Weekly Chillicothe crisis. (Chillicothe, Livingston Co., Mo.) 1878-19??, 1879-07-17

| llC IN llUSlOH, WillCll lOOk place lIUe Ill TIT
autumn, and had spent the winter there
1t was in March that aunt Sarah went tC
stay with the Wcadles, and that the above
conversation was held. 1t ismy firm opin
ion, derived from experience IN house
hunting at the time, that if gold media
were offered for the most ingenious per.
version Of facts house agent would VIII
it, il desirable mansion or picturesque
villa described by one of these gentry re-
sembles the real article about as much as
a theatrical castle seen from the pit does
the same erection viewed from the wings
| As for suppression Of truth, that, sup
pose, is to be expected, since the law
which cxonerateS a man from eliminating
himself may be inferred to extend to his
property, and therefore to the property OF
other people intrusted to his disposal. But
the general result OF all this positive and
negative deception Is to give the house
hunter an immense amount of trouble and
anxiety. and to cure him of any blind con-
iidence in his fellow-mcn forever. For
three consecutive weeks my wife and |
saw over twenty houses per week, so we
ought to know. 1t is true that the great
majority Of these tcncmentS, which prom
lscd well upon paper, were 50 obviously
unsuitable to MS that Il glance sutFiccd to
show that they would not dc. When the
spacious apartments proved to be seven
feet high, Or the eight good bedrooms re-
solved into five, with three cupboardS, we
did not waste much time beyond that ia.
ken up by the iourncyto and fro. But the
disadvantages Of other houses were not so
Immediately obvious. 1t is only during
spring tides that the cellars and kitchens
of FIuyial lodge were under water. The
faint smell which floated about Upas Villa
could not be detected when windows and
doors were open, and Inquiries in the
neighbOrbOOd alone brought out the re-
mmkabIc susceptibility of Il long success
sion Of tenants to tcvers of typhoid char
acter. 1t was only when the wind lay in
Il Southcrly or castclly direction that the
near ncghborhood of the Golden Guano
COmpany's Works to the l.ilacs became
Obvious; and we should have committed
ourselves lrrccovclNbly to five years Ofthat
unique residence it Il breeze had not
sprung up in the quarter named on the
occasion Of our third visit. We were like
wise very nearly fixing ourselves in the
Hermitage, so the little pcrccptablc was
the thrOb Of the watcr.works engine hard
by whill you We're moving about, talking
and interested in other matters. Yet,
from what we have learned aiterward, we
might Just as well have taken up our abode
on board a screw steamer. Port wine
could not deposit its bec's.wing or ceilings
retain their plaster, so earnest and dunccas-
ing was the vibration. At last, when we
were wcIl-nigh in dispalr, the very place
we wanted turned Up. My wife and III
we generally hunted in couplcs-wcrc
walkiD%discOnsolatcly, not to say sulkily,
along quiet road on our way back to the
railway station after au unsatisfactory in
spectlo1 of IN lncipient ruin, which might |
have been rendered habitabe by the out
lay Of C2OOO or SO, when we came to high, |
drty-whtc will with 4 door in il, and on
the door there was nailed Il notice-bOard: |
"Io let. Inquire within"
"Why, here is house in Eyotham
which we have not sccn!' exclaimed my
wife.
"Itwas not down in any agents book,
said !. 81 wonder what it is likc?"
"A jail or Il convent, to Judge from this |
side OF it, which is all wall.
Never mind; let US look at it,
So we stopped, and pulled at a bell.
handle at intervals until deaf char
woman let lis into very pleasant.loOking
premises. All the gloom was cOnsined to
the side facing the road; once through the
door all was bright and cheerful enough,
especially when the shutters were opened.
The rooms were Of good size and hight,
the kit"hrl lly, tie roof and floors appar-
emily sound, the cupboards deep and
plentiful, the fixtures convenient. A
petty lawn, shaded by handsome trees,
stopped down to the banks ofthe Thames,
where there was picturesque boat t.house.
The kitcHcn-garden was ample, with a
good store OF Iuit trees in it; the stabling
sufficient for our modest wants. We Ger,
tainly saw all this under favorable
auspices. 1t wls the first really balmy |
day of early spring; the sun was shining,
the BIRDS We're singing, the river spark.
ling, and the buds of the trees seemed to
be growing grccncr every minute. We
really thought that we had at length hit |
upon the very thing. Not that we were
over.sanguinc as we rode back to town;
we had been to often disappoint d not to |
fear some hitch or some fatal drawback.
The more we saw of Swansdown Villa, |
however, the better we liked it. The only |
reason for its being empty was the cxorbi-
tant rent demanded by the proprietor;
but since that would be divided between
Aunt Sarah and myself, it was not so
serious IN obstacle in our case. As for |
that cstimable relative, when she saw the |
place she was charmed; and, to cut a long
story short, We happily rescded her out OF |
the hands Of the Weadles and established |
her comfortably in her hone. Not too |
soon; for Wcadlc had gained certain as
tendency over her, and cOrrespo Jdence
has been kept up with that branch of the
family ever since.
For u time we were in constant expccta-
tion Of some unthOught of detect coming
to light in our new home; but weeks pass
ed on without smells cropping up, Or
kitchen boilers bursting, or any other do
nestle Ca!amities occurring, and we grad |
ually grew easy. We boatGd, we fshed,
we made pleasant acquaintance among
our ncighbOrs, we picnicked, we practiced |
lawn tens, and thoroughly enjoyed the
summer, which extended itself into |
October, Aunt Sarah being as happy as
any one in quiet sort of way, and re.
covering in great measure from the
shock she had received; for though have
spoken Of the explosion in somewhat
light tone, the poor old lady's nerves were
seriously Jared by it.
The pleasant weather died off very sud
denly at last. A fog, n frost and three
days perpetual rain closed the season eff.
fectually. The boat was hurled up into
its dry.dock, the garden games were pack
ed away carefully, and my wife and |, who
are partial to theatrical entertainments,
began somewhat to regret our distance
from town.
At breakfast on the 3D. of November,
Aunt Sarah SAID: IF YOU are thinking
of having any fireworks to amuse the chll.
drcn on the 5th (Guy Fawkes' Day.
Charles, should like to contribute"
left an egg half decapitated, like victim
in the hands of an unskilful executioner,
so astonishedwas |. We had been de-
vising how we should keep the flare of
squibs and the banging of maroons in the
distance from the eyes and ears of our
relative, and had arranged to have all the
shutters in the house closed and all the
curtains drown at very early hour on the
eventful evening, dreading lest any
such sight or sound should recall the
alarming episods Of the year before.
HWhv vnu lnolx nuitn ecnrad NV dnar ~