St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1889-02-28
HOW MR.. MEA DOWLAND KEPT SUM
MER ROARDERS


| who last season carried on a summer
boarding-housein quiet way. This
letter, as some one has said, explains
itself:
Ny Dear Sir: Your letter, in which
you say you are going to write
book on Summer Board and Other
Noxious Institutions, and want
some facts about the business, is re-
ceived. 1t will make me feel first-rate
if can help you any, and l will tell
you what learned about the bust
ness while running my house, which
l might say right here have Just en-
tirely rehtted for next season, having
painted the front door and moved
the hen-coop.
l 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 address
ing 81 X, this office" 81. X" stood
for me, you understand While l
was waiting for people to begin cor
responding with 81. k" 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
children 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 was 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 wife and three child
rem, and all of them was t1ckled to
death to learn that we had a COW;
and they settled down in the back
rooms. Before the public began to
correspond to amount to anything
with II. X" two second cousins of
my wife's aunt, and a man who
brought along a 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, | had
letter from one man, and he came
up to see me- | told him that if he
could figure it 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 him up tree in a little while,
but he said no, he expected to pay
for his board; SO we set up q bed for
him in the garnet. Sometimes he
talked about going back to town,
but the others was mt heard making
any such remarks. | had several
other chances to take cash boarders,
who couldn't trace no relationship,
but had to turn them away as the
house was full. The second cousins
of my wife's aunt complained some
because the boarder took up so much
room, and l heard em saying that if
it was MT for him they could have
their father and mother come and
make pleasant little family party.
But we all got rid of him along in
the middle of the summer because the
lightning struck him one night as he
was sleeping up in his room close to
the hghtning-rod, and tore his bed
stead 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 began to drop off, and by the
middle the family reunion was over.
n c. - Il,
band and five children that had come
first and popularized the movement,
as | may say, gave us a very urgent
invitation to come down and see
them this winter. | remarked to
Matilda that it wouldn't be no bad
plan.
Just after the hollerdays we begun
to rig up for the trip and get the six
children ready. l thought, to make
the thing just right, we ought to
have a few others along, so | sent
upto my uncle's and got him and his
wife and two children to go with us.
His wife had a distant cousin that
had seven children and a husband
that worked in a sawmill; and the
oldest girl was growed up and was
agreed to the trip soon as | men
toned 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 l and
my family started ahead, and my
uncle'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 sur
prised, but said they were glad to
see us. We set 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 I hoped they had a
COW and said | s'posed they didn't
have no boarders up in the attic,
cause we wanted plenty of room.
Pretty soon Uncle John and his folks
dropped in, and after a few minutes
the rest of the procession; and the
town children being all cleaned out
the new ones begun fighting ours.
Quite pleasant little family re-
union" says 1. Eyes, very pleas
ant" says my wife's cousins hus-
band looking around sort of fierce;
any more coming?" l told him l
thought the family was now all to-
gether, and we settled down and be-
gan making ourselves at home, and
the man whose business took him so
much into the sawmill took a stick
out of his pocket and began whit
thing.
We pretty well filled the house, but