The Republican journal., 1914-10-29
Closing Days at Crawfords.

is made up of mingled joy and sadness,
and my feelings during those last days
were such mixture of the two that 1t
was hard to determine where the one
began and the other left off. Yet as
looked out, on Sunday, the 9th, and
again on Monday, at the fast falling
snowflakes-for it was showing hard at
times on both those days, and the earth
was white-and upon the familiar noun
tains in their unfamiliar garb Of autumn
foliage, with the heavy storm clouds
lowering over them, was conscious
that anything which arose to interfere
with my leaving for home on Tuesday
morning would be as unwelcome as
toothache or twinge of rheumatism.
So, saying to those around me, mot
Caesar less, but Rome more" l went
about my preparations for coming away,
looking forward to returning another
season, when Crawfords should wear
once more its sunny summer smile. In
nv heart was almost an echo of Mr..
James Scott's characteristic remark up
on leaving. eff | ever get to Heaven
hope FL like it as we'll as | have liked
Crawfords this summer" Although
could not add, as he did, "and hope there
will be good golf course and plenty OF
golf sticks and balls there"
The ten days of September previous
to the 9th, which seemed to us the hot
test days of the season, brought people
fiocking to the mountains, and this with
a large "personaly conducted Bassett
excursion for the entire week before the
closing gave US perhaps our busiest and
most exciting days. Up to Saturday
night. when there were fifty arrivals,
there was no let up, and this marked
she season as an unusually good one,
bringing US up to the very day of closing
with a ''blare of trumpets and with
colors flying" 1t hardly seemed posi-
BILE on that stormy Sunday as the crowd
thronged the lobby, talking and laugh
inc until the noise was absolutely deaf
aning, that on the morrow it would melt
away as completely as the newly fallen
snow, leaving emptiness and silence to
reign supreme for many long months.
ONLY one CraWfordite seemed to enjoy
the thought, and that was Mr.. Chase
the station agent. He remains at Craw-
fords ali the year, living in rooms over the
station, acting as his own housekeeper
and maid-o all work and enjoying the
contrast presented by the grandeur and
solitude of the winter months, when the
mountains are white with snow, and
snowshoeing and hunting are the chief
amusements. That Mr.. Chase is hardy
mountaineer goes without saying, but in
proof of this will say that he recently
started at 8 p. m. with a party to climb
Mt. Washington, tramp of nine miles.
They arrived at the Summit House in
the wee sma' hours. Up there 1t was a
land of snow and ice, and on his return
Mr.. Chase was most enthusiastic in de-
scribing the beauty of it, and of the sum
rise, when he beheld the sun rising like
ball of fire out of the distant ocean,
tinging the clouds with wonderful colors
and converting the world into place of
mystery and enchantment Then the
party started upon the return tramp
and any mount ain climber will under
stand that contrary to the accepted YER
sion, it is in coming down hill that
strains every sinew and muscle to pre-
vent slipping and sliding, and that usually
makes of the day after day of quiet
retrospection and meditation. The party
arrived at the house late in the after
noon, so exhausted with the exception of
Mr.. Chase that they were, as they ex-
pressed it call in''; but Mr.. Chase ap-
peared for the evening in buoyant spirits,
ready as he said, ito start right off and
do the same thing over" So it was that
he, as have said, wore very cheerful
face on this last Sunday, seeing which a
French gentleman among the guests said
to him:"We French have saying which
/ cannot put into English better than
this Some tastes deserve licking and
l think this taste of yours for Crawfords
in the winter is one of them."
On Monday morning the place was one
vast leave taking. "Good-bye, good
bye, goodbye" filled the air and rang
in our ears, until we of the household
found ourselves repeating it over and
over to each other like parrots, shaking
hands with whoever got nearest to us
just because we had started and couldn't
stop; yet even as we turned it all into
joke and tried to feel that we were fun
nv, we had consciousness that we were
like small boys in the dark "whistling to
keep up our courage" and that saying
goodbye to Crawfords and to each other,
would give us all some rather solemn
moments. By noon the guests were
gone, and the work of dismantling the
mouse, taking up carpets and packing
away dishes, silver, ETC., was going rap
idly on under the direction of the efficient
housekeeper, Mrs. George Rowland.