al open-air swimming bath for the men. In the rising background
are the pretty houses and the gardens of the model village. Still
retracing our steps, we now come to the original cottages built by the
firm. Plainer and less picturesque than those of more modern
construction, their air of comfort, and the creepers which cover many
of their walls, make them harmonize well with their surroundings. One
of them is now used as a youths' club, providing games, a circulating
library, and reading and lecture rooms. Another contains club rooms
for the office staff. In passing we catch sight of a fine swimming
bath for the girls.

Through the lodge and under the clematis, a few steps bring us to the
private railway-station, which in size would do credit to many a town.
Here trucks are loaded with finished goods and despatched to their
various destinations. Every working day of the year a long train,
extending often in the busiest season to as many as forty truck-loads,
steams out of this station to scatter the productions of Bournville
over the face of the Earth. Close by the station we turn into the
offices, where the fittings and general arrangement convey an air of
refined solidity according well with the goods produced.

[Illustration--Black and White Plate: Girls' Dining Hall, Bournville.]

Before proceeding to study the manufacture of cocoa essence and
chocolate from the bean as it is imported, it will be interesting to
see the careful provision that is made for the health and cleanliness
of the workers, for in connection with any food nothing is of greater
importance than the circumstances attending its preparation. A
gratuitous sick club is provided by the firm for the employees,
including the services of a doctor and three trained nurses. A special
retiring room, comfortably furnished, is provided for girls needing a
quiet hour's rest.

We are taken into the girls' dining-hall, capable of seating over two
thousand at a time, fitted with benches, the backs of which are
convertible into table tops. The far end of the dining-hall leads into
the huge kitchen, to which the girls can bring their own dinners to be
cooked, or where they can buy a large variety of things at
coffee-house prices. Here again the health of the workers is carefully
studied. Fruit is made a speciality, an experienced buyer being
employed to insure its better supply. A private dining-room is
provided for the forewomen.

Returning to the dining-hall