The Pioche weekly record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1877-1900, 1896-01-30
AN EXPERIMENT IN CoMMUN-
ISM.

"a axcl,,siva nurpose of establishing
thereon homes for ourselves. W. VI
vided our beautiful woodland up nv
plots and were assigned our por.iI,HSS
by lot. And then We began 10 DeaI , -,
our acres-that is to say, we cleaIsu
the brush and trees, reIno oY,ns, 90
sfumns and powders, and leveiins the
rround. we purchased lawn mowers,
terra Gotta dogs and castiron hover
And we erected cottages" some OF
whIch had many rooms with spacious
areplaces. and wide verandas, ana %.
seryatories, and north windows puls
on angles so as to catch the beams VI
the rising sun. and from when nus last
lingering rays could be seen as ne sam
a golden ball into the waters oi '"e
lake.
The whole scheme was Ideal, and we
named our little city Arcadia. we
vera To have our own homes, yet nVe
as one happy family; with the sacred
,ilencee of the forest we were 10 nave
the advantages OF the city. NO mehper
had been admitted who was not guar
anteed respectable by three members
and the two men who organized the
association each vouched for the other.
No bonds were given that the WIVES
were women of tact and good temper,
the numerous children were reasonably
well behayed-we took all that Tor
granted. We only insisted on thls'
That the couples should all have Deen
legally married and the children all
horn in wedlock That these conditions
were compiled with can be proven; ana
in several cases they were.
And we were very happy
There were twenty-eight men ana
n.,A mn
dren: besides these there were maid
servants and man servants. We had
public dining hall which at hrst all
patronlzed: and on those first summer
DAYS we were all very gracious and
dignified and polite.
But there was one man In our asso-
citation who when the day was warm,
appeared at meal-time in shiit-sleeves.
And once a lady at our table allowed
her baby-a dimpled yearling-to crawl
across the festive board to its papa
who sat on the other side, ana after
this my wife preferred to prepare meals
In our own house, rather than avail
herself OF the advantages of communal
feeding.
Several OF the ladies in our commu-
nifty were musical, one or two painted
china, others did fancy work. one
had hecn an actress, and when she pro-
posed getting UP private theatricals
sharp line of demarcation was struck
between those who believed 1t was
wicked to go to the theater and those
who considered the stage elevating
And it was then discovered that sew
eral OF our members were Methodists;
and soon, after O little investigation, l
ascertained that In theology we ran the
gamut from an infidel who denied
everything to Close Communion Bap-
lists who boosted of their credulity and
hssitated at nothing. Yet for the most
part we were Agnostics-with liberal
leanings and Orthodox wives. But
once stirred up. we drew the most hair
splitting lines twixt tweedledee and
tweedledum: and these lines caused a
GOODNESS to spring up between families.
30 certain mothers cautioned their
children not to play WITH certain other
children.
We had chapel where two or three
gathered themselves together on each
Wednesday night. On Sundays there
were Union Services" led by pastors
from the city, invited by different
members, and all except the directly
interested kept away so as to discour-
age the opposition"
In our membership was one Jewish
family who kept" Saturday very
punctiliously In satin and broadcloth.
And they kept Sunday toby opening
beer bottles on their front verandas
and inviting in the infidel and his wife
These good people had a little pen OF
geese in their back yard and at GER
tain times a dark man whom they
called "Koheleth" used to come and Kill
the geese for them. and the feathers
blowing onto the lawns of others. the
others protested, for they did not like
feathers on their lawns.
And some perceiving that there wa.
danger OF our community growing
apart, gave progressive euchre parties
TO cement the social bonds. At the frs
meeting there were no refreshments
and we went home at 10 o'clock A
the next meeting we had a solo an,
there was lemonade and cake and w
stayed until IL; soon we had coffee, ic
cream, lemonade and cake and chees
straws and we stayed until 2. Shortl,
after 1t came the turn of our Jewis
member and we had all the items O
the menu that had been on the mem
before, with pate de fol gras. oyster
and yellow label" added, and we di
not go home till morning. For whe
the refreshments were served we wer
surprised by the strains of an oil
chestra hidden behind a bank of fern
In an adjoining room. and at this som
one suggested "doncing," and W
donced. The refreshments were serve
by colored men brought from the city
there were also fitting about severe
old Afri-American aunties in whit
caps and aprons who afterwards,
understood. did the dishes. In ii
kitchen, perched on a sawbuck, was
keg OF lager on tap In Difference to se'
eral members OF Teutonic origin, ar
others OF Teutonic proclivities.
Many guests found their way to II
kitchen.
Now the Oppenheimers for 1t W,
they) had carried the matter OF ente
week we had Longfellow Talk al
this was followed by a Dickens Par
which marked the perihelion of our S
ciai orbit.
But I saw that nearly all who atten
ed these entertainments were hopeless
ly bored: they strived hard to LOO
pleasant at the time, but on the mo
row many asked me quietly IL did n
consider the whole thing abominab
managed And the question arose
my mind: Why did these twenty-eig
families. so totally unlike. come I
gether In this way? Women practical
make society-in the society colun
ssnse-so / looked to the women for
reason and ] found that these WON
did not come together in this way /
cause there was any affinity betwe
them, but the one point in common W
that they all had diamond earrings a
seal-skin sacques.
I discovered that every woman
the ground had a seaI-skin sacque a
perceived that nearly Of these sacuu
were new or had been worn at mi
but a few years. so l concluded tn
the husbands income was former
that--ln short the happy husband
the woman In seal-skin had recen
struck pay gravel. This was the ca
USEuEWI FIT RRne NEW