“Now, I shall endeavor to give you a description of the exterior of the
‘big-house,’” said Mr. Midith, as he began to draw a neat outline, on
which he located four “big-houses” and a cross-section of a community,
as shown on page 115.
“Before I give you a detailed description of the different parts
of this outline, I shall have to refer you to the diagram I drew
for you the other evening. (Page 58.) You will there notice that
our communities are all numbered, as Community 1, 2, etc. Hence, a
country as large as the United States, containing nearly 3,500,000
square miles, divided up into communities like ours, containing about
four townships, or 144 square miles each, will make about 25,000
communities. I told you, in brief, that the ‘big-houses’ are situated
along the motor-lines, on the perimeter of the communities, and are
about half mile apart, as indicated by the dots in Community No. 1
(page 58). The ‘big-houses’ of each community are also numbered, as
indicated by the figures 1, 2, 3, etc., in Community No. 1 (page 58).
“It is not strictly true that the ‘big-houses’ are located a half-mile
apart, for about every four miles or closer, as indicated by the
square dots in Community 2 (page 58), we have a large warehouse or
factory instead of a ‘big-house;’ but these warehouses, etc., are very
similar in structure to a ‘big-house.’ Now, we want to bear in mind
that the communities are numbered, so that when we know the number of
a certain community we know in what particular part of the country it
is situated; and we also want to remember that the ‘big-houses’ of each
community are numbered consecutively from 1 to about 135, including the
warehouses, factories, etc. The number of a ‘big-house’ also indicates
its location in the community.
“From what I have already said, then, you have learned the following
facts:
“1. Our countries, or grand divisions of land, are divided into
rectangular communities, about 24 miles long and 6 miles wide. 2. Each
community is surrounded by 60 miles of motor-line. 3. Railroads are
about 100 miles apart, running both north and south and east and west.
4. Each community under ordinary conditions contains about one hundred
and twenty ‘big-houses.’ 5. The inmates of each ‘big-house’ generally
number about one thousand. 6. The inhabitants of each community, then,
are nearly one hundred and twenty thousand. 7. Each community has
about fifteen or twenty warehouses, mills and factories. 8. Both the
communities and the ‘big-houses’ are numbered.
[Illustration:
This diagram represents a cross-section, somewhat more than half mile
wide, and extending across from the motor-line to the field.
A is a park one-fourth mile wide, extending from the motor-line to the
boulevard all around the community.
1 represents a double track motor-line.
2, 3, 4 and 5 represent “big-houses.”
6 represents a hundred-foot wide boulevard.
7 and 8 represent foot-paths.
9 represents a hundred-foot walk leading through and around the
“big-houses” from one to the other.
10 are two outdoor nurseries for little children.
11 and 12 are two artificial lakes for bathing and swimming.
13 represents a 500-foot wide conservatory and green-house.
14 represents a walk between the green-house and garden.
15 represents a 1000-foot wide garden.
16 represents a walk between the garden and the orchard.
17 represents a 1000-foot wide orchard.
18 represents a walk between the orchard and field.
19 represents the field, extending clear across to the opposite side of
the orchard.
20 represent walks extending across park, green-house, garden, etc.,
from the “big-houses” to the field.]
“Now I think we are ready to give you a description of this outline or
diagram, and the different parts it represents. Number 1 represents a
double-tracked motor-line passing through the connecting wing of the
‘big-houses.’ Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 5 represent four ‘big-houses.’ Two and
two are located just opposite each other, with the motor-line between
them. This enables our motor-cars to stop at points only where two
thousand persons reside. Nos. 2 and 4 belong to one community and Nos.
3 and 5 to another. No. 6 represents a hundred-foot wide boulevard
fringed with the finest shade trees that nature and art can produce.
This boulevard, of course, the same as all the other walks and strips
of land which are numbered on this diagram, run parallel with the
motor-lines all around the community. The floor of this boulevard is
composed of artificial granite, cast on top of a solid foundation. It
is clean, smooth, and more durable than natural granite. In the evening
this boulevard and other walks are lighted with brilliant electric
lights generated by the electric engine. On this smooth, shady,
brilliantly-lighted boulevard, thousands of men, women and children
spend part of their plentiful leisure time in healthful exercise. Some
are riding elegantly-finished and highly-geared bicycles with which,
under favorable conditions, a speed of 100 miles an hour can be made
on this smooth, level track. Some are riding on splendid, convenient,
electric carriages, which may be open or shaded, or entirely enclosed
and heated with electricity from within during cold weather.
