St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1881-02-18


course in the Grecian upright. and tn,
cOlonade in front of it was so arranged
that great pillar stood in front of eacl
window. But the most uncomfortable
room in the whole house was my office
Mrs. GillyflOwer said | would find the
other rooms equally disagreeable if
was in them from morning till night, az
she was; but doubt it. for it did seen
as though in the Office Plummet haC
| taxed his ingenuity to the utmost tC
put everything in the wrong place.
Our parlor walls were decorated witt
bOttle-2reen paper, on which was paint
ed the most luxuriant red hOlIyhocks
/ Our bedroom was a dark slate color
and the design seemed to be millions O
gilt snakes squirming in mute agony
/ Our dining-roOm was nearly all brick
red border. The little space left be-
tween the dado and border proper was
a sort of red pink and the effect O
| these tints suggested torture chamber
| for me, rather than the eating room Oi
a quiet Christian family. As the other
| rooms in the house were finished some
what like | have described, there was
not place where our old furniture and
carpets looked well and, spite of my
self, though | was deeply in debt, was
compelled to buy new things for every
room, not excepting the kitchen, fol
Bridget threatened to leave "if she
cuddent hav' a range instid of that ovid
cook-stove. Twas as owl-fashi'end as
IL hair-cloth soffy." Even our china
which was Haviland's best, looked
wrong in the red dining room, and had
to be replaced by decorated porce-
lain.
But | fOnnd that our new chairs and
sofas were built on the right-angle plan.
Instead of fitting the body, the body
must be fitted to them. AS this task
was very irksOme to me, | ordered GER
tain chairs and cOuches that | knew were
comfortable to be sent home from the
auction-rOoms and stored in our attic.
The winter was very severe, and so
revealed to us the defects in our house
that we began to remodel it at the first
dawn of spring. Plummet assured me
that | would ruin the effect of the Ital-
ian wing if ! removed any of the win
dOws in our bedroom so | had them
bricked up and left the blinds and cas-
ingS untouched. He tried to disSuade
me from changing the parlOr; but as
knew the darkness was injuIing the
eyesight of the entire family, | had the
windows reset, so we could look out
between the pillars and a modicum of
light could shine in. These changes
neceSsitated repapering, and more long
bills from Dado x Co. As the north
west wind seemed to be DETECTED from
its course by the tower, and in cOnSe-
quence plunged down our kitchen Chin
ncy, putting out the fire and filling the
house with gas, | built up the chimney
eighteen feet and covered it with a
hood, and thus made that chimney so
prominent that from certain point the
house looked very like Il gas factory.
After the warm weather set in, built
Il bay window on the south side of the
sitting room run out the kitchen six feet
and made new pantry, and enlarged
my office. When these Improvements
were completed ! confess my house
looked very like patient of mine.
whose body is distorted and joints en-
larged by intiammatOry rheumatism,
and | was so in debt my only salvation
was in the popularity of my "Favorite
Pill"
| cannot detail all my veXations with
that house, ioI they were legion. | liv-
ed in it till had spent upon it and its
furnishings about thirty-five thousand
dollars, when fortunately | sold it to Il
man who had become Il millionaire sell
ing pigs. To be sure | only received
half what | had expended; but the
burden of it had become so insupporta-
BILE that the day | left it, and with
Phila Ann and the children rode
over to the old Butterfoss house, was
the happiest of my life. | felt like
dancing Il jig when went into the wide
old parlor And the Oflice-ah what
a charming place it did seem. The
fragrance of aloes and rhubarb still
hung about it. Every door and window
was in exactly the right spot, and can
not describe the pleasure | took in
again hanging up my skeleton in its
roOmy closets and setting up my bottles
Oh its wide shelves.
The Old-fashioncd things | had stored
in my attic and what | could buy OF
my progressive and art-lOving neigh
bors furnished our house. Nothing was
too nice to use or too delicate for the
sun to shine on. and our friends, after
laughing ut us a little, said our house
was the pleaSantest one in town; and
they told the truth, for we had light
and air, furniture built with some re-
gard to the curves of the human body.
and really tastefully combinations OF
color on our walls. There is an old
story of a flea who took up his abode
in lobster shell, not because he need
ed it. but because it was finer than the
dwellings OF his friends, and would bt
good property to sell if a real lobster
| should come along. Somehow, the
! house | built always reminds me of that
IobSter-shell. Perhaps the man who is
now in it is real lobster and feels al
home. | hope so. | never did, any
more than the flea. There are a great
many very crude notions aflOat on the
subject of what is beautiful in house,
and their decorations; and full one.
| half the persons who profess to know
all about it are as ignorant as so many
! barn-owls. | therefore sincerely pity
all people who are about to build o.
buy house and in the hope that
may assist them to avoid possessing
what is unsuited to their wants anC
tastes, to them | dedicate this brief ac
count of what my neighbors call CDR
! ON, I,-p,,ro,i, Dill r., 1a,,o,,, ,Jo,,t