The times., 1901-06-02
Summer Bonrd.

| The comic papers will soon be filled
/ with caricatures of the summer boarder
and Il rapacious farmer, and the lat
| ter will be represented as leech anx-
| ious to drain the last drop of blood from
| his victims before the summer is over.
1t is not, perhaps, worth while seriously
| to disturb this time honored Illusion.
but Bill Nye or Artemus Ward could
| have had some fun, if they had seen fit.
with the summer boarder himself. who
comes into the country expecting to find
all the luxuries of the home he left, to-
gether with some which he did not
leave.
The farmer who keeps a private inn
for refugees from the city is usually
considered by these refugees as a per-
son whose only anxiety is that he may
not charge as much as his guests will
stand. But consider the matter a few
minutes. The people whom this farmer
accommodates come from city houses
furnished with hot and cold water, gas,
gas ranges, and all the other things
briefly termed by the real estate dealer
| modern imps." The farmhouse is pro-
| vided with a cooking stove. water in
! the yard or at best in the kitchen pump.
| oil lamps, and no elevator. To secure
for the boarder the same comforts
which he has at home, somebody must
keep those lamps in order. carry that
| water up at least one flight OF stairs,
and often bring the water in buckets
from the well. There is no baker to
whom the housewife can fee in case
of unexpected drains on her resources,
and the nearest grocery is perhaps half
a mile or a mile away. Some of the
articles of food. especially meat, on
which she depends for feeding her
guests must be brought from an even
greater distance. There is no easy
going to market" In ten or fifteen
minutes to supply deficiencies. She has
not. like the hotelkeeper. huge store
houses in which she can keep a weeks
supplies, nor has she. like him. large
corps of servants. She and her more or
less efficient helpers have to do things
themselves. The money paid by the
summer folks" is not clear profit; it has
to pay for all sorts OF services for
which the hotel enploye would expect
not only wages but gratuities.
Let us, then, be gentle with the
farmer. In spite of appearances, he
may not be so great a robber after all.
A beard like William Capricornus does
not always adorn his face, nor, if it did,
would it necessarily indicate rascality.
1t is natural for him to look twice or
even three times at a penny. With
mortgage like blanket smothering his
agricultural ambition, he cannot afford
to stop kicking. A nickel is to the
summer boarder simply a nickel. which
might otherwise buy a Sunday paper
or some cigarettes. To the farmer it is
five cents. one-twentieth part of a dol
lar. and a dollar win buy his youngest
a pair of shoes, or his wife a calico
gown. The farmer is not really to
blame for his whiskers, or his poverty,
or his old-f fashioned house, or even his
ignorance of Ibsen and ragtime. He
never had time to learn these things.
He was brought up with the idea that
he ought to get up at four and go to
theatres were wicked and novels a
waste of time. He will be educated diff
ferentiy by-and-by, and then the sum-
mer boarder will really have to take
care of himself. There is long past
of gold bricks and green goods for the
farmer to avenge on the city man in
the country.