Social Life of the Garden City 175 



The civic center can not successfully base its appeal 

 upon any narrow range of activities. These should be 

 diversified as much as possible, in order to enlist all 

 of the interests and keep them alive. In one community 

 of this kind I engaged an expert census enumerator 

 who happened to be one of the settlers, and had him 

 make a very thorough canvass to ascertain the tastes 

 and talents of our people. He did the job quite scien- 

 tifically, with card-indexed results. We were all amazed 

 to find the amount and diversity of talent available for 

 public entertainment and instruction. One man was 

 an Esperanto crank, and it was not long before he 

 had a number of people studying the universal lan- 

 guage. One lady had made a deep study of old Colonial 

 dances and costumes, and she soon had a wonderful 

 class, which appealed especially to the older people. 

 This revival of the stately minuet and other dignified 

 dances of our forefathers was so popular that people 

 frequently came many miles to witness it. It was mar- 

 velous to behold the grace concealed under the roughest 

 exterior, and developed under this lady's enthusiastic 

 teaching. 



The census revealed one band-master, and a dozen 

 or more young men who had aspired all their lives to 

 blow a horn, with no opportunity to satisfy their am- 

 bition. It must be confessed that the community suf- 

 fered a good deal while they were learning, but they 

 finally emerged a fairly competent brass band. Some 

 very good actors were uncovered (there are always 

 such in these communities), and a rather unusual qual- 

 ity of dramatic entertainments evolved after a time. 

 Of elocutionists, musicians, singers and good public 