“On each side of the main boulevard Nos. 7 and 8, is a foot path shaded
and floored the same as the boulevard. On these walks men, women and
children take much of their walking exercises. The men and women wheel
and carry the little babies in the fresh air on these fine walks.
“Each individual man, woman and child that can manage a bicycle, a
carriage or other vehicle own one or more. Sometimes we go out alone;
sometimes in company with a gentleman; sometimes in company with a
lady. Of course, this is left entirely to the choice and taste of each
individual.”
“It must be a splendid sight to see these fine bicycles, carriages and
other vehicles swiftly gliding along this fine, endless boulevard!”
exclaimed Mr. Uwins.
“It is indeed grand and cheerful,” responded Mr. Midith. “I wish it
were possible that we could all spend an hour there about this time of
a June evening.”
“But how can every one afford to buy all these nice things of which you
speak?” asked Viola. “And you say, too, that ladies and children have
them as well as gentlemen?”
“Certainly,” replied Mr. Midith. “A lady’s day’s work is worth just as
much to us as a gentleman’s, and so it is to you; the only difference
is we pay for it all it is worth and you do not. When you speak of
affording to buy so many nice things, you must remember that we can
afford to buy even much more than we actually do. By working together
on such a large scale and _only_ at productive labor, by having such a
complete division of labor that we are all experts, and with the aid of
the grand machinery, which are operated for the benefit of _all_ and
not for the benefit of a _few_ as you do, our economy of wealth and
labor is so immense, and our production so abundant, that we receive
each according to your time and pay over $10 a day, which consists in
an average of less than two hours of physical labor. So you see if you
individually received more than $10 a day, besides the dwelling, fuel,
light and all other public interests, you could buy all the luxuries
and do all the traveling you desired and still have plenty of ‘money’
left for old age. After I have told you all about our social and
industrial system, I hope you will be able to see why we are able to
produce so much wealth with so little labor.
“But let us now go on with our description. I hope you will pardon
me for the slight digression I made. A is a park one-fourth mile
wide, extending from the boulevard to the motor line. In this park
the ‘big-houses’ are located, as shown on diagram. No. 9 is a granite
walk 100 feet wide, passing _through_ and _around_ the ‘big-houses’
from one to the other. No. 10 are nurseries 400 by 600 feet. Part of
these nurseries are covered with glass and artificially warmed when
necessary, and part of them are open. In these outdoor nurseries, the
little children who are unable to care for themselves are playing part
of their time.
“Nos. 11 and 12 are two artificial lakes for bathing and swimming
purposes. They are fenced in with a high fence, so that no very little
children can get in unattended. These lakes are each 100 by 300 feet
in size, with a large fountain in the center of each. The water is
supplied and the fountain fed by the engine in the ‘big-house.’ One of
these lakes is fitted for children who can not swim, and is so shallow
that they cannot drown in it. The entrance is guarded by a self-closing
gate, which is so difficult to open that a child who is too young to
help itself can not open. In this shady, crystal, clear lake, supplied
with all bathing and swimming conveniences, our little children daily
bathe, swim and play when the weather is favorable. Our children are
so independent, so well taught, and things are all so convenient that
a child two or three years old needs no assistance in dressing and
undressing. They go where they like and do what they please. The other
one of these lakes is similarly fitted up, but is much deeper and is
used by grown persons. The entrance is guarded by a self-locking door,
and no man or woman who does not carry a key can get in alone. This
prevents little children from getting in, for they are not supplied
with keys. By means of these artificial, as well as other natural
bodies of water, every man, woman and youth is a good swimmer; we learn
it in childhood and practice it all through life.
“This beautiful park, which is the pride of every member of the
family, is adorned with closely shaven lawns, dense shade trees, rare
ornamental trees, all varieties of beautiful odoriferous flowers,
play-grounds for all kinds of out-door games, and all apparatus for
amusement which men, women and children desire to use. The park and
everything in it is kept in order by our most experienced men and women
we have in the family.”
“Are your wives always attended by their husbands when out in the park,
on the boulevard, etc., or do they sometimes go alone?” asked Mrs.
Uwins.
