Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-08-08
AN UNUSUAL OUTING
How a Party Of Twelve
Camped Out.
A GREAT SUCCESS
JUST WHAT THEY WANTED AND
WHEN.
Recreation and Rest Under Happiest
Auspices Worth
Following.

There were twelve of U.S. One gentleman
| and his wife and two children, five and six
years of age; another gentleman and his
| wife and two older children and four ''un-
attached" ladies'
In years past we had been surfeited with
home comforts in one section and an
other. We had tried the meadows, the
gaps, the mounts, the unsurpassed valleys,
the pure milk, the chickens, the fresh veg
etables, the homemade everything. in
such rooms as we could obtain, sometimes
comfortable and some hot as-weI. just
hot and each year two crisp one-hundred-
dollar bills had been ruined; so we thought
we would change the menu and seek for
nome comforts on our own hook. One day
during the summer there was an excursion
to Harper's Ferry, and two Of us took 1t
in. We had several hours to our credit up
there. and we resolved to look the country
over for a camping ground; so we tramped
and tramped till the day was done.
Our walk resulted in locating an ideal
camping ground about seven miles from
Harper's Ferry between the Potomac river
and the railroad. 1t had evidently been a
camp and entrenchment during the civil
war. 1t was secluded, not far from the
Potomac, plenty of springs with pure.
sweet water flowing in volume enough to
run mill. shade trees and small shrub
berry just where we wanted them, and all
the open ground we desired, all sloping
toward the river. Here we pitched our
tents, four of them, one for each family,
one for the ladies and one for the mess
room or dining room and kitchen. We
didn't look for fuel We took along
good sized oil stove and our wood yard
was a ten-gallon can Of oil. The men
brought the water, carried away the re-
fuse, ETC., and the women did the cooking,
and with appetites such as come from an
outing" everything was eaten and there
were complaints at the table.
We roamed the county, found the farm
houses and bought what we needed in the
line of fresh vegetables, eggs, milk and
such fruit as ripened during our stay, some
of the small fruits being at hand and ours
for the picking.
Fish? Well we all hshed and we had
fresh fish every day if we wanted it.
One of the ladies of the party caught
carp that weighed about twenty-five
pounds. 1t required two hours to tire him
out and land him.
When it rained?
1t didn't rain a single day during the
two weeks we were out and only day
did we have a shower;
We had fun, too. We did a lot of things
Just for fun" We pitched quoits good
deal and the ladies as well as the gentle
men enjoyed it. We played ball-not ex-
actly according to the latest rules, per-
haps. but altogether we won many
games the Washington nine ever won
in two weeks. We had hammocks and
swings: we had romps and tumbles; we
and retired early and didn't care d cent
for gas bills; we didn't have any officious
neighbors and we didn't have any gossip.
The boarding mistress was not a bit
afraid we were too liberal with the sugar
or that the children would make too much
noise: no one objected to breaking a pan
cream. There were mo other boarders''
and we were domfciled in "a strictly pri-
vate family
We had just about what we wanted and.
better than all, we had recreation and rest
We did not patronize the newsstand much,
and SO did not feel compelled to read the
papers. AS a matter of fact, we did not
know much about what the rest of the
world was doing and, to tell the truth, we
did not care.
AS far as unlimited enjoyment was con-
cerned we could have lived there for
months. So when our fortnight came
around-the boys said it could not be two
weeks since we came out-we reluctantly
folded our tents like the Arabs and silent
ly stole away"
How much did it cost us?
Well, here are the items: Seven full
fares on the railroad, S14, and three half
fares. S., a total of SIT, the youngest two
gong free; canned goods and other store
provisions. $15.25; provisions at the camp.
$16.S6; boat hire. 81; transportation to camp
and return, SIG; freight from Washington
to Harpers Ferry, 81, making a total of
$691, including railroad fares; cost for
each person, young and old, for fourteen
days, S5.76; cost of provisions for each per-
son, $2.67; cost Of hauling and other ex-
penses per person, SLOT; cost of each per-
son, exclusive Of fares, $4.34
1t will be seen that the heaviest item was
the transportation to the camp sic r.
was outrageous, but there was no compett-
ton and we swallowed it. It cost eight
times as much to transport our traps seven
miles to camp as 1t did from WASHINGTON
eighty miles.
1t was glorious outing and our folks
would not swap 1t for board at the biggest
hotel at any watering place.
Who can beat 1t? SR