The advantage of the universal transmission of intelligence will be seen in all the industries of the Roadtown. The entire industrial and living system will be equipped with telephones just as are the various departments of a large factory. For illustration: The Roadtown will employ an agricultural expert. At his office will be kept soil maps of the entire Roadtown area, and he will be in a position to advise freely with the farmers along the line what to plant, where to plant, and when to plant. Or if a farmer finds a new kind of bug eating up the cabbage leaves, he will simply pick a few bugs, put them in a bottle and send the bottle by mechanical carriers to the agricultural office. The agriculturist will then advise him by ’phone as to what course to pursue.
The same close touch with the producers on the line will apply in the case of the supply of food growing in the gardens along the line. The gardeners from day to day can ’phone the chef what they will have to offer, and he can arrange the bill of fare accordingly, while the manager of the store can keep the Roadtowner posted on the probable demand for various goods made in his work room.
CHAPTER XI
ROADTOWN EDUCATION AND SOCIAL LIFE
AN ideal social life is one in which people can be together when they wish to be together, and alone when they wish to be alone. The better the transportation facilities, the more nearly of attainment is such a condition. The Roadtowners in all thickly-populated sections will be within commuting distance of nearby cities and the attractions of these centers will be open to them. But such social life, even for those who live in the city, is sadly deficient. City people have theaters, libraries, churches and crowds, but they do not have neighbors with common interests. The Roadtowners who get the food at the same kitchen, and hear the same band play, and sell their products coöperatively, and promenade on the same endless roof garden, and send their children to the same instructors, are going to get acquainted if they so desire. The entire Roadtown will be in connection by the loud speaking telephone, and folks can call on each other on a stormy night without so much as getting out of their comfortable rockers, but, for that matter, while there will be more to keep a Roadtowner at home, there will be less to keep him from going away from home when he wants to. If anyone is lonesome in Roadtown, it is simply because he has no friends, and if he has no friends, it can scarcely be anyone’s fault but his own.
But the social life of Roadtown will not be limited to city trips and neighborly calls. The Roadtown will have coöperative amusement centers, just as it will have coöperative kitchens and stores. At spots where the Roadtown crosses streams or passes the mountains or the sea shore and at certain distances apart, amusement parks will be located. Here will be the athletic grounds, swimming pools, gymnasiums and the means of entertainment common and uncommon to like resorts. At more frequent intervals in the Roadtown, and so distributed as to give picturesque variety to the house line will be museums, art galleries, theaters, lecture halls and dance halls. All such features that are supported by the corporation must, of course, be open to all residents. Organizations that are not for the benefit of the majority of the inhabitants will be supported by their adherents. The halls of the association will be open to all meetings, religious or otherwise, where nonconflicting dates can be arranged.
The Roadtown will offer opportunity for the revival of athletics upon a scale unheard of since the Olympian games of ancient Greece.
Roadtown Athletics.
The Roadtown community, because of the spirit of coöperation and mutuality which will pervade all phases of life, will extend into mature years the institutional patriotism which forms such a large part of modern school and college life. Under such conditions we may expect to see developed a grand series of meets in all manner of competitive arts and sports. The winners of the local meets or exhibitions will again compete at the grand athletic and art centers.
The Roadtown will bring the opportunity to indulge in the sports and recreations much nearer the life of the whole people than in the present civilization.