The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1894-07-31
A HOUSE or FREAKS.
THE QUEER WHlMS OF AN ECCENTRIC
RESIDENT OF CHICAGO.

as otten as onco Year, but Which Has
Never Been Occupied.
On certain west side street there
stands n big white four story building.
One would say it was all apartment
house were it not that 1t seems to be
empty. But each spring and fall signs
OF life invest the place Workmen in
blue overalls and jumpers come In
gangs Wagons drive up and unload
lumber, bricks and mortar. Windows
and doors are opened, and the cars of
the people in the vicinity arc greeted
with the sound of hammer and saw.
Were this building to be destroyed q
landmark would disappear, and were
Its owner to die Chicago would lose one
Of its characters
Possessed of an ample fortune this
man, who may be called Colonel Per-
kins, gratifes some of tho Queeress
whims which ever burdened mortal
man or caused a mirthful public no end
Of amusement. This building is the OBJ
ject on which the colonel works his own
sweet will, and its interior has probably
worn moro different aspects within tho
last five years than any other building
In this city.
For heaven only knows how many
years tho colonel has intended to open "a
hotel. Once always and sometimes twice
every year worl1nen are engaged, ma
tcrial purchased, and for fow weeks
great hustle and confusion go on within
tho white walls. Partitions arc torn
down and put up, painters and paper
hangers change the appearance of the
rooms, and great renovation is effect
et. This goes OH for perhaps IL month
Then suddenly tho workmcn are called
off, doors and windows are closed, and
tho house is apparently empty for
months About tho time the people are
becoming accustomed to tho deserted
appearance of tho place the workmen
again appear and tear out what they
had put in.
The colonel spends from $500 to 3d.
600 every time he gets the workmcn
into the house. AS you go into tho
building you first notice great oak
staircase leading from tho main hall.
Years ago the colonel was in Vienna.
In some old building there he saw
staircase with painted panels and inlaid
tiles and scrolls and gimcracks of one
sort and another in it He was entranc-
cd and determined to have counterpart
OF 1T in his new hotel, which he would
open for tho Worlds fair year. When
he came home, he hired worllmen, and
part of them he put on the staircase.
The men started to work with sandpa-
per and pumice stone to take off the old
paint and varnish. The colonel stopped
them They must scrape it with glass,
he said. The foreman tried to explain
that they could do it quicker and better
thelr way, but to no purpose. 1t would
not do. 1t must be scraped with glass
He WAS paying for that staircase, and he
was going to have it done his way. So
the men got pieces of broken glass and
began to scrape. From morning till
night Il half dozen men scrapcd and
scratched away with bits of glass They
finished the work in time, but the suIc
which it cost tho colonel was some
thing prodigious.
Then ho concluded that furnace In
u house was poor idea, SO he had that
taken out and tho registers stuffed up
He said when he opened his hotel he
would furnish the guests with candles,
and they could have stoves if they chose
to pay for them. The cheapest room in
tho house was to be So q day
Personally Colonel Perkins does not
like running water i'll room. There
fore he has had it shut off i'll his room
and n basin set i'll the stationary bowl
A pitcher of water sets on tho floor.
This oddity's bed, or rather tho way it
Is placed, Is tho queerest Imaginable If
a person were to walk suddenly into
this mans bedroom, he would rub his
eyes and wonder where he was. Sus-
pended III tho center of tho room by
chains from tho ceiling is tho colonel's
bed. He reaches it by means Of small
stepladder, which he had built for the
purpose. The reason he assigns for hay
ing his bed placed in this singular posi-
tion is that tho air circulates better I'D
there. How the circulation Of Dir could
have any bearing OH the case is not
easily seen, rs the transom and every
window in the room is nailed shut with
big spikes
The blankets Oh the bed are of the
finest silk These no sends to Boston to
be cleaned, where he also sends his
trousers every month to DO pressed.
One time during an annual campaign
of repairs the colonel concluded the
mattresses and pillows needed refilling
and the chairs and sofas needed new
upholstering Instead of sending the
things out to be fixed he had men come
30 the house. The mattresses, pillows
and furniture were all ripped open, and
the contents he had the men pile in one
room. Half way to the ceiling was
heap Of hay, corn husks, ourled hair