Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1901-04-12
TOMAKETOWNHAPPY
That QUALITY LACKING IN A PENN
sYLvANlA VILLAGE.
peS'th of Amusement Has Cau.ea
piSeontent Among the Citizens
Expert to stud, Need. of ,h. Pa.
pls.

! 49," W hihhc NoihlnSncn COntpntpi
ana happy ami thereby Increase then
usefulness is the problem which th,
Westinghouse Airbrake company OF
ittsburg Is attempting TO work out al
lis model town of Wilmerdlng. IA mile.
east OF Iiitsburg, on the PENNSYLVANIA
railroad The residents of that town
Where the great works of the company
are located, are dissatisfied. The com.
pany is trying TO discover how TO make
them happy.
With this end in view. John l.. Gavit
formerly of the Commons. one of the
social settlements in Chicago, has been
employed 1T Wilmerding as secretary
OF the \. NJ. &. a. He is to make n
thorough study of the situation and re.
| port to the company what is needed for
the social betterment of the town.
When Wilmerding was first built and
! the Westinghouse works moved there
from littsburg. it was thought the
withdrawal Of the employees of the
company from the larger city would
result in the general Improvement of
the class. The town contains popula.
lion of G,0OO or 1000. 1t is entirely de.
pendent on the Westinghouse works.
The company owned all the land. built
the houses and sold them to the en-
ployees. Those who rent do so mostly
from the land agent of the Westing-
house company.
Houses are rented under Westing-
house rules. The leases are of the clos
est character and provide for system
of inspection by the owners, prohibit
the use of any other fuel than gas and
provide for electricity as illuminaut.
The Westinghouse Gas company. West
inghouse Light company, Westing-
house Water company and several 9TH
er strictly Westinghouse corporations
furnish the necessities and luXuries for
the town. There is no WESTINGHOUSE
store.
The first step in the plan is the or
ganization of the Westinghouse Social
union, which is now under way. The
Westinghouse Social union will be an
organization composed of residents of
Wilmerding and all the section of coun-
try about the town which Is dependent
on the Westinghouse works. 1t will he
the main, or parent, organization, and
from 1t will grow musical clubs, art
clubs, literary clubs, women's clubs,
whist clubs athletic clubs and all man
ner of social organizations, which will
be under the control of the main body.
A handsome clubhouse will be pro-
vided for the association, and rooms
will be furnished in it for the various
branches. There will be large thea
ter and general meeting hall with a
spacious dancing floor and an armory
and drillroom for the Westinghouse
militia company, which is now in proc
ess of formation. A cafe will be a
prominent feature of the clubhouse,
and an effort will be made to give the
workingmen something which will sue
cessfully combat with the saloons Of
the town. Nothing will be overlooked
which will provide for the social, moral
and intellectual improvement of the
employees of the company. No man
will be overlooked, and anything that
any man. woman or child in the town
wants will be provided for. There will
be night schools. kindergartens, play
grounds for children, athletic grounds
and every form of amusement that a
human being could want. In the sea-
son there will be entertainments of diff
ferent kinds, lectures, art shows ETC.,
to attract the lovers of these amuse
mcntS.
The organization is to be practically |
self sustaining. AS yet the Westing-
house company has made no offer as to
what it proposes to do. So far 1t has
Itself to studying, through Mr.. |
Gavit, what is needed to make the
town a more desirable place Of resi-
1ence and to make it's inhabitants sat
slied to remain there. Mr.. Gavits or
lers so far are simply to study the sit
uation and suggest remedy. 1t is
however and there Is no
hesitancy on the part of the company
N allowing it to be understood, that
Mr.. Gnvit's plans for reform will be
carried out.
That there is dissatisfaction in Will
nerding is apparent on every hand,
md that there is room for improve
nent cannot be denied. The town is
In ugly little collection of houses, not
ZONES, clustered down in narrow
ALLEY, where the only outlook is to the
moke begrimed sky overhead. The
louses of the residents are perched
long the hillsides, the vast airbrake
works taking up all the available level
.round.
Nothing had been provided for the
of the thousands of en-
,loyees who were brought out from
'ittsburg to locate in this little town
n the Turtle creek valley. Their hap
iness was entirely overlooked in the
cal estate speculation which resulted
q the building of this so called model
own.
Unlike the town of Pullman. the
Westinghouse company sells the houses
! the town outright to whoever wants
D buy, preference being given to the
mployees of the company. When a
ull season comes on, which IS quite
requent, the workmen in the plant
Tho are buying homes from the COM
any are given the preference in the
latter of work
When all the other employees are
lid off. these are kept at work in order
lat they may be enabled to carry out
ler contracts in regard to the house.
he death of the breadwinner of the
lmily results in free deed for the
hoinu given to his heirs. THIS