U.S. Community and Its Citizens - Earth and Its People

[Music] [Applause] [Music] it's not shown on maps of the world or even on small maps of the United States but a traveller driving along the coast of Connecticut is certain to come to milk board a community of 18,000 people Milford is prettier than some towns and older than most but the important thing about Milford is not its age or how it looks but but as a community a place where people live and work it is like other communities all over the United States the story of how Milford began how it grew and what its people do every day is much the same as that of thousands of other towns early morning in Milford find some people already at work what they are doing will be helpful to others when the rest of the town wakes up and then when the others get up they are soon busy with their own affairs Phil for instance must take to school the model he built at the post office it's for a class project in geography as usual his mother was seeing to it that her family has a good breakfast and Phil dared glances at the morning paper before leaving for his office right on the front page there's a story telling about the study of Milford to be made by Phil's class this reminds them that Phil ought to be dressed by now so that he can start for school on time his mother agrees that he's done a splendid job but she wonders if he's forgotten that his first class will be starting in only a few minutes traffic is heavy in the morning when so many people are driving to work or to the shopping centre of course the policeman has no way of knowing but Phil is in a hurry his job is to keep traffic moving so that no one will be late after talking the whole thing over a class decides that the best way to study Milford is to divide into small groups and have each group take pictures and make notes about a different part of community life even though everyone wants to start right away it's better to delay a few minutes and first learn how Milford began and why its particular location was chosen a little more than three hundred years ago there were woods and meadows where Milford now stands a traveller passing along the old road to Boston so that the land would be good for farming and for raising cattle and the Weber River would provide water for the livestock as well as a harbor for fishing boats and sailing vessels so almost 150 years before the Declaration of Independence a few families moved here to start a new community they cleared the woods laid out farms built cabins and protected themselves from Indians by a stockade the first public building in Milford was the meeting house where the settlers worshiped then came the water meal where grain was brown to the meal and flour as the town grew places were needed for the blacksmith the carpenter the Tanner and a storekeeper when the Indians became more friendly other families moved to Milford and settled outside the stockade the path between the houses became roads most American roads were made by neighbors visiting each other's homes with the discovery of the steam engine small factories were built and then a railroad line the town continued to grow slowly changing quietly with the times until it became the milford we know today it is modern milford that the class will study by finding out what its people do by seeing how the work of one man helps others they will learn the meaning of the word community and understand what the community means to them Margaret and her group take a bus to the airport the buses which carry people all around Milford also run to neighboring towns it isn't far from the center of Milford to the airport the pilot of a helicopter is Margaret's brother and he's going to take her up high over the town so that she can see it all at one time and with her camera Margaret will be able to show the rest of the class but Milford looks like from the air the boys remind her to look for the river in the harbor and to notice how the buildings and factories were built near them airports have their own safety regulations when the runway is clear the pilot will receive a signal to takeoff Margaret's brother has been flying planes at the airport for three years and knows what his sister wants to see from the air it's easier to understand what the teaching means when she says a community is a center of living where people depend on each other on the outskirts of farms which produce food for the people in Milford and in the cities and towns nearby the powerhouse is on the river because it is easier and cheaper to have boats bring the heavy loads of coal from which electricity is made now there is the town itself with its rows of neat houses wide streets and its business buildings at the center of town square in the middle is the town hall with the offices of the people who carry on the government of Milford railroads are important to Milford as they are to all communities travelers go on fast trains to Boston and New York into cities far beyond businessmen and farmers use the railroad to ship the products they don't sell in Milford from the Milford freight station good start their journeys to points everywhere and shipments arrived here from all over the world a second group came to the station with a dairy farmer who is picking up a shipment of new milk bottles he will take the children home with him to finish their assignment over the roads that crisscross through Milford a car can go from the station near the center of town to a farm several miles away in a few minutes the farmers nephew Bobby is also a member of the geography class and has arranged to show the others what happens on his uncle's dairy farm [Music] these cars are well fed and raised scientifically it's nice to have cars that are friendly Bobby tells them but the really important thing is to have cows that give a large amount of rich milk on all dairy farms paying time is the busiest season of the year dick who lives in town and seldom visits farms doesn't want to miss a thing the grass was cut three days ago and left in the fields to dry it's important now to get it into the barns before a summer shower can spoil the new hay a baling machine gathers the hay compresses it into bundles and binds it all in one operation with such machinery one farmer can do as much as eight men working by hand he can use the time saved by machinery to cultivate other crops like apples peaches corn potatoes and garden vegetables a farmer's life is one job after another the next