The Paducah evening sun. [volume] (Paducah, Ky.) 1906-1929, 1909-09-28
MANY FOLLOWERS
OF SIMPLE LIFE
HAVE FOUND ENJOYMENT IN
ITS OBSERVANCE.
The Chains of Gypsy Method of
Travel Are Realized by
Well Known Author.
SPENDS SUMMER IN CARAVAN

The cult of the simple life" has
assumed many forms in recent years,
but none has secured such a hold on
all classes of society as the caravan
leraze.
The membership of the Caravan
ielub has lately increased by leaps
land bounds. and nowadays it is quite
the thing to spend the greater part
of the summer months wandering
from one part of the country to an
other in the ordinary house-on-
wheels of the Roman type.
The new craze is particularly pop
ular with actors and actresses,
authors and professional men and
women whose ordinary vocations en-
tail a tremendous expenditure OF
nervous energy.
The complete transformation
from their ordinary methods of life,
the novelty of having to entirely
tend" for themselves, even to har-
Messing the pony and cooking the
dinner, acts as q marvellous tonic TO
their faded nervous systems.
At the recent annual meeting of
the Caravan club the turnout of
members was more than twice as
great as any previously seen in this
country.
All sorts of caravans are now af-
fected by society, from the humble
van converted from the actual use of
the real gypsy to a palace on wheels
drawn by a motor and costing more
than a thousand pounds.
Luxurious Rowing.
One of the most luxurious resi-
dences of this kind is that used by a
well known French nobleman and
his wife all the year round. II con-
sists practically of two large cara
vans poined together, with a cover
ed-in platform at one end.
1t is most deliberately decorated.
and beasts a salon." or drawing
room, with no less than three win
dows, and with a floor space twelve
feet long by seven and a half broad,
and containing charming little
model cottage piano.
There is a most elaborate minia-
ture kitchen at the rear, and several
bedrooms, and this Arcadian dwell
ing is hauled from place to place by
a fifty-horse-power motor car. The
walls are all padded with heavy felt
so as to keep it warm in the winter
months, and 1t is lighted with cleo
tricity.
The French nobleman and his
wife travel all over France in il In
the summer months. and in the win
ter they dwell in it on a piece of
spare ground in the Bots de Boz
logne in Paris.
Another palatial caravan Of al
somewhat similar character has tour
ed all over Great Britain during the
last few years. IL cost more than
thousand pounds, and is inhabited
by the traveller" of a we'll known
whisky firm, who finds it a most en-
joyable way of journeying from
place to place as well as an excellent
advertisement for his firm.
Author on Wheels.
One of the first persons to realize
the charms of the gypsy method OF
living was DR.. Gordon Stables, the
famous author, who, after having
been many times around the world.
and cruises as far apart as the Arc
tic Circle and the Indian Ocean. has
now settled down as journalist and
author on wheels.
He spends the whole summer in
his caravan. in which he has written
more than a hundred books. includ-
ing Leaves From the Log of a Cell
tleman Gypsy" 1.-THE Cruise of the
Land Yacht Wanderer" and Heath
Upon Wheels"
Two years ago Lady Arthur Gros-
venor started the caravan craze in
society, spending two months holt
day in an ordinary gypsy caravan,
doing all her own work and COOK
ing.
She even took out a hawkeT's IL
cense in the name of Syiere Lee, and
with a friend sold baskets and
clothes pegs from door to door. after
the manner of the gypsy-born. She
was delighted with her experience,
and is now one of the most expert
enced of those who would convert
everyone into amateur caraveneers.
Weekly.