Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, January 6, 1901, Page 13

U WJ/ S | \\\ JEACHERS LXAMINING Mswf’wsu— \cAarroNs. TR, ) | Me (WELTON | M SIMPSON, COL. N4 J(Z-'E A7 AUDITORIUM~ IR Unique Special Train-~ Most Comfortable Down in the wilds of central Tennessee there travels in a leisurely manner hither and tither a special train which is at once probably the most inexpensive and most comfortable railroad domicile in existence. About twenty persons live in it. They en- joy most of the luxuries of the city life, in the midst of stretches of mountain wilder- ness. Cool and airy bedrooms, in sharp distinction to the stuffy boxes that serve as sleeping apartments in the ordinary special car, a large kitchen, a pleasant dining room, a parlor and library, and bathrooms with running water, hot and cold, make up a model house, or rather, set of apartments, on wheels. And these apartments are nothing more or less than condemned freight cars Their occupants are down there building a railroad, Originally the idea of this house on wheels was a scheme for self-preservation, contrived by Mr. George Weston, general manager for the Chicago contracting firm that is building the railroad When he went down to look the ground over he found hotels few and far betwean. After his first night at one of these hostelrios he wouldn't have cared if ihev hid heen fewer and further. Arising in the middle of the night, he took his clothes outside, shook them violently, had a bath in an adjacent stream, and walked arouni till morning. Then he sent back for a tent. But tent life in that region of furious storms Is an uncertain mede of existence. Sometimes the tent would be there when Mr. Weston got back; sometimes his ser- vant would be struggling to disengage it from the top of a tree whither the wind had carried it. Once or twice it departed precipitately in the night-tim», leaving the tenants to shiver in the rain. Mr. Weston decided that different arrangements wou'd have to be made. e dido't propose to be eaten alive in the local inns, or blown about a mountainside by tha boisterous winds. So, as soon as the railroad got fairly under construction, and other rep- resentatives of the firm arrived, he had five condemned freight cars sent down there, and proceded to make a jiving place of them, Simplicity the Keyun At the outset simplicity was the keynote. Dcors were cut in the ends of the cars and cornecting platforms put in. Windcws were also cut. When the weather became uncoemfortably warm a false roof with two fcet of air space was put on the cars, which made them cool and comfortable. All that part of the country is rich in springs and sn.all streams. An ingenious member of the party put in a detachable pipe system to tap whatever water source happened to be nearest. Folding bathtubs followed and next the luxurious dwellers in the wilder- nees decided that they must have hot water as well as cold, so a big boiler was connected with the kitchen range and an- other pipe line supplied the other cars. As the officials tcok constantly more interest in their temporary home, they sent back to civilization for furniture and ornaments Finally their pride in the home on wheels reached such a point that they must have vigiters there to admit it. Somebody sug- gested that they invite their wives down there for a holiday. The single men amended to the effect that there should also be some unmarried visitors. Within a fortnight the railroad home had blos- somed and bloomed under the transforming touch of women’s fingers and sundry hard- working railroad men were frantically tele- graphing for white collars and scouring the country for places where they could get laundry work done. Before they had been there a week the women had devised extensive improvements. They had essigned one car for kitchen pur- poses alone and another as a dining rocm. Iiies annoyed them, so they had screen doors put in; also window screens. They had been accustomed to having porches to sit on, therefore a temporary porch was contrived for each car. The conuccting platforms were improved, the pipe lines were so arranged as not to force them- selves upon the notice; yet witih all this the whole house train could be put into shape for removal in half an hour's time, One day there arrived a consignment of table linen and a set of silver tableware, and the dining room took on the uspects of the higher civilization. Next smoking was banned in the car which had been used by the men as a lounging room, and delicate curtains and draperies went up to justify the new law. Presently there arrived a plano and that car became a drawing room car in very truth. Books and magazines arrived and there was a library in one end. Having gone thus far, the wives and daughters and sisters of the officials an- nounced that, as they preferred their mov- able home in the wilderness fo the sta- tionary variety back at the center of civi- lization, they guessed they'd stay. And they did. The five parts of the House Migratory became: First, drawing room; second, married quarters; third, bachelor e W. £ DEARD ~ SHEAR, PRES. lonwA HAGRIL~ TURAL COLLEGE ) Miss CARRIE M GOODELL. JECY: Vavron, /A. : 7 o = FIRST ScHOOL NOUSE ERFCIED N quarters; kitchen. fqurth, d'ning room; fifth, Moving Day Had No Terrors. Moving day had no terrors for their kind of housekeeping. This was fortunate, as they moved every ten days or fortnighrt. All that was to be done was to collect the hammocks and chairs from outside, haul in the detachable porches and platforms, order up a locomotive and proceed. Al- ways they made it a polnt to stop within pipe reach of good water. Somectimes they shot squirrels from the roof of the housc or bagged an occasional partridge from the parlor window, and i1t was seldom that they couldn't get trout and bass within walking distance. Vegetable supply was not quite so simple a matter, and the most ordinary groceries often meant miles of travel. But there was generally a locomo- tive within call, and whoever happened to be running the household affairs at the time could send for the erginecr and give orders for the day. “John, please take the dining room up to Gridgeville and try to get a barrel ot potatoes and some onions. Aud ba sure to bring it back in time for dinner."” Daily existence under such circumstances was a sort of plenic, but if any speclal picnic was on hand they took the home right along, iInstead of having to leave home to reach the scene of the festivities. The population of the home on wheels varied greatly during the time of Its oc- cupancy. At one time there were nearly forty occupants, including guests. At pres- ent the family is a small one, but one more big gathering will prooably be held before the railroad is finished, an1 the House Mi gratory is resolved into its original ele ments, consisting of five condemned freight Ccars. IN JOwA, NEAR KEOKUK,/830 Example of Law’s Delay One of the finest modern instances «f the law’s delays and the general crassness cf officialiom is furnished in the case of one Motthew Hutchings, which came up before the court of probate in London, tha other day. In the year 1806 the British man-of- war Busy foundered with all bands on board while om a voyage from Halifax to the West Indies. Among the crew was the acting-master, Matthew Hutchings. At the date of the disaster a sum of £135 was standing to his credit with the admiralty, and so it might have stood forever had not his next of kin discovered the fact exactly eighty years after the disaster, Still, it was no simple matter to get the money. A correspondence with the admiralty followed, which lasted thirteen years—from 1886 to 1809. At length the admiralty thought that they saw their way to pay out the money. But here the court of probate intervened, True, the man must by this time have been about 140; but there w the leading case of Methuselah, and evidence of his death must be procured, This has just been done to the satisfaction of the judge, and there I8 now some prospect of the heirs getting their money—in a year or two. Explaining Things Indianapolis Press: *“What is this here diplomacy ?"" asked the grocery loafer “It is like this here,” saild the grocer “Fer Instance, iIf T wanted to call ycu a llar I'd jist do so right out, but if I wanted to be diplomacy I'd go at it sorter round- about an' jis' to the surroundin’' air that while I wasu't namin’ no names, | reely did believe that a certain red-nosed, squint-eyed cuss that had et at least ten pound of my best cheese without cent he say payin' a was not so keerful with the truth as orter be. See?"