again. And from that time to this, I have met him and talked
with him frequently. I have seen his dream become transformed from an
ill-conceived vision into a well-conceived and thoroughly practical
idea. I have seen the man himself rise from the position of a visionary
dreamer, seeking the ears of any who would listen, to that of a
recognized genius, welcomed in the offices of editors and publishers,
and received on equal terms by the best known architects and inventors
of the nation. I have seen Roadtown subjected by competent men to the
most rigid mechanical and economic criticisms, and beheld it emerge
triumphant. I have seen Mr. Chambless convert architects, mechanics,
charity workers, philanthropists, and cost-of-living experts from
scoffing impatience to enthusiastic faith. I have had the privilege,
in a word, of watching the triumphant progress of a great and original
idea, and the heroic personal victory of a true inventive genius.
During all of this time I have done nothing but “lend my ears” to Mr.
Chambless. Unable to help him to work out his ideas in any practical
way, I have tried to serve him as a friend and confidant. To me he
has unfolded his joys and his sorrows--revealed his feelings of
alternating despair and hope--told the tales now of success and now of
failure. For two years past, I have watched and listened, and all the
while my faith in Mr. Chambless has grown ever stronger and my sympathy
with his endeavor ever deeper. Indeed, for some months it has been
my feeling that I had no higher duty than that of helping as best I
could, by the word of good-will, the handclasp of friendship, and the
listening ear of personal faith, one of the few men I have ever met
in my experience who was truly laying down his life for the sake of a
great and unselfish idea.
Mr. Hawthorne, in his Foreword, has testified to his belief in the idea
of Roadtown; I would here testify, in my Foreword, to my belief in Mr.
Chambless. He is made of the stuff of heroes--those who have sacrificed
home, friends, social positions, money, personal comfort, yea life
itself, in the service of humanity. His is the spirit of perfect
devotion to an ideal. He represents in his person the type of valiant
martyrdom, which I have read about a thousand times in books, but have
met not more than a half-dozen times in real life. As to whether his
scheme is practicable or not, I cannot say. Experts, not accustomed
to being swept off their feet by bursts of enthusiasm over chimerical
ideas, have testified that it is. As to whether his conception will
solve all the problems of social life which he says it will solve,
I again cannot say. Experience teaches that every original idea has
revolutionary possibilities.
But as to Mr. Chambless himself, I can say, and say with enthusiasm,
that he is a man deserving of the confidence of men. Mr. Hawthorne
commends Roadtown to the earnest consideration of all thoughtful
persons for itself. I commend Roadtown in a similar way for its
inventor. Prove him wrong if you can, but first master his ideas.
Church of the Messiah, June 15th, 1910.
Park Ave. and 34th St.,
New York City.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
CHAPTER I
WHEN I BEGAN TO THINK 17
How I came to invent Roadtown 18
CHAPTER II
A NEW CONCEPTION OF TRANSPORTATION 21
Transportation in nature 23
Our disjointed civilization 27
CHAPTER III
LINE DISTRIBUTION--THE LOGICAL OUTCOME 31
Transportation determines the form of cities 33
Building in one dimension 35
A line of city through the country 38
CHAPTER IV
THE ROADTOWN PLAN OF CONSTRUCTION 40
To be built of cement 41
The railroad will be noiseless 43
Speed possibilities 46
The street upon the roof 53
CHAPTER V
CIVILIZATION THROUGH PIPES AND WIRES 59
Water 63
Sewerage 64
Heating 65
Refrigeration 65
Drinking water 66
Bath and toilet 67
Gas 68
Vacuum 68
Disinfecting gas 69
Electric light 69
Electric power 69
Telephones 70
Dictograph 71
Telegraphone 72
CHAPTER VI
ROADTOWN HOUSEKEEPING 74
Woman’s work not specialized 74
No laundry work at home 76
Dusting and sweeping 78
Making beds by machinery 79
Coöperative cooking practical 81
The end of household drudgery 84
CHAPTER VII
THE SERVANT PROBLEM IN ROADTOWN 89
CHAPTER VIII
ROADTOWN AGRICULTURE 90
Sufficient land to support population 93
Elimination of the middle man 99
Coöperative ownership of farm tools 100
CHAPTER IX
INDUSTRY RETURNS TO THE HOME 102
Wage slavery doomed 103
