The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-07-24
OIL LAMPS LIGHT
 SUMMER CAPITOL
Natives Not sFussed" -"Mister Wilson Is A Nice, Simple LOokin' Man, They
 Say

Windsor. Vt, July 24. - President
 Lincoln studied by candle light and
 wrote some of his messages to Con 1 gross by the light of a smoking oil lamp. If, after President Wilson 1 comes here for his vacation, he de-
 c1des to spend some of his evenings
 writing his next message to Congress, he will have to do it either by oil lamp light or candle light Which is a l return into the dark ages for the Pres ident of the United States in these days of aeropIanes, flying boats, gas and electricity. Last night Mrs. Will son and her daughters ate their even ing meal by lamp light. When they give little party planned for some Of the personal friends of the Presi- l dentiaI family, there will be oil lamps in the front roon'' For there is no gas or electric light at Harlakenden House, the Presidents summer home. President Wilson is accredited with love of simplicity in all things. He can humor that liking to the limit when he comes here finally for a much needed rest. The large grounds about
 the house are well kept up, and, with the exception of the lighting proposi-
 ton, Harlakenden House is strictly modern.
 Windsor is three miles by New Eng
 land roads from Cornish, Vt The
 natives are not at all excited over hav- ing a resident and his family for
 neighbors. There were quite few at
 the station when the President re-
 gently visited Mrs. Wilson and his
 daughters; but they always go to the station to meet the two daily trains.
 They gave President Wilson a hearty and cordial welcome to their village but that was all. AS soon as the train pulled out they went back to their 0AIa h. s<7
 panied his family to church one Sun day while he was here the stoIid old Vermonters weren't a whit ''fussed.'' .'' They took it as matter of course that the President of the United States was a church-goer and let it go at that Many of them casually hung around after church to shake his hand, but it was all done in the same way they would greet any other new resident who wasn't a President = As one native put it, Mister Will
 son is nice, simple Iookin' man who
 appears to. know his business. and his wife IS 8. mighty fine woman. His daughters appear to be fust rate girls and Miss Jessie's beau, who was up hereviSiting when the President was, looks to be considerable of a man.
 That's the way the natives up here look at 1t. Down in their hearts they are mighty proud of the Presidents s
 selection of their town as a summer capital" and. there is every evidence that. although some of them voted the Republican or Progressive tickets,
 they all have been very favorabIy i'm
 pressed with President Wilson. But
 it would be foreign to their natures
 to let anyone think for a minute that
 they fare all set up'' about having
 President Wilson for a neighbor.
 Everybody. who lives here has a
 list of dead and gone ancestors who used to live here themselves. About the newest resident is the soda clerk two of them here-who, is a, college
 man. He blew in about three years ago, got the staying fever and stuck. Windsor Is in a valley between the fothills of the White Mountains It
 is noted for it's climate, a great deal Presidents family got here. The temperature for a time persisted in c1fnging around 90 degrees during the day and 8o degrees at night, while the enthusiastic postmaster and the town
 tailor swore that it was the hottest
 year in their history.
 The roads leading from Windsor up through the hills and down into the valley are old. winding roads that creep through bluffs and hoIlows and swing across the Connecticut River and the ponds that dot the neighbor- nOO0.f All the Dr1OgeS were built by
 another generation with covered roofs.
 Also nearly all of them have toll gates
 we'll guarded by toll keepers. In Wind
 sor there are houses built during the
 Revolution and before. Lafayette stopped over night once at the only hotel in the town The rom the fa- nous Frenchman used hasn't been made a sacred place by any means. It's front room and brings 50 cents
 more than the back room.
 No efforts have been made to keep the roads in very good condition. The Presidents few motor trips while he was here were taken over roads which
 are either ankle deep in dust or a mo-
 rass of mud, according to the weather.
 There isn't anything within a radius of 100 miles except the mountains and
 woods. Har1akenden House sits back
 mile from the road behind a thick
 grove of fir pines that shed a soft
 perfume over the whole place. Be-
 hind it, looking down from the broad veranda at nightfaI1, the Connecticut River can be seen flowing through the
 valley below at the foot of great tree covered hills which rise ruggedly to a
 height of 500 or 500 feet. The Con-
 necticut River itself is not much to look upon. It can be waded at most
 any point in this section and it is filI-
 ed with green weeds and refuse and of 1riff