5. Punctuality and business-like thoroughness in the management. Begin and end on the minute. Give exactly what you promise; or, if that be impossible, what will be recognized as a full equivalent. Ideas, not words, old or new on every helpful subject in the universe, spoken or illustrated. Music that rests or inspires, and is understood.
6. Sell 5,000 season tickets at $1.00 in advance to secure a guarantee fund; this is sound business, as success is then assured, and it will not depend upon the weather.
7. Have prominent citizens preside at each entertainment, but pledge them to crisp introduction. High grade entertainments wisely managed, prove themselves of benign influence, and an agency more potent than many laws in the preservation of peace and the reform of public morals.
When Colonel Harris's will was probated, two-thirds of the balance of his fortune was left in trust with Mrs. Harris, George, and Gertrude, to be used for the public welfare, as they deemed wisest. The trustees used $100,000 to build for the Workmen's Club a large and attractive Central Hall, that had steep double galleries, and five thousand opera chairs.
Several necessary committees were organized and George Ingram's gospel of Helpfulness found another practical expression. The Educational Bureau was not a gratuity in any of its departments, as small fees were charged in all the evening classes, which were crowded with old and young. For twenty consecutive Saturday evenings in the winter season, a four-fold intellectual treat was furnished at $1.00 for tickets for the entire course.
By 7:30 o'clock in the evening the Central Hall was packed to the walls, no reserved seats were sold, and the rule was observed "First come, first served," which brought promptly the audience. Season ticket-holders had the exclusive right to the hall till 7:25 o'clock, when a limited number of single admission tickets were sold. A large force of polite ushers assisted in seating the people, and in keeping order. At 7:30 all the entrance doors were closed, so that late comers never disturbed the audience.
The musical prelude, or orchestra concert of thirty minutes closed at 7:30 with a grand chorus by the audience standing; following this, precisely at 7:30 was the half-hour lecture-prelude on some scientific or practical subject. Among the topics treated were "Wrongs of Workingmen, and How to Right Them," "The Terminal Glacier," "Sewerage and Ventilation," "The Pyramids," "Wonders of the House we Live in," "Architecture Illustrated," etc.
From 8:00 to 8:15 followed the popular Singing School, in which five thousand persons heartily joined, aided by an enthusiastic precentor, and orchestra, in singing national hymns and other music. During the singing school everybody stood, and with windows lowered, fresh air and music swept through the hall and the hearts of the audience.
From 8:15 to 9:30 was given the principal attraction of the evening, a popular lecture, dramatic reading, debate on some burning question, or a professional concert. The entertainments always closed promptly at 9:30, as many electric cars were in waiting. During the season, free lectures on "The Art of Cooking," "How to Dress," "The Care of Children," "Housekeeping in General," "The Culture of Flowers," etc., etc., were given at 3 P.M. in the great hall to the wives and friends of all the ticket holders.
The circulation of useful literature was another important feature of the Educational Bureau work. At each entertainment five thousand little books of forty pages each, a wagon-load, were given to the owners of course tickets, as they entered the hall. These pamphlets included "A Short History of France," or "History of the United States," "Story of the Steam Engine," "A Brief History of Science," an "Essay on Early Man," "Great Artists," "Secrets of Success," etc. Each little book contained the evening's programme, the words and music of at least two national hymns, and "Owl Talks," a single page of crisp thoughts, to whet one's wits. At the close of each season the twenty pamphlets, continuously paged, were bound for fifty cents in two volumes with covers of red cloth. Thus the people got much for little, and they were benefited and pleased with their bargain. Encores and the discourtesy of stamping the feet and leaving the hall before the performance was concluded were abolished. Palms and fragrant flowers were always on the platform. Everybody listened attentively to the kindly words of teacher, orator, or poet; new impulses were received, and all rejoiced in the supply and satisfaction of their deepest and best wants. Feelings of a common brotherhood made hearts happier and lives better.