The Press., 1905-12-13
We have recently seen tha

! MONsoN.
 We have recently seen the hotel register of the Springs House from 1905 to 1913. It is now in the possession of George M. Ives, Esq. of Stafford Springs village, formerly a proprietor of the hotel This reg. ister is a memento of rare value, as an ant quarian relic, and as a witness Of the high standing cf the Strings Honse during the first eight years of it's history. It was the resort of Ill. II of learning in all the pr. fes> ions and om the colleges They came yer So als we find inc record of the arrival of emin' mt merchants of Brs- ion and New York, leading civilians and magistrates and public Auction and the nortl ern states, and some from the south and foreign countries.
 Although the enterprise of Dr. Will lard secured the respect and confidence
 
 tulness of his undertaking. yet in spite of his efforts and sacrifices the Springs House proved to be a financial failure, involving in disas- ter many of his townsmen with him. self.
 There is evidence, showing how deep was his sensibility in view of his disappointed hopes and the result ing calamities to himself and to his friends. Tradition reports him to have been most courteous gentleman in his address, of great kindliness of heart, and of generous impulses. He was apt to indulge in romantic schemes of usefulness, and attempted to execute plans too great for his means to accomplish.
 On a journey for his health, which became enfeebled by his embarrass- ment, he was seized with fatal ill., ness, and died in Cincinnati, Feb. 16th, 1920. His funeral "was at- tended with Masonic honors in a land of strangers. ;
 The successor of Dr. Willard was Elijah Johnson, Esq or, as he was commonly called, Sheriff Johnson. By him the hotel was very reputably managed for several years, and with good degree of patronage and in- come.
 Dr. Trumbull, referring to a period which must have covered part of Dr. Willard's administration and a part of Sheriff Johnson's, says, "For the last four or five years the annual re- sort has greatly increased. Within that term of time the number of vis- itors has been from six to nine hun dred annually. The receipts of the hotel and the boarding houses amount by estimation to five or six thousand dollars annually. These statements of Dr. Trumbull were published in 1918.
 We omit the later history of the spring for the reason that it is retained in the memory of many still living in the town and vicinity.
 It would seem that the varying for tunes of the establishment, founded long ago by Dr. Willard, must have depended greatly on convenience of access. But this is not the only con- dition of public patronage.
 The resort to the mineral springs | was once very great when access was very difficult, while on the other hand the progress of the arts of loco motion may make the connection of | 'the remote and romantic valley of | the Willimantic'' with the outer world as perfect as a railroad can make it, yet not for that reason alone will an establishment like the Springs House become a favorite watering place.
 That it's relative importance will 9ver be equal to it's reputation cen- tury ago, "when it was as much in vogue as any mineral spring in Amer ca has been before or since" is not to be anticipated. But that it has natural foundations of substantial prosperity to insure such a degree of public favor as is fully equal to the of the establishment cannot oe doubted.
 George l.. Dobson nas resigned his position as consul general at Hang chow, China, after but a few weeks. He says Hangchow is the filthiest city on earth. The Chinese don't bury their dead, sometimes even when they die