is to pick up a load of bricks to fit the Brickyard is only a few miles away and close to the clay pits brick making is an industry that was developed through one of Milford's natural resources four bricks are made by mixing sand and water with a clay from the pits these bricks are not only used for buildings and Milford but they're exchanged for the products of other areas a truck takes the clay to the molding machine where it will be stamped into the familiar blocks these must then be put on drying racks because bricks must dry in the Sun for a long time before they can be hardened by baking brick making depends on the weather in the changeable climate of Connecticut the plant can operate only during the warm months of the year and is shut down entirely in winter time loading and unloading the conveyor belts is done by hand but the rest of the operation proceeds mechanically the machines do the work of many hands and enable a small crew of men to turn out half a million bricks each week 300 years ago a farmer probably would have dropped the milk and butter he produced to give to the brick maker in exchange today the farmer pays cash for the bricks he is taking away when goods are exchanged or paid for that's called trade trade is an important community function whether it happens in a Brickyard a grocery store or anyplace else since Ann's family does not have a farm they purchase food with money nowadays exchanging goods is made easier by the use of money which represents either the value of goods things people make or the value of services things people do in the shopping center of Milford and mother can buy the produce of farmers the farmers in turn but the money they get from the sale of their crops can buy things made in Milford of Goods brought into Milford to be sold materials needed on the farm or in the dairy they can buy clothes for each member of the family services like goods can be bought with money the baker supplies goods but doctors dentists and lawyers supply services the man who shines in a pair shoes sells a service although a newspaper costs only a few pennies it provides an important community service it is a form of communication but it brings to the citizens of Milford news of what's going on in the world and advertisements tell what merchants have for sale to report on how a newspaper is published is the assignment of Billy and Tom who usually deliver papers after school printing a modern newspaper is a complicated process involving not only the gathering of news to be printed but the use of many machines by men who have learned how to operate them the boys have seen this print shop many times before but a thought of it only is a place to pick up their papers now as a result of what they've been hearing at school they see how important it is to get the papers to their customers on time so that people are kept interested in both the community and the affairs of the world as part of their project Tom and Billy are going to report on all the community services they see as they deliver their papers Billy's route includes the courthouse where the courtroom the police station and the jail are located in every community laws must be enforced in order to protect all citizens against the harm that a few individuals might do and it's customary for the judge to conduct the trial with dignity and he must see that everyone concerned has a fair hearing in court today is a motorist who was arrested for speeding he is charged with endangering the lives of other citizens Billy stays only long enough to make notes for his report then he continues his rounds past the post office and around the village green he crosses Memorial Bridge which honors the first settlers who picked this place to start the community and then pedals into the part of town where he and his schoolmates live suddenly he sees something he didn't expect mr. Young's barn is on fire Billy knows where the fire alarm box is located this is the quickest and surest way to call for help the fire department is for the safety and protection of everyone in the community nothing is more important than to get the men and equipment of a fire as quickly as possible [Music] [Music] as part of the town's safety service police officers must clear the streets for a fire department [Music] hydrants to provide water for the firemen who may need it have been placed all over town the cost of the water system like the fire and police departments is shared by everyone in the community thanks to the early alarm the blaze is put out before it can do much damage the chief is grateful for billy's alertness and Billy is pleased to have such a good item for his report he saw a group of men protecting the citizens in the community of Milford back in the classroom each group tells a different part of the story of the town and these fit together into a complete picture of Milford this story becomes a motion picture and in it they can all see what each group has learned about the community the film makes clear the meaning of what the class is found it shows how Milford growing out of the countryside around it now serves at the center of the region it is linked with other similar centres by various means of transportation in the air and on the ground on the outskirts of Milford in almost all directions of farms which produce vegetables and fruit and dairy products for the people in town and in its earth is a natural resource clay which supplies the raw material for brick making one of the several manufacturing industries of the area in the community are many conveniences and services which the people of the town as individuals could never provide for themselves through these organised services a single person can help many others by means of trade it is possible to exchange all these goods and services to make life for everyone more comfortable and to suit the tastes of all that's what the geography class has learned about Milford and the story is much the same for all communities from big cities to small country villages everywhere in the world a community is started and grows because people need a place in which to live and to work a place to do the things for one another which will make it possible for all to have a better life the geography class has learned the importance of the community and each knows and understands the part he must take in the life of the community all over the world people belong to a community and communities belong to their people [Music]