“Mrs. Uwins, your question clearly shows that you do not yet understand
our social conditions. We have no husband and wife at all as you know
them here. But this I will explain to you further on under the head of
sexual relations, because it does not belong to the present topic.
“No. 13, right along the boulevard, is a conservatory or green-house,
500 feet wide and almost entirely surrounded by glass, which we
manufacture very cheaply and which is very inflexible and yet not
brittle. This gives each family a very large green-house. It is
nearly a half mile long and 500 feet wide, which gives us an area of
nearly 30 acres of conservatory to each ‘big-house.’ We heat it with
electricity generated by the house engine or by natural gas. To obtain
the necessary moisture for this vast green-house, we have capacious
reservoirs or cisterns, to which we attach a large hose sprinkler and
let it rain when and where we please within its walls. This green-house
furnishes all the flowers and green vegetables we want during the whole
winter. It is under the immediate management of our most skillful
horticulturists.
“No. 14 is a 50-foot walk immediately back and parallel with the
conservatory.
“No. 15 is a garden 1,000 feet wide. It is all laid off in geometrical
beds by professional gardeners, who work in the garden during the
summer and in the immense green-house during the winter. This garden,
with its countless variety of beautiful, fragrant flowers, and its
endless clean paths, serves not only as a field for the production of
all kinds of edible vegetables our world produces in that climate, but
it serves as a park as well. During our long leisure hours, hundreds
of ladies and gentlemen are strolling in its paths, eating what they
like. This garden is so well worked that there is scarcely ever a weed
in it. The soil is kept very rich; if not by nature, it is made so by
fertilizers, which we manufacture abundantly. About midway across our
garden is a subterranean tube supplied with water, to which hydrants
are attached at short intervals. To these hydrants hose are attached
for sprinkling purposes. So you see, we can raise an abundant crop in
our garden in spite of the greatest drought. We do not need nature to
moisten the thirsty soil to germinate the seed when planted, nor do we
need her to kiss the verdant foliage with her liquid treasure from the
clouds, nor from the dewdrops of a quiet night. The hand of art, in
the form of a gigantic sprinkler, can produce the necessary shower, in
which the tiny rainbow plays in the sunbeam, when and where we want it.
“No. 18 is a fifty-foot walk between the orchard and the main field,
which extends clear across the community from orchard to orchard.
“No. 17 is an orchard 1,000 feet wide, although the width of it varies
according to climate and adaptation for raising fruit. In this orchard
we raise all varieties of fruit adapted to the climate. The trees
are not crowded on the ground, and the lawn beneath them is always
kept green and mown short by lawn mowers driven by an engine. Our
tables never feel the effect of winter. What our orchard, garden and
green-house can not successfully produce is shipped in from tropical
regions in refrigerator cars, which are cold in the summer and warm in
the winter.
“The Nos. 20 are boulevards and walks leading to and from the
‘big-houses’ across the park, through the green-house, across the
garden and orchard. They cross all the longitudinal boulevards and
walks. You will notice that there is such a cross walk on each side
of the ‘big-house.’ The one is used when going _from_ the house, and
the other when going _to_ the house. This arrangement prevents all
collision and confusion in going to and coming from the ‘big-houses.’
“The farming is all done with electric motors or engines, as I have
already told you. The work is mere play. Everything is done with
machinery on a large scale; hardly any muscular power is required. Our
land is all well fertilized. The plowing is done by huge gang plows
and rotating harrows. The harrowing and sowing is done by a machine
over fifty feet wide, which harrows, sows, and then harrows again all
at the same time. The harvesting and threshing I have already explained
to you some time ago.”
I then asked Mr. Midith whether the Marsites raised corn and potatoes,
and if so, what kind of machinery they had for that purpose, to which
he replied:
“We raise corn and potatoes similar to yours; the only difference is
that we have improved them more by cultivation, because we have had
longer time. We have superior varieties than you now have; but as your
botanical knowledge becomes more and more perfect, you will keep on
improving the same as we have done.
“Our corn and potatoes are all planted with machines, which plant from
four to ten rows at once. We have a corn husker that snaps the ears off
from four to six rows and elevates them into a large wagon or car as
the engine moves it along. The corn is of course not entirely free from
husks when picked with this husker. When the car, or wagon, is full, it
is taken to the warehouse, where the corn, the same as the other grain
of which I have already told you, is dumped into a large hopper, from
which elevators carry it to the curing bin, where daily thousands of
bushels are cured. When the remaining husk is thoroughly dry, the corn
passes through a machine, or husker, which breaks up all the dried,
brittle husk, and here a powerful current of air separates the silk and
broken up husk from the ears, which are again cured and then shelled
and stored away for future use. Not a grain is thus wasted, spoiled, or
damaged.
