Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-11-16
PROMOTING LIFE
IN BOARDING HOUSE
Curious Profession of a "Man
Who Makes Things
Co."
From the London News.

From the London News.
1t was one of those small boarding
houses that make a point of advertising
separate tables. and there were, in fact
about a dozen in the room, but they were
SO close together that there was barely
space for the waiter to carry on his Skin
mishng, and it was necessary, in order to
avoid embarrassment, to make as great
an effort to be sociable as if there had
been one common table. But the effect
of the few inches between the little tables
was so strong that most of the guests
preferred to be silent or to talk in whis-
pers rather than to surrender any of their
precarious isolation.
The hostess was in despair, but strug-
gled bravely to bring about a genial state
of chatter, and from her table by the door
she made heroic efforts to be bright; but
even those privileged to sit at tbs same
ia bie-elderly women who made the place
their summer home-failed to respond to
any useful extent. and the rest still kept
up their self-conScious gravity. The only
break was when a young girl, gulltily
amused by a still younger brother. burst
into laughter. The hostess looked up
hopefully, and the other guests turned
with obvious relief to see who it was
could be SO cheerful. but the mother
frowned so severely at the girl that the
diversion ended as suddenly as 1t had be-
gun, with a furtive wink by the younger
brother.
Even upstairs. in the drawing room fac
ing the sea, there was the same failure to
recover from the influence of the separate
tables. The guests still kept in the same
groups. and it was clear that nothing
short of thunderstorm or an earthquake
could bring about any sociability. The
piano was open, and one man, apparently
determined to be genial at any cost, broke
suddenly into the chilling silence with the
suggestion that some one should sing a
song; and for a moment there was a faint
stir of interest but no one volunteered,
and the only results were some nervous
laughter and the hasty retreat of the
heroic man to the billiard room.
For three days there was no relief, and
every evening it was clear that the host
| ess was more deeply in despair. Even the
| tired landlady of a boarding house has
some of the feelings of the ordinary anna
teur hostess. and it distressed her to see
her guests SO obviously uninterested in
each other. But luckily on the fourth day
a remarkable change was brought about
by the arrival of another visttor-a mid
dle-aged man with SO genial manner
that in few hours he had put every one
at ease, filled the dining room with ami
mated chatter, brought smiles to the faces
of every one, and even made the can
tankerous old bachelor laugh.
Brings But Laughter.
His mere entry into room was the sig
nal for an outburst of merriment, and so
genial and Pickwickian was his manner
that he had but to say the most ordinary
things for every one to burst into laugh
ter. Till his arrival the drawing room in
the evening had been a very dismal place
with an atmosphere of Patience, crochet
work and back numbers of Punch brood
| ing over 1t. But the new arrival swept
all that aside. Calmly he sat down at the
piano and audaciously sang a humorous
| song. And not only did he sing himself
With an Irresistible wave Of the hand he
drew the whole room into the chorus, and
even the old bachelor hummed a line or
J, two from behind his evening paper.
! Soon the stranger discovered that Miss
A was an admirable soprano that Miss
| B was in the habit of giving dramatic rec
/ itations, that. Miss was an accomplish
| ed pianist, that Mr.. d was an astonish-
| ing amateur conjurer and that Mr.. E had
| brought his flute. A program was i'm