Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1899-03-13
Rudyard Kiplip9
At ~ HIS Vermont Home.

interesting than that of Rudyard Kip
ling, and there is no man Of letters
about whom there is so much inquiry
He is very little known. He has what
is sometimes called the British in
suIar prejudice against inquiry into
his private life and habits.
A good many hundreds of people
who have come in contact with him
have called him all the names that
one may use in polite society. The
explanation thereof is simple enough.
Mr.. Kipling did not care to know
them and resented their attempts to
know him. To these Kipling is in
clined to be exceeding short, not to
say rude or boorish. He believes that
he gives the best he has to the public
in his writings, and that it has no
right to bother about his private life.
To those to whom he gives his
friendship-and he is not an aristO-
crat always-he is as genial, as kindly,
as warm-hearted as any .One could
ask. He is the most delightful of
companions.
Personally Kipling is as complex
and remarkable as his writings. He
is cheerfully profane and genuinely
religious His affection for his wife
and children amounts almost to
worship, but even they are not i'm
mune from his sense of humor. He
calls his first child his international
baby"
His study in his home in Brattle
boro, VT, is a long, narrow room,
most artistically adorned, which can
be reached only by passing through
his wife's boudoir. In it are many
books, although he carried large
number of them to England when he
removed there to make it his home.
Everything in connection with his
life in this country shows how desir-
Gus is the young man to avoid peo-
pie who bother him. He absolutely
refuses to be lionized, and the thought
of seeing in print what he eats for din
ner draws from him language as
picturesque and as vivid as in his
poems, but not so printable.
Of course it is natural that dyed
in-the-wool Tory like Kipling should
hardly be happy outside of England,
yet he has a genuine love for Yer
mont, and it is possible that had it
not been for his trouble with his
brother-in-law, he might not have left
this country.
He prefers Vermont in winter time
although it is cold and cherries
enough to most people. Perhaps the
long years he spent in the heat Of
India may account for his delight in
cold weather. He has often said
that there is nothing like Vermont
air for babies
This Brattleboro house is as pecu-
liar as Kipling himself. 1t is in an out
Of-the-Way place, on the side Of a hill.
Properly speaking it is not in Brattle-
boro at all, but just across the line in
a little place called Dummerston. The
hill slopes down to the troubled waters
of the Connecticut river.
The house is a long curious-loOk
ing structure, fashioned after the plan
of an Indian bungalow A long cor
ridor divides it from end to end, SO
that the arrangement Of rooms is
something like those in a hotel There
are no fences around his extensive
grounds, but there are still to be
seen the signs which Kipling had
placed when he moved into the house
about FIVE years ago, and which read
"Trespassing on these premises is
forbidden" In order to further avoid
intrusion there is but one enhance to
the house, and that is on the side
away from the road.
Now, the people of Brattleboro of
course heard that the Kiplings were
returning, but they would not believe
the news until they saw the slight, &C
tive man, wearing thick cap, a big,
shabby ulster, and old trousers thrust
into heavy boots appear among them.
And when they saw the little black
briarwood pipe upon which he pulled
contentedly no doubt was left in their
minds.
He looked up his old friends, and
he has many in BrattlebOrO. The ma
jority of them are humble folk, who
say that Kipling is one OF the finest
men in the world. They are men who
have character, however, and from
them this marvellous young man ex-
tracts much.
Kipling seems to enjoy the freedom
of his shabby clothes and of the ru-
raj community. He likes the sleighing.
He is fond Of wandering about on his
place When there is a fresh fall Of
snow he usually takes a hand in
shovelling paths. If those keen,
specialized eyes were hidden a stranger
might take him for one of the en-
plOyees.
But when evening comes Kipling
makes an elaborate toilet. If you
read his books you know that when
he pictures a man in the wilds of India
whom he really wants to have re-
spected he always makes him put on
his evening clothes at dinner time,
Kipling lives up to this. 1t doesn't
matter if there are no guests in the