Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-08-23
At OLD FAITHFUL INN
Resembles an Immense Nor
Wegian Log House.
WALLS OF GREAT LOGS
Ingenious Employment of the
Rustic Idea.
UNPLANED PLANK PARTITIONS
Nearly All of the Material of the
Building Found Within
Radius of Six Miles.
Ingenious Employment
Rustic Idea.
UNPLANED PLANK PARTITIONS
RY WILLIAM F.. RTIS.

| RY WILLIAM F.. CURTIS.
I Special Correspondence of The Star and the
Chicago Record Herald.
| OLD FAITHFUL INN August IA. 1909.
| There are five hotels and two lunch
| stations in the Yellowstone Park. all un-
| der the mana ement of the Yellowstone
| Park Association, of which Mr.. H. W.
| Child of Helena is the president and gen
| eral manager. They have total capac-
| ity of about 200 guests. and during the
| last Sunday night of July they had 29i
| travellers sleeping under the five roofs
| the largest number on record. This does
| not include the guests at the Wylle per-
| manent camps, six little villages of tents
| and the various other temporary camps
| which probably gave shelter to as many
| more.
| The season opened June ) and closes
| September 2,-13o days. At the middle
period. July Il, the total numbeA OF ar
rivals at all the five hotels had peen
1916 the average daily arrivals being hS5
at each. 1t is expected that the total Will
run beyond $4,000 for the season Inc
| average number of people entertained az
all the hotels daily for the first hal1 OF
the season has been 613.
Old Faithful Inn, which stands In the
center of the Upper Geyser Basin, is al
phenomena from which 1T takes Its name.
and 1t is probably the most curious notel
in the world and absolutely unique. IL
resembles a Norwegian log house, only IL
is larger than dozen of the largest log
houses in that country combined, being
$40 feet long, with a wing In the rear
for the dining room. which is seventy-nve
by sixty feet in size. The foundation Is
| of concrete and boulders The walls are
of logs from twelve to eighteen inches In
| diameter, sawed on two sides and with
| the bark exposed on the exterior and IN
terror. The pitch roof, which is elgnt-siX
feet high, is covered with large redwood
shingles called shakes. The outside OF
the foundation is partially covered with
moss, and the uncut rocks SHOW the natu
raj weather stains The roof projects four
feet over the walls and is broken by ga
bles which are supported by natural
| crooked limbs Of trees. All the brackets
and braces throughout the house are of
similar material which has been fitted in
with remarkable ingenuity, the bark in
many cases being left untouched. These
crooks of the bough' were found In the
forests surrounding the hotel by. five
woodsmen who were brought here from
Wisconsin to look up freaks of timber for
this purpose. There are about five hun
dred of them and they present all sorts
of fantastic shapes.
Rustic Idea Prevails.
The rustic idea prevails throughout the
| entire building. The main feature is an
Office rotunda, 20 by - feet in size, open
Sc feet to the roof, which Is supported by
trusses of pine logs and braced with
poles. The first and second floors have
wide balconies overhanging the rotunda,
which are also made of logs and sup
ported by crooked limbs. The stairs are
| of logs roughly haWn and fastened with
rude iron bolts and wooden puncheons.
| All the balustrades, braces and ratings
are made of poles and crooks.
! In the center of the rotunda is an enor-
nous stone chimney Of uncut stone, Is
| by Is feet. and projecting through the
roof to the height of % feet. Some of
| the blocks Of rough stone used In the
| chimney weigh ton and half There
! is crows nest In the angle of the roof
seventy feet above the office, which leads
| to a platform upon the peak outside.
where a searchlisht is operated upon the
active geysers for the entertainment of
| the guests every evening. The effect Is
| extraordinary.
| There are eight fireplaces in the Chin
ney, two of them being very large, and
| they are equipped with titanic andirons,
! tonss. shovels, pokers, cranes, pot hooks
and other furniture which corresponds.
| The pokers are six feet long: the andirons
are six feet high, and their feet are four
feet long. In one of the firepaces is
corn pepper that will hold half bushel,
| with handle seven feet long. 1t is used
| every night. When the guests come in
from watching the play of the searchlight
| upon the geysers they are welcomed with
| the cheerful sound of the popping corn,
| and shortly after one of the bell boys
| passes it around in a great old-fashioned
dishpan.
On the front of the chimney, facing the
entrance, is a rude clock with face five
| feet in diameter, placed forty-five feet
above the floor. The pendulum Is twenty
| two feet long and the weights, which
hang from chains made of inch wrought
| iron. resemble ammunition canisters.
The pointers and the figures on the dial
are In proper proportion.
The Dining Room.
| There is similar chimney and fireplace
| in the dining room. over which hangs one
of the most curious mantels you can
| ina gine-an immense log Is feet long and
IS inches in diameter, hewn down fiat and
swung by two anchor chains from the
roof A sideboard and cupboard on either
side of the fireplace are made of similar
materials. The furniture of the dining
room corresponds. The electroiiers
made of pine poles laid crosswise and are
suspended from the roof by rude iron
| chains All of the electric light fixtures
are made to resemble candles The china,
which was made especially for the hotel.
is in harmony with the furniture, being of
the old-fashioned Norwegian patterns.
| Even the ice water for drinking is drawn
from a hollow log. through a hidden pipe
running from the refrigerator, and the
waste basin is chiseed out of an enor-
nous rock.
| There are cozy hooks and corners every
where, furnished with big Quaker rocking
chairs and writing desks, which al
ways occupied by women addressing pos
tai cards. The first thing the ordinary
| tourist does when she lands at a hotel
is to rush frantically to the newsstand to
see if any new post cards are to be found
there and to buy a packet of one-cent
stamps The mail bags which go out every
morning from each of the hotels con-
tain a bushel or more of post cards. The
newsstand clerks tell me that there is no
more demand for photographs. but they
sell several hundred post cards daily.