The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1899-07-14
HONE VERSUS HOTEL.
DR.. Talmage Speaks of the Bless
ings of the Former.
Points out Disadvantages of Life
Spent in Hotels and Boarding
Houses wholesome Inf1u-
ences of Home.
Copyright, 1899, by Louis Klopsch.)

day, the disadvantages of life spent
ut more or less temporary stopping
places being sharply contrasted with
the blessings that are found in the real
home, however humble. The text is
Luke 1924, 35: "And brought him to
an inn and took care of him. And on
the morrow when he departed he took
out two pence and gave them to the
host and said unto him: Take care of
him, and whatsoever thou spendest
more when l come again l will repay
thee"
This is the good Samaritan paying
the hotel bill of a man who had been
robbed and almost killed by bandits.
The good Samaritan had found the I'M
fortunate on lonely, rocky road, where
to this very day depredations are some
times committed upon travellers, and
had put the injured man into the sad
die, while this merciful and well-to-do
man had walked till they got to the
hotel, and the wounded man was put
to bed and cared for. 1t must have
been very superior hotel in its accom-
modations, for, though in the country,
the landlord was paid at the rate of
what in our country would be four or
five dollars day, penny being then
days wages, and the two pennies paid
In this case about two days wages.
Moreover, it was one of those kind
hearted landlords who are wrapped up
in the happiness of their guests, be-
cause the good Samaritan leaves the
! ell l. IL.
promising that when he came that way
again he would pay all the bills until
the invalid got well.
Hotels and boarding houses are neces-
sites. In very ancient times they were
unknown, because the world had COM
paratively few inhabitants, and those
were not much given to travel, and pri-
vate hospitality met all the wants of
sojourners, as when Abraham rushed
out at Mamre to invite the three men
to sit down to dinner of veal; as when
the people were positively commanded
to be given to hospitality; as in many
of the places in the east these ancient
customs are practiced to-day. But we
have now hotels presided over by good
ed over by excellent host or hostess in
all neighborhoods, villages and cities,
and it is our congratulation that those
of our land surpass all other lands.
They rightly become the permanent
residence of many people, such as those
who are without families, such as those
whose business keeps them migratory,
such as those who ought not for va
rious reasons of health or popularity
of circumstances to take upon them
selves the cares of housekeeping.
Many a man falling sick in one of
these boarding houses or hotels has
Deen kindly watched and nursed; and
by the memory of her own sufferings
and losses the lady at the head of such
house has done all that mother could
do for sick child, and the slumberless
eye of God sees and appreciates her
sacrifices in behalf of the stranger.
Among the most marvellous cases of pa
Gence and Christian fidelity are many
Of those who keep boarding houses, en-
during without resentment the unrea-
sonable demands of their guests for ex-
pensive food and attentions for which
they are not willing to pay an equiva-
lent-a lot of cranky men and women
who are not worthy to tie the shoe of
their queenly caterer. The outrageous
way in which boarders sometimes act
TO their landlords and landladies shows
that these critical guests had bad early
rearing and that in the making up of
their natures all that constitutes the
gentleman and lady was left out. Some
Of the most princely men and some of
the most elegant women that l know
of to-day keep hotels and boarding
houses.
But one of the great evils of this day
is found in the fact that large popula-
ton of our towns and cities are giving
up and have given up their homes and
taken apartments, that they may have
more freedom from domestic duties and
more time for social life, and because
they like the whirl of publicity better
than the quiet and privacy of a resi-
dence they can call their own. The law
full use of these hotels and boarding
houses is for most people while they are
in transitu, but as a terminus they are
in many cases Generalization, utter and
complete. That is the point at which |
families innumerable have begun to dis
integrate. There never has been a |
time when SO many families, healthy |
and abundantly able to support and di- |
rect homes of their own, have struck |
tent and taken permanent abode in |
these public establishments. 1t is an |
evil wide as Christtendom, and by voice
and through the newspaper press ut
ter warning and burning protest and
ask Almighty God to bless the word,
whether in the hearing or reading.
In these public caravansaries the de-
mon of gossip is apt to get full sway.
All the boarders run daily the gauntlet
of general inspection-how they look
when they come down in the morning
and when they get in at night, and what
they do for living, and who they re-
csive as guests in their rooms, and what
they wear and what they do not wear,
and how they eat, and what they eat,
and how much they eat, and how little
they eat. If man proposes in such