SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES

With ninety-nine out of a hundred families the deciding argument in favor of going to the suburb has just got into short dresses and begun to say “Da-da.”  Already we see pointings to the childish activities that we would not check.  No one who stops to think about it chooses to have his children play in the city streets or be confined to a flat during the open months.  For the children’s sake, if not for our own, we turn to the country, and one of our first thoughts is for the children’s school.

I called on a young business acquaintance recently and found him engrossed in examining a pile of college catalogues.  “Going in for a post-grad?” I inquired.  “Why, haven’t you heard?” he responded.  “It’s a boy—­week ago Saturday.  Er—­would you say Yale or Harvard?”

This was preparedness with a vengeance, to be sure; but almost before we realize that infancy is past, the boy and girl will be ready for school, and it is important to know that the right school will be ready for them.  Happily, the suburban school is usually of special excellence, and the chief thought must be of distance and whether the children will need to cross dangerous railroad tracks.

We shall, of course, wish to be where there are strong churches, with a society of our chosen denomination, if possible.  It may be that the social life which has its center there will provide all the relaxation we require; if we seek outside circles, it is desirable to know whether we are likely to please and be pleased.  Always there is the suburban club; but not always is the suburban club representative of the really best people of the town.

TRANSPORTATION

On the practical side a question of large importance is that of transportation.  The fast trains may make the run in twenty minutes, but we shall not always catch the fast trains, and the others may take forty.  Morning and evening they should be so frequent that we need not lose a whole hour on a “miss.”  In stormy weather we must find shelter in the station, comfortable or uncomfortable.  On the husband’s monthly ticket the rides may cost only a dime; when the wife and her visiting friends go to the matinee each punch counts for a quarter, and four quarters make a dollar.  To the time of the train must be added the walk or ride from the downtown station to the office, and the return walk from the home station.  A near-by electric line for emergencies may sometimes save an appointment.  None of these things alone will probably give pause to our plans, but all will weigh in our general satisfaction or disagreement with suburban life.

THE BUTCHER, THE BAKER, AND THE CANDLE-STICK MAKER