The  most  noteworthy  feature  of  these  tene-
ments, however,  is  the  school  for  children  be-
tween the  ages  of  three  and  seven  years,  which
is  maintained  either  in  a  room  on  the  principal
floor  of  one  of  the  tenements  or  in  a  small
house  in  the  court-yard.  The  schools  are  of
the  Montessori  type  and  have  attracted  wide
attention.  A  full  description  of  these  schools
is  given  in  the  chapter  on  "Recent  Develop-
ments in  Education."

Although  a  caretaker  is  always  on  duty  to
see  that  everything  in  connection  with  the  tene-
ments is  in  good  order,  Talamo  takes  special
pains  to  enlist  the  interest  of  the  tenants  in  the
up-keep  of  the  property.  To  this  end  he  is
offering  a  series  of  prizes  for  the  best  kept
dwellings  in  the  group.  These  prizes  stimulate
tenants  to  maintain  a  high  standard  of  neat-
ness and  to  safeguard  the  property  of  the  com-
pany, and  at  the  same  time  have  the  effect  of
greatly  reducing  the  bill  of  expense  for  repairs.
1  See  Chapter  XIII,  p.  250.
[51]


MODERN    CITIES

The  np-keep  of  the  tenements  under  Talamo's
charge  is  only  a  small  item  compared  with  that
of  the  ordinary  tenements.
The  municipal  company  is  following  Tala-
mo's example.  It  has  adopted  his  methods  of
management,  and  although  it  has  not  succeeded
in  securing  a  manager  with  Talamo's  genius,
its  tenements  are  in  much  better  condition  than
those  ordinarily  found  in  the  city.