“Our potato-digger is almost perfect too. With it two or three persons
and an engine can dig more than a thousand bushels a day. The digger
is made something like this: A kind of incline plane plow runs under
through the row, raises the soil and potatoes on the plow, which drops
the whole on a wire elevator which lets the soil pass through it, and
elevates the potatoes in a car back of the plows. In this manner one
engine draws from two to four plows.
“Hay and other feed for cattle is not much needed; for as I have
told you, we keep cattle only for dairy purposes, sheep for wool and
poultry for eggs. The stock is raised on land not so well adapted for
agriculture. The feed is nutritious and well prepared; the stabling is
all of the very best and most convenient kind, warmed by electricity.
The hay is cut with large mowers, which elevate the cut grass into the
large wagon racks used with the headers. It is cured by artificial
means the same as the grain.
“By this method we have always first-class hay highly nutritious. None
of it is left on the field. None of it blows away; no waste, and not a
particle of it is spoiled by rain, because it is always hauled in and
cured as fast as it is cut.
“I notice that your method of hay-making is very slow, uncertain and
wasteful, because much of it is totally spoiled by rain before it is
stacked; a part of it is spoiled in the stack, and a large part of the
remainder is more or less damaged in various ways.
“I may say here that our poultry is all hatched by steam incubators,
and is as well housed as we are ourselves. In the winter we have large
areas covered with glass, under which they enjoy the warm sunshine and
even temperature almost the same as in the summer. By these means we
get abundance of eggs during the whole year.
“Do you see how vastly we save wealth and labor by our extensive
voluntary co-operation, as compared with your single-handed, slipshod
industries? How much disorder and inconvenience you experience? How
often, when working your little farms, you are obliged to turn your
weary, half-dead teams, which are trampling under foot the very crop
you are trying to raise? How much land all along your fences and other
division lines produces nothing useful? How many fights and quarrels
over your division lines? How often, in order to do a little work, you
have to go back and forth with your little narrow machinery, drawn
by animal flesh? and how often do you have to go over the same place
before you have your crop scarcely planted? How much labor and land you
require for the production of feed for your draught animals? You have
to do almost as much for them as they do for you, and that is indeed
very much. How poorly, as a whole, you feed and shelter your stock
from the cold and other inclemency of the weather. Your little straw
sheds are full of filth and snow. Your stables are not unfrequently
one thickness of inch boards, with large cracks between the boards.
Your sheep often have no other shelter than a fence or a little grove;
their wool is torn out by the snow and ice that is frozen in it. Your
poultry, during a winter’s storm, is sometimes frozen fast to the
perch, and have often not a foot of bare ground, where they can procure
the sand and gravel necessary for their digestion. How much more food
your animals, that are so poorly sheltered and cared for, require to
keep up the animal heat which should be kept up by proper care and warm
shelter.
“How densely your population huddles together in your cities and
towns, eking out a bare existence in garrets and tenement houses which
are totally unfit for an abode of a human being; and how lamely and
single-handed your agriculturist toils, early and late, for the support
of himself, his so-called family, and the army of city unproductive and
destructive laborers. What a slave a wife is who has to live either
in a city garret or tenement house, or in a lonely country home! How
little intellectual culture she can attain! How financially dependent
she is on her ‘master’--the so-called husband! How his children are
working themselves crooked, stiff, and otherwise deformed from the
long, heavy day’s toil! How little room there is for intellectual
development under such social and industrial burdens! All is toil,
slavery, and obedience. No parks, no fine walks, no pleasant rides, no
greenhouses where a flower or green plant can be picked during the cold
winter day when something green cheers the heart and delights the eye.
Your gardens are rudely laid out, and mostly full of weeds and poultry,
and sometimes hogs and cattle. Your orchards are planted with a few
varieties of trees which often bear a better crop of caterpillars than
fruit; your shrubbery is largely choked to death in some fence corner
or under some larger trees, for want of sunshine and moisture. Your
lawn is often an ash-pile, and not unfrequently a rubbish-heap.”