But there was other work. The forty minutes required to reach the heart of the city were used by quite a number, morning and evening. In the heart of the city rose a grand emporium many stories high, where many hundreds of young women and men were employed, and which was the property of the home circle; an emporium which had been built by Norman and Lawrence and fitted up by Owen, and which was one of the largest business places in the great city; an emporium where people of all ages and sizes could purchase for themselves an outfit from the crown of their heads to the soles of their feet. There was the tailor’s department and that of the dressmaker. There the milliner fashioned pretty headgear, and there all the beautiful artificial flowers, of which countless numbers were used from week to week were made. There the visitor would go from floor to floor, from department to department, and would find every place to have its own attraction, its own work.
But the most beautiful department of them all was that of the florist, where nature’s handiwork was heaped up in wild and charming confusion, and where these floral beauties, by deft and cunning fingers, were arranged into designs without number, and in this department it was that you could see our own fair girls moving about, giving orders here, lending aid there, and again seeing that patrons were promptly served. All was life, all were busy, yet none were overworked, as none worked longer than five hours here. At seven o’clock in the morning when the doors were opened, they admitted what was termed the morning “turn.” And when twelve o’clock announced the noon hour the merry throng, laughing and singing arrayed themselves for the street and went trooping out like a merry flock of birds, for their day of work was over. It was a day’s work, and thus they were paid. With the striking of the hour of one, the afternoon “turn” began, and others filled the places of the morning workers. So the faces of the saleswomen and salesmen were always fresh and smiling, with none of that tired, wornout appearance that is so often noticeable in the young faces you meet behind the counter.
Where were all these employes housed? Heretofore as these people generally are housed. Those who still had a father or mother or both living, lived with them; in most cases large families crowded into two or three rooms. Others who were not so fortunate, had to submit to all the discomforts of cheap boarding houses, or lived in some stuffy back room or bleak attic. But a change was about to take place. Today the large business building is closed. No one moves about its wide halls and its many departments. It is a grand “fete” and gala day. Today is to be dedicated the grand new home which has been erected for them.
After two years of life in their co-operative home its inmates were convinced of its success and felt almost like thieves that they should enjoy so many privileges which were beyond the reach of those to whom they gave employment, and then the plans were made for a new home, and again Owen’s millions did service and now a beautiful and grand structure had been erected. But not so far-away from the place of work as their own. That would have been cruelty to the morning “turn” who were expected to be at their post at the hour of seven, and equally unpleasant for the afternoon “turn” as it would cause them to be late for their evening meal.
Right on the outskirts of the city, where fifteen minutes would be all that would be required to bring them back and forth, a site was bought upon the brink of the beautiful river, elevated just enough to be beyond the reach of any possible flood. A park had been laid out which in time would be one of the handsomest the city could boast of, with its miniature lakes, its splashing fountains, its dense shrubbery, its gleaming statuary and flowery banks. And right in the midst of these beautiful surroundings this monster home was built. For three long years the workmen toiled, until when finished it was the finest of its kind that fancy could depict. A place where home pleasures would be given the workers, such as they had never known; where every arrangement had been made to amuse, to instruct, to educate, to develop the inmates. It boasted of its school rooms, its college, its sculpture hall and artist’s studio, its lecture hall and theater, for which the best of traveling troupes were to be engaged, with perfect arrangements for the accommodation of those troupes. Here the players would not have to undergo the extra fatigue, after their tiresome work, to again dress for the street, catch the last cold car which was to take them to their place of lodging. No, indeed! The theater of the workers’ home was a marvel of its kind. Large, airy, comfortable and well furnished rooms were attached to it, a room to every player, so near and convenient to the stage that it was not necessary to dress in little boxes or holes for their work. Here they could dress in quiet and comfort and then rest until the signal to begin was given.
When through with their work, in the pleasant, comfortable dining room connected with the theater for the convenience of this hard-working class of people—how hard-working few, not of the profession, ever realize—a simple but refreshing repast was served, which repast was so restful and had so much of real comfort in it that the traveling bands invariably forgot that intoxicants were absent from it.
Then there was a library with its thousands of volumes containing reading matter of every kind, but always choice, always select, always instructive. A large billiard room was also there. Then came the gymnasium for the development of physical strength and where both sexes were expected to participate. There was to be a singing class and dancing school.
The baths were not forgotten. Larger, more complete than at the first home—so many more were to make use of them here.
All arrangements were complete. A large, airy hall where breakfast and the mid-day meal were to be served. But here, as in that other home, the evening meal, which would be the chief meal of the day, was to be taken amidst nature’s beauties in a large and beautiful conservatory. Owen had spent a fortune in furnishing it with the required plants which were of the rarest kinds. A miniature lake was formed in its center, wherein the little golden speckled beauties were dashing and splashing about in their merry chase. A fountain was reared in its center composed of half a dozen nude mermaids holding their hands aloft, their finger tips forming a circle from which the water was flung aloft in showering spray. Sweet voiced songsters filled the air with their thrilling music. Flowers bloomed in wild profusion; huge vases were filled with their brilliant treasures wherever they could be suitably placed.