Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1916-09-02

marble climbing by a series of ter
races set with ornamental pools and
( formal gardens and colonnades and
| fountains, from the seashore to the
! top of gently slipping hill 1t is pro-
claimed that this IS I'd be the true
home Of all that Is great in American
| sculpture. MacMonnies will here re-
store the famous fountain which he
| designed for the Chicago exposition,
and which has been torn down be-
cause there was no room for 1t. So
will Athens Fountain of the Earth"
be preserved along with Bartlett's
equestrian masterpiece.
The United States lacks great archi-
lecture. It's works of decorative art
have heretofore been housed mostly
in museums. At the New Versailles
they are to be given their true place
in scheme of elaborate beauty In
| a word, when the scheme reaches its
logical fulfillment, this will be the su.
preme monument to American wealth.
In the year five thousand and some
thing, mayhap, it will be dug up and
exhibited as masterpiece of the
! American civilization. 1t will be to
| the American millionaires what the
pyramids are to the Pharoahs-a
physical demonstration of their ire
mendous power to create.
But meantime, and as soon as the
7, first chateau is finished, 1t will do for
the American millionaire great many
, things that he would otherwise have
to do for himself 1t is to be an ex-
pertinent in communal living for the
rich. All over the world, at various
! times, communal colonies have been
founded by socialistic dreamers, and
always they have failed because there
was no real need for them. Now in
New York, the need has grown up be-
cause of the great number of people
and the completely Of their wants,
and the need has brought into being
the communal apartment house. This
great cooperative country home will
take up the idea and carry it step
further. Each family that wishes to
live in it will buy as much space az It
needs One man for example, has
bought only a room and bath for
$4,000, while another has bought 1885,
900 worth. With this he can do as he
pleases, for he owns it. This particu-
lar man has decided to cut out the
floors of the second story. so that all
of his rooms will have vaulted ceilings
twenty feet high. 't
Having thus acquired an ownership,
the tenant has satisfied all of his needs
without any further effort upon his
part except the writing of checks.
Automobiles, garages, chauffeurs, are
all supplied by the colony as whole.
So are yachts and motor boats, and a
giant seaplane. A theater schools for
children and play house to cost $685.
900 are all thrown in. Tennis courts
and golf courses, and an aviation field
and hangers and aeroplanes are all
there. Cooperative stores are main
tanned and cooperative restaurants
grill rooms, bars and catering estab-
lishments. In word, the millionaire
may enjoy all the innumerable perqui-
sites of being a millionaire without
once thinking about them; he may rev.
ell in the complex luxury of modern
wealth and his own contribution will
consist merely in paying the bill. He
may 20 to Europe for the summer and
return without notice and find every
thing in running order at his home
communal. ..s-..
The servant problem is to be solved
in the same way. There will be CO.
operative servants quarters where the
Wallets and lackeys and chamber maids
will have club house Of their own,
and swimming pool and an auto bus
to take them on picnics, and many 9TH
er perquisites. From this establish
ment the tenant will be able to employ
whatever servants he desires by the
day, hour or year. There will be but
one requirement: no servant will be
allowed to work more than eight hours
a day. ..@, ,@.
This townin-a-house is to have
board of directors elected by all the
tenants and this board is to hire a
manager. 1t will be run just like
modern small city, with one important
exception. The board of directors will
carefully pass upon the social and
financial qualifications of every would
be inhabitant So this is to be very
exclusive experiment in communism
But if it works there will doubtless
be other and less exclusive ones. So
crowded are the great cities becom-
ing that self preservation has of neces-
sity become mutual preservation. The
cooperative apartment of today is
probably a forecast of how we will
all be living in the not so distant fll-
ture. y...