The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1889-03-14
HOW MIR. MEADOwLAND KEPT SUM-
MER BOARDERS.

I
MER BOARDERS.
have received the following letter
from Mr.. Elijah II. Meadow land, who
last season carried on a summer board
ing house in quiet way. This letter as
some one has said, explains itself
My Dear Sir: Your letter, in which
you say you are going to write book
on SIMMER Board and Other Noxious
Institutions" and want some facts about
the business, is received. 1t will make
me feel first. rate II can help you any,
and tell you what learned about the
business while running my house, which
| might say right here have just en-
tirely retitted for next season, having
painted the front door and moved the
hen-coop.
opened my house the first Of last
June, putting small notices in the New
York papers that quiet country board
with COW on the premises and fresh air
and marked absence of muskeeters
could be had by addressing 81. X, this
office" j. X stood for me, you under
stand. While was waiting for people
to begin corresponding with u. X.,"
my wife's cousin happened to find out
where her dear old friend was living,
and came up from the city on visit,
bringing her husband and her five child
rem with her., cause she reckoned they
would enjoy the COW facilities, and so
forth. We was glad to see 'em, and
give 'em the front rooms. and reviving
old memories and milking the COW three
times day so the children would have
enough, when along comes an uncle of
mine, and brings his fe and three
children, and all of them was tickled to
death to learn that we had COW; and
they settled down in the back rooms.
Before the public began to correspond
to amount TO anything with 81. r.
two second cousins of my wife's aunt,
and man who brought along family
tree with black frame around it under
his arm, to prove TO me that he was a
cousin of a nephew of mine. dropped in
and took the small scattering rooms
around here and there; and most Of them
mentioned that they were fond of milk.
About a week after, l had a letter from
a man, and he came to see me. told
aim that if he could figure out that he
was any relation, he might just as well
stay all summer and it wouldn't cost
him cent; but he said he guessed he
couldn't do it. told him | thought
probably my nephew's cousin could get
aim up a tree in a little while, but he
said no, he expected to pay for his
BOARD; so we set up a bed for him In the
garrett. Sometimes he talked about
going back to town, but the others
wasn't heard making any such remarks.
| had several other chances to take cash
boarders, who couldn't trace any rela
tionship, but had to turn them away as
the house was full The second cous
ins OF my wife's aunt complained some
because the boarder took up so much
room, and l heard 'em saying that if 1t
was MT for him they would have their
father and mother come and make
pleasant little family party. But we all
got rid of him aloDgin the middle Of the
,ummer because the lightning. struck
him one night as he was sleeping up in
his room clUse to the lightning rod, and
tore his bedstead all to pieces, and the
next morning he said he guessed he
would go back to the city.
| The summer passed middling soon
after all, as the young ones they had
brought with them got into so much
mischief that it made it very lively for
me. About the first OF October they be-
gan to drop off, and by the middle the
| family reunion was over, My wife's
cousin, the one with husband and five
children that had come first and popu
| laIized the movement, as | may say,
gave us a very urgent invitation to come
down and see them this winter. re-
marked to Matilda that it wouldn't be no
bad plan.
Just after the hollerdays we began to
rip up for the trip and get the six child
rem ready. / thought, 10 make the thing
just right, we ought to have few
others along, so l sent up to my uncles
and got him and his wife and two child
rem to go with us. His wife had dis
tant cousin that had seven children and
husband that worked in a sawmill; and
the Oldest girl was growed up and was
married and had a baby. They all
agreed to the trip soon as I mentioned it
to them, and fixed them up family
tree. When we got to the depot in New
York we judged we hadn't better go all
at once so | and my family started ahead,
and my uDcle's folks were to start in
fifteen minutes, and the saw mill cousin
crowd in half an hour.
We found the place by the help of a
policeman who went ahead, and when
we knocked on the door and they let us
in, they peared some surprised, but said
| they were glad to see us. We sat down
around on the chairs and some of our
children went out in the hall and begun
to fight with their children and pound
them up pretty bad, and was pleasant
and told them hoped they had COW
and said l s'posed they didn't have no
boarders up in the attic, cause we want
ed plenty of room. Pretty soon Uncle
John and his folks dropped in, and after
few minutes the rest of the procession;
and the town children being all cleaned
out the new ones begun fighting ours.
"Quite.a pleasant little family reun-
ion, 3" says /, Eyes, very pleasant, Says
my cousins husband looking around
sort of fierce; "any more coming?" /
told him thought the family was now
altogether, and we settled down and
began making ourselves at home, and
the man whose business took him so
much into the saw mill took a stick out
of his pocket and began whiting.
We pretty well filed the house, but
no more than they filled mine, so
didn't care and we enjoyed ourselves
for a couple of weeks, The first meal
we thought they didn't eat anything but
soup, they being nothing else in sight
and only couple of small dishes apiece
around at that, though did manage to
get third. Then they cleared everv-
thing off the table, but they didn't get
up and go away, 80 / stayed too, and
began to think mebby they was going
TO hang on till 1t was time for the next
meal; and the sawmill relative had got
out his stick and begun whiting again,
when they brought us something more
and l seen they wasn't going to try to
keep us on soup alone, The meal was
broke up that way several times, most
of the dishes off and a clothes brush run
over the table cloth, and 1t begun to look
once as II the sawmill end of the family
would have to get another stick; but