The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-12-13

These contractors have to be watched
all the time m convinced that they
are skimping our work. I told you
how | caught them leaving out the
deafening paper between the floors"
Peters did not like this. His pro-
fessional pride was touched. "'Well,
didn t l make 'em rip up the floor and
put it in?'' he asked. ''No, I'll su-
perintend my own work, Fred. That IS
what you're paying me for, old man.
They can t fool me. They all say l
have an eye like an eagle. Look at
your concrete floor in the cellar, for
instance Didn't I make them rip it
out, the whole thing2 Didn t l jump
all over them?'
This was true; he had made most
interesting fuss over that, but it was
also true that as the house was being
constructed on a cost basis, the owner
would have to pay for that extra
work. But Fred didn t like to remind
Wilson of things of this sort; it was
so distasteful.
The architect s visits became less
and less frequent, more and more
hurried. He kept the carriage from
the station waiting while he stalked
through the house in a clustering man
ner, scowling and swearing occasional
ly, as if to impress Fred with his
thoroughness, then was off again to
the train in great hurry, both
vehicles to be charged to travelling ex-
penses in his bill to the CAROLS.
In Justice to the architect, it should
IL ID l. i
reached a stage where such constant
attention was not necessary, but the
CAROLS did not think so. They had
never built house before, and it was
something like first baby. So Molly
decided that she never had liked that
man and told Fred that he ought to
write and prod him up for neglecting
them So "This is a business relation
ship, and you mustn't let your friend
ship stand in the way. You owe it
to your wife and children to have this
house well built" she said, shaking
her pretty head.
"You' d think swore Peters to his
partner when the letter came, "that
I had nothing to do but watch the
driving of every nail in that one little
housed It's becoming a nuisance.
But he ought to have been used to
it. That was usually the way. Each
home builder thinks his house the most
important one in the world. So it is,
to him.
Then, having finished swearing,
Peters wrote a lovely letter telling
them he "knew exactly how they felt
about it," or rather, he called out to
his stenographer, "Jolly Number two,
and add that I'll be down to take up
all these matter in detail next Tues
day"
''Did you say Thursday, sir?'
"Either will do-iust so you remem-
Der to follow it up with telegram
postponing my visit on account of an
important conference in Boston
Meanwhile there had come the ques-
ton of "extras' The CAROLS, like
many innocent home builders, thought
that the contract priee-in this case,
the "upshot figure lowered every
thing necessary for home to live IN
except the furniture. The furnace was
extra, the kitchen range was an extra,
the electric light fixtures were extra,
even the mantelpieces were extra. But,
in addition to these necessary extras,
there were many others very desirable
"a glass Enclosure for the covered
veranda in cold weather, lattlced IN
closure for drying the clothes, adjoin-
ing the laundry and incorporated with
the lines of the house. Gas long as
we can't have a stable and stable
yard,' said Fred, GIVE can at least use
driving ground. That will help the
long, low effect, let the house down
easily on that side, and hide the family
wash from public view.
They denied themselves the extrava-
gance of spending five dollars on the
theater one evening, and cheerfully
agreed to five hundred dollars worth
of extras the next morning. When you
are spending thousands such amounts
are mere trifes.
But Molly had become convinced
that Peters was working Fred.
Everyone does, you know. You are