The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1907-08-29

cooking aud everything. In fact, that
s. considered essential for housekecp
ing needs and luxury
As 4 had the 5000 and little more
than that tucked away In the bank
for best egs and As the house pleased
Z Marjorie quite as well as II did me,
agreed TO MIR splitacre's terms, re
I ceiyed my deed with only days De
lay and found that my troubles had
begun,
Z furniture on the ins'allment plan, and
/ I, cost four times Ms much as | ex
/ pected, The percentage | had 10 pay
the dealer-for lns,ailmenis. found
I don't mean all trust--ate large
/ hole in what was left OF my bank ac.
count. and II began 10 look as II.
when I got through. only broken
shell would remain OF my nest egg.
II was late In the fall when we
moved in, and right then we began to
IFuTH our FNHpn aINut hbst'
ycniences Before fairly learned 10
run the ho, water heat the tempera.
ture In the rooms ranged anywhere
from 81 degrees 10 10 AS conse-
quence both Marjorie and had colds
which necessitatcd the attendance OF
physician We agreed to pay his
bill on the installment plan.
Then the water pipes in the second
story froze, and the amount OF damage
done before the plumbers got around
10 do more was almost Incredible. So
was the bin that we received little
later IL was only by dint OF per
sistent arguments that ! made the
plumbing firm agree 10 allow me 10
pay them n certain percentage OF my
salary each pay day. They said theirs
was cash business, but they would
agree TO make an exception In my case,
provided would promise solemnly |
that would say nothing about 1t TO |
the neighbors, as they did not care to |
be bothered with outstanding bills.
A leak In the gas pipes occurred In
the middle OF January. II was discov-
cred in a rather odd manner. ! lo-
Gated II, but felt no pride IN the |
achievement was going down cellar |
TO fix the fire for the night, and when |
I opened the door OF the heater there
was a deafening explosion. The force
OF Il threw me down, nearly stunning
me and horribly singelng a dress suit
Il had been at Masonic meeting that
evening-and incinerating yandyke
beard and pair OF the first eyebrows
/ ever had Half the asbcstus cover
ing was knocked from the heater, and
the very fire was blown up the chin
ney. The concrete floor was, I I'M
agined, dented In places, and the jar
started another costly leak In the
water pipes.
The gas men cndeavored to repair
the damage. but they somehow failed
to fix things as good as they were be-
fore In vain they tampered with this
and tinkered with that The awful
odor Of gas permeated the whole
house, insinuating itself into every
room. no matter how hard we tried to
keep 1t out. II finally became so
sfiieH- of f'saky rkluns. -nnflffls t)es
come ashamed OF repeating to constant
callers the old excuse that we were
"having It fxed."
"It's Just too mortlfying," sobbed
Marjorie one evening, 'to have Mrs.
Banks call and-st there with her hand
kerchief held to her nose with one
hand and her vinaigrettc with the 9th.
er and looking at me as II were n
segment of limburger cheese or had
been eating onions. II have explained
this unexplainable thing to one person.
have to hundred, and don't think
either that half Of them believe me-"
1t was easy to see that the situation
was wearing on my wife's nerves as
well as on mine, though took It out in
4 different way from sobbing. to the
chagrin no doubt of the recording an
gel
The first relief we had was during
those days when the gas was shut of
at the main In the street while an en-
tire new set of pipes was being put In.
and even these, as II turned out, were
destined to give us trouble from time
10 time.
The April rains went through the
slate roof In places much as II II were
a sieve, and the labor OF patching II
meant more instalments for the car
penter, while two Of the ceilings were
ruined, and. with installments for one
thing or another coming due all the
time, found myself unable to raise
the money TO have them fixed.
In June an awful odor arose from
the basement. thought cat must
have died between some partitions, but
Mrs Banks OF the handkerchief and
assured us 1t was the sew
age. Investigation showed that this
was backed up In an alarming manner. .
The cellar was again flooded, and this
time with something that rubber boots
alone were not sufficient TO overcome.
Potato peelings reposed on the cellar
stairs, and package Of Mrs. Banks
printed calling cards In some way
found resting place In the floating
coal bin. There were more lost articles
han are advertised for In any one Issue
u the daily papers. and not the most
o. these was set of dainty
false teeth containing two gold crowns
hat were the Identical match OF those n
he mouth OF Miss Pretty Sphinx,