ORGANIZING FOR TOWN IMPROVEMENTS 15 



ploying a man or men to keep up the parking space, remove refuse from 

 alleys and to cut the weeds upon vacant lots. When work is done 

 upon private property which affects the district as a whole, but should 

 have been done by the individual, the home owner is charged for the 

 work. For instance, if there is a vacant lot upon which weeds are 

 allowed to grow, the weeds are cut and a statement is sent to the owner 

 of the property for the cost of the work ; in this way the embarrassment 

 of asking the individual to clean up his property is avoided. 



Town Improvement Societies have been most successful in towns 

 and small cities, where they have been one of the most powerful influ- 

 ences in America for civic improvements. The Laurel Hill Associa- 

 tion, of Stockbridge, Massachusetts, is one of the first permanent or- 

 ganizations of this kind in America, and through its work has trans- 

 formed Stockbridge from the ordinary kind of village into one of the 

 prettiest and best ordered villages in New England. "The Safest, the 

 Healthiest and the Most Beautiful Community in the United States," 

 is the aim of the Merion Civic Association, of Merion, Pennsylvania. 

 Colonel Roosevelt is quoted as having said that Merion is "model in 

 civic affairs." 



*"The Association lists forty-two of its achievements in its year 

 book. They range all the way from police whistles placed in the 

 homes of member? to the artistic street lights, of which one hundred and 

 forty-seven have been erected. These lights were not chosen at ran- 

 dom. They were selected from many designs sumbmitted to the Asso- 

 ciation, and have been pronounced by experts and architects to be the 

 most beautiful and practical lamps in use in any community. In addi- 

 tion, each of the roads is marked with artistic name signs, ninety-eight 

 of which have been erected solely at the expense of the Association, 

 and there are also five boundary signs and fifty-four cast-iron danger 

 signals." 



"Out of the funds contributed by its members the Association pays 

 three special policemen, in addition to those furnished by the township. 

 This accomplished more than the prevention of burglary; it forced 

 down insurance rates. Similar means were used to reduce fire insur- 

 ance. There is not a house in Merion more than seven hundred feet 

 from a fire plug. The Association contributes to two volunteer subur- 

 ban companies. And it takes no chances on a last minute search for 

 the scene of the fire. Each of these companies and all the nearby 

 Philadelphia stations are provided with up-to-the-minute maps of the 

 community, showing the location of every house. 



"The Association supervises even such minor things as the collec- 

 tion of ashes and garbage. Since the owners and drivers of ash-carts 

 know that the Association will prosecute all offenders under the town- 



*The House Beautiful, December, 1920. 



