1 . m - rfjScENE at Auditorium .-fig p r -s
Unique Special Train-
Most Comfortable
Down in tho wilds of central Tennessee
thero travels In a leisurely manner hither
and tltbcr a special train which is at once
probably the most inexpensive nnd most
comfortable railroad domlcllo In cxistenco.
About twenty persons live In It. They en
joy most of tho luxuries of tho city life, In
tho midst of stretches of mountain wlldor
ncss. Cool and airy bedrooms, In sharp
distinction to the stuffy boxes that servo
ns sleeping apartments in tho ordinary
special car, a largo kitchen, a pleasant
dining room, a parlor nnd library, and
bathrooms with running water, hot and
cold, make up a model house, or rather,
sot of apartments, on whcols. And these
apartments are nothing mora or less tlmn
condemned freight cars. Their occupants
are down thoro building a railroad.
Originally tho idea of this house on
whcols was a scheme for self-preservation,
contrived by Mr. Gcorgo Weston, gcnornl
manager for tho Chicago contracting firm
that is building tho railroad, Vhcn ho
went down to look tho ground over ho
found hotels few nnd far botwoan. After
his first night nt one of theso ho3tclrlos
ho wouldn't have cared if thev hid been
fewer nnd further. Arising In tho mlddlo
of tho night, ho took his clothes outside,
shook them violently, had n bath In an
adjacent stream, and walked around till
morning. Then ho sent back for a tent.
But tent llfo In that region of furious
storms la an uncertain mod of existence.
Sometimes tho tent would bo thoro when
Mr. Weston got back; somotlmo:! his ser
vant would bo struggling to dlsongago It
from tho top of a treo whither tho wind
had carried It. Onco or twlco It departed
precipitately In tho nlght-tlm lenvlng tho
tenants to Bhlvcr In tho rain. Mr. Weston
decided that different arrangement! wou'd
have to bo made, ilo didn't propose to
bo eaten allvo In tho local Inns, or blown
about a mountainside by tbo boisterous
winds. So, ns soon as tho railroad got
fairly under construction, nnd othbr rep
resentatives of tho firm arrived, he bad
flvo condemned freight can 3ont down
there, and proceded to make n Jiving placo
of them.
Simplicity (lu Keynote.
At tho outsot simplicity wns tho koynote.
Dcors wero cut in tho cuds of tho cars and
connecting plntforms put lu. Windows
wero also cut. Whon tho wenther became
uncomfortably warm a falso roof with two
fret of air spaco wns put on tho cars, which
nindo them cool and comfortable. AH that
part of tho country Is rich In springs nnd
small streams. An Ingenious member of
tho party put In a dotaclmblo plpo system
to tap whatever water source happened to
bo nenrcst. Folding bathtubs followed nnd
next tho luxurious dwellers In tho wilder
ness decided that they must havo hot
water as well as cold, so a big holler was
connected with tho kitchen rnngo nnd nn
otber plpo lino supplied tho other cars. As
tho officials tcok constantly moro Interest
In tholr temporary homo, thoy sent back
to civilization for furniture nnd ornaments.
Finally tholr prldo In tho homo on wheels
reached such a point that thoy must havo
visitors thero to admit It. Somebody sug
gested that they Invito tholr wives down
there for a holiday. Tho slnglo mon
amended to tho effect that thero should
also bo somo unmarried visitors. Within
a fortnight tbo railroad homo had blos
somed and bloomed under tho transforming
touch of womon's fingers and sundry hard
working railroad men wero frantically tclo
graphlng for whlto collars and scouring tho
country for places where thoy could got
laundry work dono.
lieforo thoy had been thero a wrelc tho
women bnd devised extenslvo Improvements.
They had rsslgned ono car for kitchen pur
poses nlono nnd another as a dining rocm.
Files annoyed them, so they had ucret-n
doors put In; also window screens. Thoy
had been accustomed to having porches to
sit on, thorcforo a temporary porch was
contrived for each car. Tho connecting
platforms wero Improved, tho plpo lines
wero so arranged ns not to forco thera
solvcs upon tho notlco; yet with nil this
tho wholo houso train could bo put Into
shnpo for removal In halt an hour's time.
