The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1888-03-15
HOW WE WENT TO HOUsEKEEP.


He had not realized what he was un.
derlsking in marrying Boston girl
| He had met her in some nook of Oi,
Germany. He had not met her Boston
relatives. was was as ignorant Of the
pre- Cprieties-Boston prOprieties-and at
| full of romance as if had never lived
in the Hub. To be sure had not lived
in Boston for eighteen yeats, and was
just nineteen years old. | said You
know il will cost no more for us to live
together than it does sIngly.
He SAL: A young physician ought to
MARY young, He had been NJ. d. just
two weeks.
| So we set about dpciding where we
should live,and what we should live on.
We ought to settle somewhere near
our relatives and friends, said /; it would
be better for practice.
don't know about that, said he;
friends are not good patients, and as for
relatives
OF course my relatives would like to
have us settle in or near Boston, said |,
We will think of il. Now as to what
We have to We on. ] suppose we can't
reckon much on practice the first year.
On, no; and we must bring our living
expenses within our means outside OF
practice, which am sure we can do il
we try.
The most important item is, Of course,
the house, | suggested.
We can't afford to pay more than S25
IA month for it as reckon expenses.
We ought to get nice little house for
that, said |, my mind full Of snug little
German houses for IA good deal under
that sum per month. You see we had
Just come over and we we're talking all
this youthful nonsense in spacious
drawing room on B aeon Hill.
Perhaps the first thing to decide is the
location of the house, SAID he, and this
was the prelude to series of drives to
the suburbs and towns surrounding B s
ton. Somehow, we fund no lack of ply
slcians' signs in all of these.
You see the point is TO find place
where physician is somewhat needed
and at the same time be near some large
center of civilizli liiOn, said he.
There was one place very beautifully
situated IN which had friends very de
sirous of having physician within
reach The friends drove us all through
it, pointing out its several advantages.
We had almost decided in favor of it,
and had selected several pretty cottages,
among which we thought we might
choose. We got the keys of these houses
and after crIticising their internal ar
rangements inquired the rent. This one
we had thought too far out of town
rented for $3j a mon h; the others for
somewhat more. There were only three
houses for rent IN the place.
The next place we looked at we began
irquiring the rent of the house before
the number of doctors. ELch one of my
relatives and number of my friends
selected place for us, and each of these
places we duly investigated. When we
returned from our little excursions the
relatives would assemble ard discuss
our affairs before Us. Aunt Harriet SEQ
vile Coleman said she considered it our
moral duty. in justice to our hishest ma
lures and our relatives, to settle in BJs
ton
Uncle Everette Adams Hastings had
scheme for US to begin life in a small
sea shore place he was planning out in
Maine. II was to be the future summer
resOrt of BoStOnians-a more English
cold roast, than Nahant itself. At pres
sent there were five Queen Anne cot
tsges upon the island, AMI | think these
five cOttagers had sworn to burn down
ything like hotel or boarding house
which might appear in their midst.
A family feud was caused 10y our pO
lite rejection of Uncle Srevenson's pro-
pOsal TO build us small h ,use in B0S-
ton, which he would rent to us at at a
considerable loss to himself. and anOth-
er breach was made when we said we
would rather not accept Aunt
Priscilla Perkins kind offer to share her
Back Bay splend, while building up a
practice.
Boston has passion for philanthropy
rs all the world knows, and is ready
to assist those who struggle, if they are
struggling according to Boston's latest
approved methods,
| When people heard that we could not
settle here and would not settle there on
account of the high rents, they SAID
Let them wait, then; other people wait
long engagements are quite the thing in
| Boston.
| So are spinsterS, nervous prOstratiun
and insanity, said the doctor, who had
grown bold under so much opposition
The dCctor's home was some hundred
miles from Boston. and waiting aid MOI
seem to him at all the correct solution
of the problem, as it did to the relatives
These asked:
How much is the doctors income?
We have not heard exactly yet, was
reply.
Why do we not know it positively
In such cases there should be no decep
ton, | shall do nothing for them n
there is, said one.
haye heard 1t Llaced at no extraor-
dlnarily low figure, SAID handsome but
somewhat bloated elderly man with q
number of rings on his fat white tinge, 5
and fashionable stammer, something
in fact, like fifteen hundred year. You
know she has not a sou; expected to
teach and that sort of thing.
They might get along on that, said one
of the relatives, speculatively. She was
member of the executive committee OF
Ward No., Associated Charities, and
knew just what people could exist upon
in Boston.
Possibly, said some one else, if their
WeuulIlB presents were very HduuoOult,
with number of checks among them.
But they don't seen disposed to dc
anything decently and in order Aunt
Catherine told me that they talked Of
having no wedding at adjust getting
married in some little South End ritual
istic chapel and inviting no one, They
don't seem to know what is due to their
relatives and friends.
That is just the point; they don't
know, piTed up another another voice.
See bow they behaved about their en-
gagement, letting people find it out as
best they could. They did not stay al
home the day after their engagement
leaked out, but were off on some coun-
try excursion when callers and flowers
arrived for her.
| The engagement came out at "a time
of year when everybody was out oil
town, and | don't believe they had q
single dinner given them. IL behOoves
us all the more to see that the wedding
shall not be fizzle also.
This conversation was afterwards re-
hearsed to me by my cousin. OF the As
sOciated Charities. who WIS secretely in
tague with us, rs she was interested in
the theory of getting the most out oil
money. When the doctor heard thi,
conversation he said;
Why not make our home three or -four
hundred miles from Boston, where ouI
private affairs will not be sttled by Z