The Press., 1916-06-14
The Butterlnilk 1 House How Trust Was Eusted By by Rich Y ung M n. M QUAD Copyright, 1916, by the Mcclure
 Newspaper Syndicate.

Did you ever hear how q hotel came to be called the Buttermilk House? It was first called the Mountain House. But a trust ill buttermilk was smashed there, and that changed the name. When the hotel had been running for a couple of years the buttermilk craze spread from ca~t to west. and i: soon found its way to the Mountain House.
 There was only one man within ten miles of the Mountain IIu:sSe %!o saw money in blttcrrl:ik. and h.S name was Stebbins He bought five cows. big churn and cans, and he delivered buttermillZ to thc hot"l In gallons and charged :)5 cents for every gallon that he delivered.
 Away of in New York city was young Carroll Harper, who held sit uatioE in his wealthy fathers bank. He va ~ !.;,l =! .:0;Is; young man in- stead of GuW.i'"r He was anxious to learn the E,:l king business, and, though rich in lis own right, he stuck to his work like Gome of the employees who were rcttinG salaries of only $20 u is, young Harper found his appetite gone, his nerves all aquiver and his ambition abo-t faded away. He went to a doctor, and after being questioned and thumped and paved over the doc tor looked him in the face with stern- ness and said:
 "GO west, young man! Go west, SIT
 "But why?' was asked.
 ''To breathe in great chunks of ozone and drink a gallon of buttermilk every day and to come back here in about sixty days feeling as well or better than you have in the past ten years
 And the doctor. who had heard of the Mountain House and had sent three or four invaliIs there, advised the young man to make straight for that spot and to order a supply of buttermilk as soon as he had registered. His ad- vice was needed, and one morning the young man descended from the stage and entered the hotel. The place was off the railroad by fifteen lniles.
 They generally find out all about you very soon at a country hotel, and it was scarcely two hours before it was generally known to the landlord and among the guests that Carroll Har- per had financial and social standing in the big city in the east. It was also known to MT. StebbinS, and when he called to take the order for buttermilk he raised the price from p cents to double that sum because he was deal ing with a rich young man.
 Isn't that double what the others are paying?' he was asked.
 "Oh, it's a little more." was the re- ply, but you are rich and can afford it. What is q quarter a day to a man of millions?'
 "But 1t strikes me as eNt0rtiOn.'
 |Well, you can take it or leave it. I am the only one around here with but termilk to sell, and I can put any price on it like.'
 The young man who was the victim of an extortioner planned to get even. He took the landlord into his conf- dence, and there was conspiracy to smash MT. Stebbins' trust.
 After ten mile auto ride down the valley and back only one family was found so situated that they could help | family was composed of a widow and a strapping daughter. They owned and worked little farm together, but they did not even have one COW nor any outfit with which to deal with the but termilk question. In a conversation the young man had with the strapping girl on the doorsteps he asked:
 Gan you and your mother milk and take care of six or seven cowsY'
 "Yes, or ten of them," she answered.
 "Can you drive a horse and wagon?"
 "You bet.'
 And what did young MT. Harper do? He sent an agent out to buy six or seven cows, a big churn that turned with a crank, small cans and big cans and horse and wagon to contract for supply of alfalfa to feed the cows on during the winter. When all these had been secured everything was pre- sented to the widow and the daughter l as free gift, and they were told to | go into the buttermilk industry for all l they were worth. They had to sign a l contract to supply the guests of the l Mountain hotel with all the buttermillx l wanted for the next five years, and l they were not to ask above 15 cents | gallon. It was figured that at this price the profits would be about 12 per | cent.
 One morning the mighty MT. Steb bins, who had run a one man trust i for two years, drove up to the hotel in his mightiness and began to unload his cans of buttermilk. The guests ranged | themselves on the veranda with smiles on their faces, and the landlord kindly l but firmly announced to MT. Stebbins that no more of his buttermilk was wanted. The Stebbins buttermilk trust was smashed. It was smashed as fiat | as pancake. It was smashed by young man, widow and a strapping girl.
 And when the strapping young girl drove up to the Mountain House for the second time with the light of tri- umph in her eyes and about a barrel of buttermilz in her wagon she saw painter on ladder in front of the house, and he was painting out the old sign preparatory to painting in a new one which should read 'The Butter milk House. And the hotel is there yet, and the sign is there yet, and every guest there is following the doctors orders and is drinking cool, good buttermilk. There is two wom- an trust, but it is a trust to be praised and not busted.