Waterbury evening Democrat., 1893-09-15
Beautiful and Useful.

If you lived in poor little place where there were swampy commons around the town, a stony hillside back of it, and in the midst of it miserable, smoky railway station, with piles of ashes, ci- gar stumps, banana skins and old news papers lying all around it under the very noses of the town marshal, the min ister, the doctor and the postmaster, and it suddenly occurred to you that this kind of town would not tempt people to it as summer resort and would not tend to make the children of the natives want to stay there any long
 CT than they could help or make them wish to come, back there after they had got big enough to get away, neither would such a spot have a tendency to develop great poets, preachers, artists and inventors among the young ones whom adverse fate condemned to be born there, but would rather tend to make them lunatiCs, what would you do to change this forlorn condition?
 That was a question discussed lately at one of the Worlds fair congresses. Plainly, in these times when Organiza- tion is all and the individual noth- ing, the first thing to do would be to form d village improvement society. Such societies ii is in every town of con f siderable size i'll California that have transformed almost that whole state into a resort for travellers. Thcsc go to the Pacific state from the uttermost parts of the earth, lured there by the parks, the gardens, the fruits and the excellent hO- tels and beautiful private homes. This whole country might be made as attract live outwardly as California. and it can
 be done by the village improvement so- ciety and the awakening of q decent pub
 lie spirit among local rich people.
 The village improvement society
 should have a small initiation fee and Aannual dues. That will be a working Icapital on which to begin. Start with draining the malarious mudholes around the town and ill the wards. Next clean up the railway station and cover the patch of ground about it with turf, trees
 and flower beds. Create such public spirit that not even the small boy will
 throw paper or rubbish into the streets. l Then begin to work on the private
 homes and cause residents to tear down the ugly front fences and make their grounds beautiful for all. Rest not tin you have secured good streets, first
 class public library, literary society and
 reading club and have turned the sickly
 green marshes and stony hillside into a
 lovely town park. The rich men and women of your community will help
 you in every case, if properly approached. Every step toward giving n village good streets and good roads leading into it everything done to benefit its health and
 morals and please the 9sthetic sense, makes property thereahouts more valu, l able.
 Some of the towns and small cities that have thus been beautifed and theil
 people refined and elevated in conse- = quence are well known. North Easton
 Mass, was thus helped into beauty and
 fame by Oliver and Oakes Ames ant
 their sons. The Fairbanks family spent
 much of the money received from the famous scales of their make in improv ing the sanitation and appearance of St , IJohnsbury, Vt. Faribault is pronounced
 the model town of Minnesota because
 for 30 years Bishop Whipple has resided
 there and thrown all his knowledge and
 enthusiasm into making his home towr
 attractive to himself and others. Some
 times the good work is done by 0 singl,
 individual or family-as ill the case,
 mentioned. Occasionally town coun
 cils are enlightened enough to under
 take it, and again the village improve
 ment society does all,