The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-12-15
THE WAGON BABY.
A Vermonter's House on Wheels
 That Is Comfortable.

I ASdQeE, ufSE III SOllt6tAlilBp pAA uOA 1 just know what. Seems, though she was destined to be something great when I tell you she was born on the first day of the month, the first day of the week, the first hour of the day and she's the first child
 And she was born in the cart?" "Yes, sir, she was born in the cart, and in one of the streets of Barre,' said Everett Hood, travelling tinker, whose outfit is one of the strange seen on the roads of Vermont, or dawn up in side street one of the cities or towns.
 Hood is a character, who for num- her of years has interested and amused the citizens of Barre. Vt, and has be- come widely known all over the state. When he married, few years ago, and took his wife to live in the cart the wedding was one of the sensations of Barre. The entire population was in- terested in it. Society took up the pair and came very near spelling them. The house on wheels in which they live is a hugh affair, and although ad- ditions have been made to it from time to time, it is still rather contracted for a growing family. It's owner has not been content to live in any other kind | of a house for many years. The past winter he compromised by buying an l old street car and setting it up on farm @ few miles outside of Barre. The wheels have been removed from the car and additions made to it, but the l fact that it was at one time on wheels | +n yoONanfIAI fn ns new domicile.
 With his winnie and baby he still spends most of the time in the cart, startign out in the morning and jour neying to Barre or some other town. In summer he makes more extended trips
 A jack-of-all-trades, he has always been working out strange ideas. Life in cart suggested itself to him when he became the owner of a meat wagon, and saw the possibilities of transform ing it into a dwelling. It was only eleven feet long, but he did not have any incumbrances at that etime, and thought the wagon would be large enough for both workshop and bed room. Besides, Mir. Hood has never | boCIA NOtS 40S0g CIbOdl bOAAlG l But he is ambitious. The trans formation of the meat wagon was com- plete. His tools for repairing all kinds of articles, from tin kettles to skates, were transferred to the new shop. A small stove and a bed were also in- stalled. Then Hood conceived the idea of travelling over tn eraed from Barre | to Boston. He planned to go by easy stages, working along from place to place. He was ten months reaching Concord, N. H., but time was no ob- ject.
 The novelty of the outfit appealed to the people in the different towns and cities through which it passed, and in some places his stay was quite pro- tracted, the people keeping him busy umbrellas, sharpening scissors and skates, and all sorts of things.
 But he never reached Boston. In Concord life in the cart became too strenuous. He caught cold, it develop ed into typhoid fever, and for two months he was in hospital. It was a long time after ward before he felt strong enough to again take up his gypsy existence.
 Hood went to work on the present |cart with the idea man might have who had built five-story building and now proposed to erect one of ten stories,
 ''I got the idea from the first one built" he explained when telling the advantages of his strange life, and pointing out the most striking points in hisi domicile. You see, knew just how to go about it, and arranged the inside so that everything would be handy to work with. I have plenty of light and good stove, and yet the
 whole thing is not too heavy for a couple of horses to drag around"
 Hood had been living in the new
 house on wheels some time when he decided to get married. He went to
 his home in Haverhill, N. H., and there
 met a young woman he thought would
 make a good companion to share his
 wandering life in the cart. So they
 were married and returned to Vermont.
 In Barre they were welcomed by the citizens at large. The house was then
 stationed on one of the side streets for
 the summer, and business was good.
 Scores of persons came to see the bride,
 and nearly all of them brought pres
 ents When the Hoods decided to place , them on exhibition for the benefit of the public it was found that they had
 received over 300 presents, including
 everything from a melodeon to a
 brooom.
 In the collection were all sorts of } dishes and bric-a-brac, lamps and books, fancy rocker, a bird in @ cage, } framed picture of President McKin- ley, and an elaborately illuminated , marriage certificate in a frame. Then } there were handherchiefs, feather
 fan, ribbons, and other articles for the , brides personal adornment. When the , presents were all in MT. and Mrs. Hood placed them on exhibition in the
 street outside the cart and had them ; photographed. These photographs were 1 in great demand in Barre.
 Then one of the leading dentists of } the city startled local society by invit- ing Mir. and Mrs. Hood to g. surprise party he had planned for his wife. Only |. few of his men friends knew the full list guests, and when the Hoods ap- } peared, the bride wearing as many c , her wedding presents as possible, there