A work room in every home 105
A new type of factory 110
A special message to women 112
The end of monotonous labor 114
CHAPTER X
ROADTOWN MAKES CO-OPERATION PRACTICAL 116
Also a Mecca for the individualist 117
The Roadtown department store 119
CHAPTER XI
ROADTOWN EDUCATION AND SOCIAL LIFE 123
Roadtown athletics 125
Education for old as well as young 126
Eyes to be used less and ears more 128
Mothers for public school teachers 131
Lowest death rate in history 133
A home in the truest sense 137
CHAPTER XII
WHO WILL BUILD THE ROADTOWNS 139
Home rule for Roadtowners 142
Detached villas practical but undesirable 145
Builders of Roadtown take minimum risk 148
The cost of the first mile of Roadtown 150
Economy increases with length 157
A real remedy for congestion 161
CHAPTER XIII
IN ROADTOWN THERE WILL BE NO TRUSTS 163
Shall we miss them 165
The Roadtown religion 168
ROADTOWN
CHAPTER I
WHEN I BEGAN TO THINK
In the panic of 1893 I was in the city of Los Angeles. I had received
word from the East that my small fortune had vanished as a result of an
ingenious Wall Street railroad “reorganization.” I had drawn my last
dollar from the bank and had spent it. I was out of a job. I didn’t
know where or how to get one, for I had been troubled with eye strain
all my life, and had little experience in the work of the world. The
city was thronging with experienced and trained workmen, out of work
like myself. I did not know where the price of my next week’s board
was coming from--in short, I was stranded in a stagnant world. It was
Sunday afternoon. I was sitting on a rock on top of a hill in the
heart of the city. The ground about me was vacant, yet I could have
thrown a stone over the precipice into the principal street of the
city. I began to think--I needed money--there was no opportunity to
get a living by working with my hands. I grasped eagerly at any _idea_
that had within it the possibility of creating value, wealth, money,
bread, perhaps butter and a new suit of clothes. The ground where I was
sitting was vacant and comparatively worthless. I asked why? The answer
was, lack of transportation. There was no convenient way for people to
get on top of the hill.
Time passed. I finally located in New York City and became a patent
investigator. I continued to think of transportation and its relation
to land value.
_How I Came to Invent Roadtown._
In my business as a dealer in patents I became acquainted with all
manner of inventions and inventors. I found that most inventions were
worthless, that a very few were practical and were promoted and
utilized in the usual fashion. Another group I found to be practical
and workable in themselves, but not available for use because their
adoption would throw into the junk heap millions of dollars worth of
old machines, and hence they were bought up and “shelved” by the vested
interests. And still another group could not be utilized because they
would require new franchises which men with little capital could not
purchase of the political franchise jobbers. To these were added a last
lot of inventions that could not be utilized to anything like their
full capacity because they could not be fitted into the crude mechanism
of the present style of city construction.
So I began to dream of new conditions in which some of these shelved
inventions might be utilized to ease the burden of life for mankind.
One plan after another was abandoned until the idea occurred to me to
lay the modern skyscraper on its side and run the elevators and the
pipes and the wires horizontally instead of vertically. Such a house
would not be limited by the stresses and strains of steel; it could be
built not only a hundred stories, but a thousand stories or a thousand
miles--in short, I had found a workable way of coupling housing and
transportation into one mechanism, and a human way for land-moving
man to live--I would not cure the evils of congestion by perfecting
congestion as is the case with the skyscraper--I would build my city
out into the country. I would take the apartment house and all its
conveniences and comforts out among the farms by the aid of wires,
pipes and of rapid and noiseless transportation. I would extend the
blotch of human habitations called cities out in radiating lines. I
would surround the city worker with the trees and grass and woods and
meadows and the farmer with all the advantages of city life--I had
invented Roadtown.