Chapter VIII: MUSIC So it is with music; the written notes are not the main thing, nor is even the heard performance; these are only evidences of an internal invisible emotion that can be felt but never fully expressed. -- SAMUEL BUTLER. I ON the elevated land just north of the old Mansion House, an imposing new Community House of red brick was erected. The old wooden buildings were removed, and the new home was surrounded by spacious stretches of lawn and trees. Wings were added to this dignified building in the seventies, so that a clois- tered inner quadrangle was eventually formed. Behind the new home, to the west was erected the "Tontine," named after a new hotel in Boston. The Tontine housed the kitchens and din- ing-hall, and was connected with the basement of the main house by an underground passage, for use in bad weather. This new house was equipped with all the conveniences that the period offered. On the second floor, the commodious assembly hall was fitted with a balcony running around three walls; and a stage, equipped with a footlight trough, was used for the Community entertainments-dancing by the children, tableaux, dramatic per- formances, concerts, and even recitals by celebrated, traveling virtuosi. Downstairs, in an office off the main entrance, two members received callers, for the Community was attracting an ever-increas- ing number of visitors. In 1870, the Midland Railroad built a line which extended for more than a mile through the seven hundred acres comprising the Community domain, and a station named "Community" was established within a stone's throw of the dwell- ings. This convenience made it possible for dwellers in neigh- boring towns and cities to organize excursions to the Community. All visitors were encouraged to picnic on the lawns, to inspect gardens and factories, and free concerts were given in the Com- munity Hall. Trainloads of men, women and children, often from considerable distances, visited this little Utopia. They roamed through the new Community House, completed in 1871, enjoy- ing its comforts and luxuries. Hundreds of the curious wandered over the six hundred and sixty-four acres of "the best farm and grazing lands in the State." They were guided in parties through the vast trap-shops and canning factories. Under courteous super- vision, they trooped through the substantial farm buildings, pa- -241- |