Tuesday, July 29, 1952
Dear Andrew and John,
Sorry I couldn't get something off to you yesterday but with working for Doctor and cleaning things up in order to get over school the time disappeared. I guess I'd better tell you first about our tour of the house. When Mrs. B. told me Friday she would call on Sunday I thought she was going to put it off again; and more so on Sunday as it clouded up about midmorning and rained a little. But on the dot of twelve she 'phoned and only I talked with her and she agreed to meet us out there at 2:30. We left home at one so as not to take any chances and by the time we passed through town the sun was out and the weather as beautiful. Taking it easy I timed it out to the house in 1 hr. and 3 minutes. We were early so I also measured the distance to the church and school and it's a little more than the stone's throw I may have led you to believe. Its about the same distance as to St. Mark's but on the same Long Green Pike and sits back a hundred or so feet from the road. We went back to the house and parked out front till they arrived at 2:35. If time permits, I'll sketch a floor plan and put in one of your envelopes but this is the way it lines up. The porch is concrete or stone and is at street level. So is the entrance to the front door. Now the house is not on a grand a glorious scale for which we are happy; I mean by that the Inn, as it was called, was over 50 years old when Doctor bought it. But he has put in all hard wood floors and insulated it. The front room is maybe twenty two or three feet by about eighteen. If you come in the front door and walk straight ahead there are two large French doors with frosted glass. Opened, they make the front look larger and lead into the dining room. This is a strange sized room. It is about twenty some feet wide but only ten feet long or rather vice versa. It has a large buffet built in (probably part of the old Inn bar) with plenty of storage space. The main thing this room has to offer is the alcove on the south. There are two windows and it would make a perfect dining place for a small family but we intend to use the kitchen....which is nice and large. Mommie has her windows over the sink and built in cabinets. There is a Hotpoint electric stove with the automatic cooking features and on the opposite wall from the built in stuff, there is an arrangement for the washer which I will try to picture. It is about three times as deep as an ordinary sink and has separate hot and cold faucets and in our opinion is also very handy for washing dirty little ones. The back door goes one step down, I think, onto a cement patio--small---and then three more steps to the back yard which is wonderful. From one look, I'm a bit confused on the general makeup but I remember lattice work and an archway of wood and plenty of play space for the kids. There is a cement walk and a gate around the side and another walk straight ahead from the kitchen door which leads to the garage through another gate. The yard is fenced and then tree type hedges to a height of maybe ten feet have been allowed to grow over the fencing and three tremendous trees (oak I believe) provide shade and breezes. It is entirely grass covered even though the former occupants had 5 kids. The cellar, here we go again, has no inside the house entrance. There are steel doors on a concrete foundation and go down to a beautiful heating system. But the basement is only about as big as our kitchen at 25. In one corner is the three or four hundred gallon tank for the well water which is filtered and softened. The furnace is a good national Radiator special with a summer-winter oil hook-up. There is just oil for heating and electricity--no gas. To move on with the tour, there are doors out of the front room and midst room to a hall with plenty of closet space under the stairs and a small room which the former occupants used for a telephone booth complete with door. The stairs to the second floor lead to the bathroom on the right--built in tub with shower out of the wall, built in cabinet "for all of Ann's lotions and perfumes" and no plunger standing in the corner. There are two bedrooms on this second floor which was formerly the dance hall part of the Inn. They are not overly large as it would seem but more than enough room. Up again to the third floor, there is one large room, not all the way across both houses, but almost so. There is one nice little alcove with a built in book shelf. In the one closet there is a door which leads to the unfinished or storage part where they keep storm windows and other junk. Sunday was a warm day and walking from the third floor room to this uncompleted section was a noticeable change of about 20 degrees in temperature. So I hope you're back in time to help fix the place up for Christmas; better yet, I hope you're there for Thanksgiving dinner. Mrs. Burton called me this morning and said she's going out to the country today and will look around to see if she has a couple of old chairs and a couch which can be fixed up and donated. I think Ann 's pretty happy about it just as long as there is not too much interference from you know who. And I'm willing to go along just so they are satisfied. They have started to paint the downstairs again and are making everything white. I'm trying somehow to put across that we think everything is nice and much more than adequate but for you not to expect the smoothness of 20th Century design. Anyway, here's hoping things work out and we get rid of our present place. We received a nice letter from Schatz hoping the same before he gives up trying on August 24.
Now back to other news. Early Saturday morning Cousin Anna called and I answered, She was crying and said they had taken Cousin Claire to Bon Secours Friday night with pneumonia. I offered the car and she said she would be ready about 10:30. Stevie went to his morning nap and Arlene watched Mike and Kathy so Ann could go along. We found Cousin Claire in a private room with the window wide open and just a hospital gown on with her feet out. She said they had gone over her and didn't know what it was, but not pneumonia. While we were there she had a terrible coughing spell which continues, she says until chunks of something are expelled. We stayed till twelve and left Cousin Anna for the day. I called on Sunday, Monday and again an hour ago. Yesterday Cousin Ann was crying and said it was no better; that they had taken X-rays and tests and found nothing wrong but the coughing was making her so weak. They said it might be some kind of allergy from dogs or sheep. This morning Cousin Ann said she was somewhat better and they had her constantly inhaling the fumes of some electric device and would know more this afternoon. I offered to pick her up and bring her home this evening if nothing happens and will let you know the score in another day or so.
I filled in for Mrs. Brown again last week and didn't see much of home. There were only two classes on Tuesday and one on Friday but the staying around breaks up the night. Ann was disgusted with me because he pays according to classes and not nights and I agree it was not worth it, but I was helping Mrs. B. and not B. H.
Saturday night we saw three movies. To fill in time, ABC put on two shows - 8 to 9 and 9 to 10. The first was a mystery with unknown stars and 1935 vehicles and the second was James Dunn in another mystery titled, believe it or not, "The Luck of the Irish". The redeeming feature of both was that there was not a pause for station break or advertising in the full hour each ran. Then came the Gunther Playhouse which you may have seen: "Twin Beds" with George Brent, Joan Bennett, Misha Auer, Glenda Farrell, Una Merkel and Ernest Truex. We liked it. The rest of the week had been taken up with the convention, of which I saw a little bit on Wednesday. Last night, the summer Westinghouse Studio One was pretty good with "The Last Thing I Do" but the acting is way off from the pros.
A number of news dispatches have been issued on the violent rains you have been having. Another thing, I must have missed the Service Sun when they acknowledged your letter, Andrew. I don't know where they've been hiding it since I sent you that one clipping.
I'll drop you another note tomorrow or Thursday with at least the news about seeing Cousin Claire tonight.
END OF LETTER
Editor's Notes:
Charles works for Dr. and Mrs. Burton who have promised him the use of a larger house near their farms northeast of Baltimore. At one time the house was an Inn.
Charles also teaches nights for the Baltimore Institute - a business school.
Next Posting: August 1, 1952
Copyright 2012 Stephen A Conner
No comments:
Post a Comment