opinion that the experiment, if attempted, would be a failure,--an
attitude not by any means confined to the residents of Merion! Bok
decided to test it out; he called together twenty of his neighbors, put
the suggestion before them and asked for two thousand dollars as a
start, so that a paid secretary might be engaged, since the men
themselves were too busy to attend to the details of the work. The
amount was immediately subscribed, and in 1913 The Merion Civic
Association applied for a charter and began its existence.

The leading men in the community were elected as a Board of Directors,
and a salaried secretary was engaged to carry out the directions of the
Board. The association adopted the motto: "To be nation right, and State
right, we must first be community right." Three objectives were selected
with which to attract community interest and membership: safety to life,
in the form of proper police protection; safety to property, in the form
of adequate hydrant and fire-engine service; and safety to health, in
careful supervision of the water and milk used in the community.

"The three S's," as they were called, brought an immediate response.
They were practical in their appeal, and members began to come in. The
police force was increased from one officer at night and none in the
day, to three at night and two during the day, and to this the
Association added two special night officers of its own. Private
detectives were intermittently brought in to "check up" and see that the
service was vigilant. A fire hydrant was placed within seven hundred
feet of every house, with the insurance rates reduced from twelve and
one-half to thirty per cent; the services of three fire-engine companies
was arranged for. Fire-gongs were introduced into the community to guard
against danger from interruption of telephone service. The water supply
was chemically analyzed each month and the milk supply carefully
scrutinized. One hundred and fifty new electric-light posts specially
designed, and pronounced by experts as the most beautiful and practical
road lamps ever introduced into any community, were erected, making
Merion the best-lighted community in its vicinity.

At every corner was erected an artistically designed cast-iron road
sign; instead of the unsightly wooden ones, cast-iron automobile
warnings were placed at every dangerous spot; community bulletin-boards,
preventing the display of notices on trees and poles, were pl