Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-01-09
THE HOUSE WAS COLD

Tho higher education is q great thing.
Most Boston persons believe In fostering It.
Also. there isn't anything much moro dole
full than cold and unheated boarding
house. These things may seem. IT first
view. to have little or no connection. But
they have. just the same, Several dodgers
| In boarding house in Washington. persons
with literary tastes. have now the material
for, and are thinking of writing" novel;
| cite. to be called 1.-THE Heatless Boarding
House. and Why
| Boston spinster-very amiable. but es-
sentfaiiy Of from and belonging to Boston
runs the boarding house. That 10 to say.
she Is the proprietress of 1t. Opinion among
the dodgers Is considerably divided as to
| whether she really runs 1t or not The
general impression seems to be that the
servants of the plant "run' it.. The Boston
spinster has very advanced ideas as to the
courtesy with which servants should be
treated, and she never, under any circum-
stances. addresses cross word to any of
her servants. Consequently her servants
pay about as much attention to her as they
90, to the needs and requirements of the
boarding house guests, which Is to be ex-
pressed by the zero mark. The Boston
spinster spends the greater portion of her
| !ilnet1n her luxurious room. reading the up
hiting works of Emerson and Thoreau and
| otner opponents OF the Cambridge school,
leaving the boarding house servants to
come and go good deal as they please.
| The no heat howl began in the boarains
mouse on sunday morning last, which was
extremely cold. The men were home on
sunday, OF course. and they found out what
tneir wives meant when they had com
Planned about the lack of heat. When the
| men folks come homo of evenings and and
me boarding house rooms fairly warm after
49, Az OF me gas has been lighted they are
wives over the lack of heat in the boarding
mouse during the hours Of the day But on
SUNDAY 81 morning it was different. They had
| 10 experience the cold of the rooms them
serves. Therefore. they set up the mo
| neat roar. altogether, and with great
strength and fury.
=, indeed: don't know why there should
ton proprietress of the boarding house u,t,o
mas an open fire in her room "Ethelbert
| Is piIing coal on the furnace constantIv
! near him myself. Etheibert is a most
IaithIui servitoT. / am sure that he would
| cold" S"e' iioa 'he
| Ethelbert is the so-called work bov
d a,,o e the boarding house. He Is about the
hoe VI merton cloth-perhaps little darker
ATTENDS nigh school and uses very long
WORDS. not always appropriately He wears
| very nigh ceiluloid collars and spends a
SEA ga. oeal OF mis- time In the cellar. cleaning
then. When he graduates In law he ex-
pects TO go to Spokane, or somewhere else
out west where there is no prejudice. as he
| says against persons of a color divereine
LIZ IIom i .hat OF majority Of the population
he mas whisk broom in the basement. too.
| with winch he brushes himself off every
| ume ne gets through performing any task
that dusts him up some. The cook and
| the upstairs servants think that Ethelhert
| Is about the brainiest proposition this side
OF anywhere. He uses his very longest
! words In addressing them and permits no
familiarity whatever from them. wherefore
they regard him as person of very con-
siderable Importance.
Inc women guests of the boarding house
huddled around in heavy house Jackets and
| with their wraps over these all through
sunday morning last. and the men belted
| their uisters around them and tried to read
| Inc papers while their teeth chartered
Much unoecoming Sunday language pro-
eeeded from these men. They took turns
| IN repairing to the room of the Boston spin
ster proprietress and in demonstrating with
her. She received them all with great dig
nifty, dropping her volume of essays on
misrepresentation as they entered, but she
replied to their protests that Ethelbert was
down below in the cellar at his post Of duty
before the furnace.
We'll. no matter where Ethelbert Is.
there's nothing doing in the heat line"
brutally replied one OF the male, guests,
whose wife. with heavy cough was walk
Ing up and down one Of the upper halls
with a Persian lamb coat up around her
ears, trying to keep from freezing. Whats
| the matter with letting me or any of the
others go down there and see what ails the
furnace7
"oh. 1 could not permit any interference
piled the boarding house landlady. 4 am
perfectly certain that Ethelbert who Is a
most studfous and worthy boy in every re-
spect. is doing all that lies in his power.
could not entertain the thought of having
single harsh word spoken to Ethelbert
He Is 30 very sensitive. Perhaps after
| awhile the heat will mount to the upper
floors"
rfri& 10 ~.
upstairs and reported to the others what
the landIady had said to him Then half a
dozen OF the male guests simultaneously
famed into fury.
sensitive. I'm not going to stand to have
any EtheIbert send my wife, not to mention
myself, to an early grave. was the strong
procurement Of the most hardy and ven
turesome of the male guests. Who'll vol
unteer to follow me in an invasion of that
sacred-to-E thelbert cellar. hey?"
There was a bass chorus of suppressed
/ ayes" and the nervy man OF the crowd
led the way on tiptOe. the others uptoeing
after him down the stairs to the main
floor and then to the basement.
They found Ethelbert with his feet
propped up against the furnace door. Eth
ebert looked very comfortable. The tenn
perature of the furnace room was exceed
ingly pleasant. Ethelbert's books of ref
erence were scattered about the furnace
room in artistic disarray. There were
mathematics, and SO on-all very impressive
looking. not to say stunning, books.
Ethelbert looked up from his literary oc-
cupation with distinct disapproval at the
invaders.
ITO what" he inquired, rising. and toss
ing his kinky head quite haughtily. lam
All indebted TO TIL honoh of this yeah visi-
tation?"
Ethelbert imagined that this, which he
had no doubt read somewhere. would be
very effectual in sauelching his visitors.
But it wasn't, somehow or another. They
were just cold men, and boarding house
men who are cold don't go in very strong
for literary pursuits or the higher educa-
ton.
1--WE want to find out what the dickens
ails this fire, Bud" grossly replied one Of
the men.
bud, sub. TIL dickens subj" echoed the
shocked and abused Ethebert.
Paying no attention whatever to Ethel
bert's outraged feelings. the leader of the
expedition threw open the furnace door.
Away down in the bottom, resting on the
CRATE. were few live Goals. The fire was
nearly out for want of fuel. Several Of
the men began to fiddle and fool with the
e,,r a. hoe dam