The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-08-19
MRS. DAVID, CARPENTER
This Woman's House Beats the Fa-
nous One That lack Built.
She Studied Art I'm Paris, But Had
Never Trained with Saw and
Plane Until She Started to Build
"a Home for Her Invalid Husband.
shares Her LaureIs with Man..

"A Home for Her Invalid Husband
Shares Her LaureIs With n Man.
One carpenter for her sex to be proud
of is a plucky little woman. with an in
valid husband and a beautiful bas-S, who
has built house for her famiiy's occu-
pancy. She did not do 1t all alone. for
she had the aid of an old carpenter. who
planned out how the boards should be laid
and the nails driven. but the woman la
borer put o. shingles and nailed down
flooring with more energy than skilled
man carpenter, for hers was a labor OF
love, and not OF wages, says a Los Ange-
les correspondent of St Louis paper
In the fall of 1897 Edward NJ David and
/ his wife ard baby came to southern Cali
fornia. Mr.. David was about twenty-seven
years old. an electrical engineer, a gradu-
ate Of the Sheffield Scientific School at Yale
University. and also Of a French college
of engineers. Mrs. David was pretty.
plump little woman of twenty three. She
had been student in Wellesley College.
and spent three years in Paris at an art
school.
Mr.. and Mrs. David soon became very
popular in the Los Angeles hotels, where
they made their home. Mr.. David was
i'll. and their little fortune was diminish
ing. An investment that looked very
promising turned out to be sad failure.
The young couple accepted their losses
very philosophically, and Locked about
them for other business ventures. They
leased d summer resort hotel about TWEEN
ty-fve miles from Santa Ana Every
thing was put in good order and ready for
the guests. when one night flames burst
forth and the little hotel was in ruins.
The Dayids and their servants barely es-
capped with their lives and few clothes.
Last fall Mr.. David obtained employ
ment in the beet sugar factory at Chino.
but he was so i'll that he had to give up
the position. and the family moved back
to Los Angeles
The doctors told Mr.. David that there
was still chance OF her husband recoy-
ering his health If ne could go to a high.
dry spot and live just as Louis Stevenson
lived in deserted mining camp in Cali
fornia, as he has told about in ''Silverado
Squatters.'
Mrs. David began thinking and planning
very hard There was just $1,000 of their
little fortune left One day she left her
husband and baby in the care Of her s.
ter who had lately come on from To-
peka. Kan. and drove fifteen miles out
into the country and went on foot all over
the lonely foothills at the base OF the
towering San Bernardino Mountains.
There she found al ideal spot, SIX milo
from any settler. but near a sp. ing Of va
ter. The land had been taken up as a
Government claim. and could be had for a
mere nothing When she returned to her
home she told her husband that she had
selected site for their future home and
would at once set about building house.
He smiled at her enthusiasm, and said
that, with their small mseEs. il could net
be done. But Mrs. David has proved that
he was mistaken
Downing blouse and blue overalls, her
blonde locks hidden beneath a wide
brimmed hat, with a dinner pail in her
hand, she rode with the old carpenter On
the loads Of lumber that were carried to
her new home. She and the carpenter
worked side by side and ate their luncheon
together at noon.
Critics say the chimney Of red brick is
not plumb, but Mrs. David says that in
time she is certain she would become an
expert brickIayer The house is not qEi g
complete, but the little family has taken
up its residence there The invalid is in
proving. and the energetic little earpeatr
beams with delight at what she has &C
complished.
I shall never forget the day I drove
out here to the house" said Mr. David, as
he sat on the porch at home and looked
proudly about him. Il had lain there in
bed day after day, wondering what sort
Of thing my brave wife was trying 10
get together for our home. But when 1
turned yondeT foothills and saw from the
carriage this house ara s.t.ew that it was
one-third OF my OWE wife's skill and hard
labor l could scarcely control my emotion.
have never had anything appeal TO me
so pathetiealIy. We moved up here Eve
weeks ago, and l don't know whether it is
my pride at having the most wonderful
wife that ever lived or whether it's the
high. dry climate. but I'm recovering my
health up here faster than anywhere ever
before There's a lot more work to be
done on this house yet, and we are not
showing il off as a piece Of superior ar
chitectural skill. But it's my wife own
work and the only house built so much by
a woman that l ever knew or heard Of"
Beatrice Harraden, also II Is said Yields
a saw and plane with as much skill as her
pen. While living on ranch in Califor-
MIA for her health's sake she became Gniie
expert as a carpenter, helping upon occas-
ions to build fence She set out with
her own hands, a small orchard and at
tended to the grating and pruning IL
was also her proud boast that she could
harness horse as well as any cowboy.