One day thoro arrived a consignment of
tnblo linen nnd a set of silver tnblownrc,
and tho dining room took on the uspects of
tho higher civilization. Noxt smoking was
banned in tho car which had been used by
tho men ns a lounging room, nnd dolkato
curtains and drnporles went up to Justify
tho now law. Prcsontly thoro irrlved a
piano and that enr became n drawing room
enr In very truth. Hooks nnd magazines
arrived nnd thero was a library In ono
end. Having gono thus far, tho wives nnd
daughters and sisters of tho officials an
nounced that, ns thoy preferred tholr mov
able homo In tho wlldorness to tho sta
tionary variety back nt tho center of civi
lization, thoy guessed they'd stay. And
thoy did. Tho flvo parts of tho Houso
Migratory becamo: First, drawing room;
second, married quarters; third, bachelor
quarters; fourth, d'nlng room; fifth,
kitchen.
MovIiik Day Hud No Terror.
Moving day had no torrors for tholr kind
of housekeeping. Tills wns fortunate, as
thoy moved every ton days or fortnight.
All that wns to bo dono was to collect tho
hammocks and chairs from outsldo, haul
In tho dotaclmblo porches and platforms,
order up n Iocomotlvo and proceed. Al
ways they roado it a point to stop within
plpo rench of good water. Somotimos thoy
shot squirrels from tho roof of tho houso
or bagged an occasional partrldgo from tho
parlor window, nnd it was seldom Unit
thoy couldn't got trout and bass within
walking distance. Vogotablo supply was
not qulto so slmplo n matter, and tho most
ordinary groceries often monnt miles of
travel. Hut thoro was gouornlly a Iocomo
tlvo within call, and whoever happoncd
to bo running tho household affairs at tho
ttmo could sond for tho engineer nnd glvo
orders for I ho day.
"John, plcnso tnko tho dining room u
to Orldgovlllo nnd try to got n barrel oi
potatoes and somo onions. And bo suro to
bring It back In tlmo for dlnnor."
Dally cxistenco under such circumstances
was a sort of picnic, but if nny t.peclal
picnic wns on hand thoy took tho homo
right along, Instead of havln.j to leave
homo to reach tho sccno of tho festivities.
Tho population of tho homo on wheels
vnrled greatly during tho tlmo of Its oc
cupancy. At ono tlmo thero worn nearly
forty occupants, Including guests. At pres
ent tho family Is a small ono, but ono moro
big gathering will proDably bo held boforo
tho railroad Is finished, nnl tho Houso Mi
gratory Is resolved Into Its original olo
monts, consisting of flvo condemned freight
cars.
Example of Law's Delay
One of tbo llnest modern Instances cf tho
law's delays and tho general crassucsu cf
officialdom Is furnished in tbu enso of one
Mr 1 1 hew llutchlngs, which came up bnforo
tho court of probate lu London, tho othor
day. In tho year 1800 tho llrltlsli man-of-war
Husy foundered with all hands on
board while ou a voyage from Halifax to tho
West Indies. Among tho crow wns tho
acting-master, Matthew llutchlngs. At tho
date of tho disaster a sum of 135 wns
standing to his credit with tho admiralty,
and so it might havo stood forovor had not
his next of kin discovered tho fact exactly
eighty yonrs aftur tho disaster. Still, It
was no simple matter to get tho money. A
correspondence with the admiralty followed,
which lasted thirteen years from 1886 to
189U. At length tho admiralty thought that
thoy saw tholr way to pay out tho money.
Hut hero tho court of probate Intervened.
True, tho man must by this tlmo havo
been about 110; but thero wus tho loading
cuso of Methuselah, and evidence of his
denth must bo procured. This has Just been
dono to tho satisfaction of tho Judge, and
thcru is now somo prospect of tbo heirs
getting tholr money In n year or two.
Explaining Things
Indianapolis Press: "What Is this here
diplomacy?" asked tho grocery loafer.
"It Is like this hero," said tho grocer.
"For Instnnco, If I wanted to call ycu a
liar I'd Jlst do so right out, but If I wanted
to bo diplomacy I'd go at It sorter round
about nil JIb' sny to tho Burrnundln' air
that whllo I wasn't nnmln no names, I
rcely did bollovo that a certain red-nosed,
squint-eyed cuss that bad et at least tin
pound of my host chceso without payln' n
cent wns not so koorful with tho truth as
ho ortor bo. Seo?"