The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1893-05-20

LDiD2 ~ III N1AH. I'M OS0-
room, for instance, the bed, of white maple,
is six feet wide, but it does not look larger
than an ordinary one, and | was not aware
that it was so large until my attention was
called to it. The sofas are very large and
the chairs and tables match. Even the
lamps have been made larger than those of
ordinary houses, and the result is COM
bination which you will not find in the
great palaces of Europe nor in the other
fine houses of the world. Speaking of
lamps, one ON the centre table in the music
room has body two feet high and is fully
foot in diameter Mrs. Hill hunted for
it long time, and finally had it made out
of vase which she found which just har-
monized with the coloring of the room.
THE DEN OF RAILROAD MAGNATE.
The living room of the house is the
library, and just off of this is Mr.. Hills
den 1t is not more than ten feet square
and it is walled in mahogany. 1t has an
air of solidity about it, and it is furnished
elegantly but simple. On the book cases
on one side Of the room are great volumes
of railway reports and railway magazines.
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is little library table under the window
with paper and pens on it, and at the rear
OF the room there is a mahogany door,
which opens into great vault, in which is
stored at times, | doubt not, securities
which are worth millions The library is
furnished in mahogany. Bronze figures of
Henry Clay and Daniel Webster stand on
] L. II - fba lou, hnal- xrhioh rur
around the room on either hand as you
enter. The great library table is covered
with papers and magazines and the room
looks as though it were used. The collec
ton of books is a good one. All the great
authors of fiction and science may be found
upon the shelves, and you will find French
and German books as well as English.
Mr.. Hill is good French scholar and
both himself and his wife have good
literary taste, They are both well read, and
their domestic relations are of the happiest
nature.
THE BASEMENT AND THE ATTIC.
The basement and the attic of this great
mansion are to me even more interesting
than the living rooms. The house must
have quarter of an acre of floor space,
and the basement is house in itself. 1t
has a hall so wide that you could drive
wagon through it without grazing the walls
and its rooms are all large, airy and well
lighted The floors are of marble The
halls and rooms are paneled with slabs
of white marble, so polished that you can
see your face in them, and the whole Is
lighted by electricity, These marble floors
rest on a bed of mineral wool, and 10000
pounds of mineral wool were used in max
ing this house fireproof Mr.. Hill says it
is freproof, ratproof and cyclone proof,
and it has steel roof over the whole of it
so strong that you could run train of
cars over it without injury. The attic has
been turned into theatre for the amuse-
ment of Mr.. Hills children, and there is
Il miniature stage here and audience room
about 30 feet wide by 80 feet long. The
stage has scenes and footlights, and it is,
in fact, complete little theatre. The
boys have magic lantern and they some
times give exhibitions.
TWO TONS OF COAL DAY.
1t takes two tons of coal day to keep
this house warm, and | spent some time in
looking at the great boiler in the basement.
There is an engineer who does nothing else
but attend to these, and Mrs Hill tells
me that the house is so thick that during
the past winter they have not had to open
the registers of the different rooms for heat,
but only had to warm the halls. The en-
gincs represent 300 horsepower, and if you
will keep 300 horses at work day and night
you will get an idea of the amount OF force
it takes to turn winter into summer for Mr..
James J. HILL There is dynamo and
electric plant connected with the house.
One of the most interesting parts of the
basement is the laundry. 1t has marble
floor and brick walls. The washing is
done in great porcelain tubs and the clothes
are put on racks that are rolled in and out
Of cases under which steam pipes are coiled.
These pipes keep the temperature of the
driving cases at 1870 degrees and the clothes
dry in a jiffy. The kitchen has the same
marble floors, but its tables are of white
wood, which are as clean as those Of the
Dutch housewife | noticed that most of
the cooking utensils were of copper and
the range Scelneu W mt W NC la ~ OhouS5h
for the roasting of an OK.
HILL S FAMILY LIFE.
As | said above, the strongest feature of
this big mansion is its home like character.
Mr.. Hill is man of domestic tastes. He
loves his family and he has a beautiful
home life His wife has borne him nine
children; and when l took my lunch with
her there were three pretty dark eyed girls
and very bright eight-year-old boy with
us at the table. The lunch was served in
the breakfast room, and it was as simple
and unconventional as those which you
end in any well to do family in the United
States any day. Mrs. Hill is charming
woman. She does not look to be more
than 40, and though she has these nine
children, there is not gray hair in her
head, and her face is free from wrinkles.
She is refined and well educated and is full
of common sense. She is woman of re-
markably good taste, and she impressed
me as an excellent mother. She is a
Catholic, but not an illiberal one, and she
is, | am told, always doing good in the
way of charity. Mr.. Hill himself is very
charitable, though most Of his gifts are
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