The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-04-25

tended IL TO provide homes for the
thousands Of employees of his great re-
tail store and his other enterprises.
His idea was TO have houses at varying
rentals, all moderate for every GLASS
OF worker in his establishment from
the heads OF department down TO floor
walkers and humble counter jumpers.
He laid out his town with the aid OF
the best landscape architects allotted
| to each house a yard space which any
where else would have been regarded
as enormous. planted trees and in many
other ways made the locality attrac-
tive. With his death, however, the
personal enthusiasm being gone. and
the business OF the great merchant
passing into other hands. the town
without government lost its pristine
character. Instead OF becoming COM
munity of department store employees
IL soon began to ind favor with the
wealthy and fashionable who sought
homes on Long Island and to whom
Its aristocratic restrictions appealed.
In spite of the changes that have oc-
cured In the character of the place II
still retains the Stewart imprint.
notably In some of its famous insti-
buttons and in the method by which its
afgairs are administered, The st. Paurs
school for boys and the st. Mary's
school for girls were both founded and
endowed by Mr.. Stewards widow. More
famous still is the great Garden City
Cathedral, In which centers one OF the
strangest mysteries of modern times
In it's cryptic the body OF Stewart was
Inferred and from 1t his remains were
stolen more than thirty years ago by
persons who demanded ransom from
Mrs. stewart for their return Whether
the return was ever made Is still a
mystery. Some persons say that the
body now lies in the Cathedral; others,
that IL does not.
As a, part of the great estate which
Stewart left, Garden City has been de-
veloped and operated solely through
the medium of a manager. He attends
to everything and Is responsible for
everything and whether he Is a Repub-
lican. Democrat or Socialist. nobody
cares. With few exceptions the build
ings in the town belong to this single
estate. Occasionally house or piece
of land is sold, but the great majority
of It's residents are simply lessees.
This condition of AFFAIRS Is only an
application OF the relation between
the landlord and the single tenat but
when the idea is applied to a whole
town its operation becomes more In
teresting. As q result persons who
live in Garden City are relieved from
many of the troubles which affect the
residents of other places. For instance
there are no taxes. The manager like
wise, because Of the fact that the an
mating spirit Is cooperative and not
political, Is able to DO much to make
the place attractive. One OF the finest
hotels in the country. named after the
town itself, is owned and leased und-
err the supervision of the estate. and
every attraction for outdoor ana In
door entertainment. including tennis
courts, casino, and one of the best
known of American golf courses have
been made possible without extra ex-
pense to residents through this anony-
nous form of government.
No Red Tape.
There Is no red tape In the admins
tration OF affairs In Garden City. II
residents front gate gets of it's hinges
or the kitchen plumbing goes wrong.
he simply telephones the manager who
has It attended to. The requests that
come to the towns business ONCE are
many and varied. A few days ago q
woman whose pet kitten had been
chased into tree by two strange dogs.
telephoned the manager for assistance.
Two employees with a ladder were i'm
nediately dispatched to her aid, the
dogs were put to rout and the kitten
rescued. Another case along the same
line was that of q man who come home
early one afternoon without his latch
key and found no one In his house. He
likewise telephoned the manager who
Immediately sent help in the shape of
duplicate key. In fact the first i'm
pulse of the Garden City residents In
the face of any household difIiculty
from smoky fireplace to colicky in
FAINT - to telephone the manager to
have It set right. The system Is pater-
nalistic but convenient
Every piece OF machinery which
takes the place OF the ordinary polit-
ical government in this remarkable
town, which has no government at ali,
is In the hands OF the manager A
carriage and automobile service run
In connection with the hotel is entirely
under his control and as a result the
charges are far less than would be ex-
pected. There Is no charge for spring.
Ing the streets. looking after the trees.
or maintaining any of the Attractions
OF this suburb. In other words Garden
CITY 10 perhaps an extreme iflustra-
ton OF the spreading theory that n
town or city should be administered
SIMPLY as business enterprise ana
that to run It economically, eltninat-
ing politics and red tape. Is to give n
the same advantage over other local
ties as that which a well-manared DE-
paTtment store would enjoy as com
pared to one operated under the waste
ful methods employed in handling mos,
municipal undertakings.