The Washington times., 1907-01-20
20. the homes Of Merrie England
How beautiful are theyr

q The homes OF MeEfiE England
How beautiful are they!'
Z ODGING-HOUsE life In England
is sort Of misunderstanding
that appeals most strongly 10
Americans who have been travel
ing Tar enough 10 long for touch OF
home seclusion and domestic comfort.
We went into lodgings for the first
time during the second year of exile,
For six months we had-as the slangiest
member Of the party put it-"cropped
the promiscuous vegetation" Of pensions
and hotels and were a-weary of printed
menus OF ambiguous entrees, OF ubiqui-
tOru national dishes, Of Questionable
beds and unequivocal impositions upon
the strangers within foreign gateways.
We yearned for food We need not an
HlyZe; for plain, wholesome living and
the right OF free speech. If not OF high
thinking
We sought-and found-our pleasant
pastures. and what the marginal read
ing OF the Shepherd Psalm translates as
''the waters OF quieness," in Brighton.
just an easy run from London by rail-
way.
We lived In lodgings subsequently in
bennington, and in the Isle of Wight.
and in comfort The Brighton exper.-
ment was so tTiumphantly satisfactory
that the memory is an abiding delight
The personnel OF our landlord and his
wife Interested as from the beginning 10
the end OF our soj0urn Ia the famous old
town-a fashionable and expensive re-
sort of royalty and nobility 200 years
ago. IL Is highly respectable stil, but
modern modes of travel have brought il
so near Do town that the charm of
eNclusiveaess beloved by fashion has
departed.
Luxury Without Fashion.
AIRY and "' Arriet." taking advan-
tage of cheap holiday excursions, make
love with the frank. matter-of-course
audaciJy OF the British cockney. in the
forsaken haunIs OF fop and c0quette OF
the olden time Shopmen do a fair. but
not brisk trade; parks with high
sounding titles are tordered by build
ings that were once grand, and are now
described by agents as 'genteel and
roomy."
In such a house ana upon Regent
Park Ga name that must have dated
back 20 the youth OF George ~, Cf
scapegracIsl memory a retired butler,
who lad lived for thirty years as boy
and man i'm the family OF Lord Some
before we We're recommended 10 his
good grdCcs 10y a real estate agent.
True 90 the traditions of his order he
had welded the cook and drawn her.
and The tidy sum she had saved in the
same service as himself. into his hon
orahIe retirement That rs the way they
do things In sensible old England Upon
the foundations OF their united savings
rOCmy house that had 0utliVed its man
sion days. ana took dodgers.
The business ls so little known in
America Ga more's the pityD that /
VIII explain what the term means
They furnished the house, dividing il
into suiJes and flats FOR the accommO-
datlcn or q certain number of indIvid-
udls and families, Tor whom, when dom
lciled, they kept house the requisites
Tor daily living. and tile projectors
doing the rest The retired cook aad
but changed her scene CT labors, Dat
she was the aomInal mistress of the
house The retired butler transplanJed
his dignity and dress coat In new soil.
of which he was the owner. Both
worked harder than ever before, but
under conditions more honorable, from
their point of view.
Let the report OF one day set the
case more distinctly before the mind
Of the reader who has never lived in
lodgings.
In COmmodious Quarters.
II was early in the summer. and the
]
sequence. Brighton was not full. and we
had no difficulty in securing the best
lodgings In the WhiIom mansion We
had the "drawing-roOm floor" The
English drawing-room is always gained
by mounting stairs. Hence, our Eng
fish basement houses" On this fioor
was the drawing-room entered through
a smaller aute-chamber. which We re-
CeiVlug no visitors, used as q library
and writing room, Back or the spacious
drawing room, which looked out upon
the park. was one nearly as large. in
which our meals were served. on the
floor above were four bedrooms. OF fair
dimensions All were clean and airy,
and those IN the front of the house gave
us glimDses OF the sea
Even in summer we never break
tasted earlier than S o'clock, and the
"R. B."-thus chrisJeued by our irrey-
erent youngsters, and spoken of by no
other name out of his hearing made
known, by "a sort Of plantiVe patron
age unattainable by any but a cideyaut
chief butler. that the meal WaSs spread
at that ghostly hour out Of Difference
10 other colonial preiudices. He was
TOO well bred or 500 wary, 10 quote the
quality 10 us. then or ever. l have
observed that those who have the OF
fensiye trick are usually people who
have the least acguaIntanccSlip with
the authorities they cite. III there were
mild protest IN The r. BIS shining
morning face. cIean-shaven daily-as he
passed mullins. toast and bacon. coffee.
chocolate and tea-it weGt no further.
lie was "a shade gTaEer. perhaps than
after The world was better aired More
respectful he could not be. His dep0rt-
ment was Of the best brand. and Tipened
by years. His spouse never, even by
accident gave us brew OF tOlerable
coffee. I'm this she was not unlike the
chefs of the best hotels in London.
She did make excellent chocolate, and
the tea was delicious in flavor, although
costing just half what we pay for in
ferior quality Ia our own country.
Admired a Tea Maker.
The r. BIS respect for me mounted
vislbly when he found that / expected
10 make tea al table IL was "un-
common 20 see lady from the States
do that" he informed me. And when,
kettle, tea-caddy and urn IN place, l
measured the died leaves into the heated
pot poured a little boiling water over
them and slipped the coy into place,
he was moved out OF his habltual calm.
"Ah madam. Won do maceFate Your