The Last Driver of a Horse and Wagon Fire Engine

Monday, August 11

Dear Andrew and John,

Suppose I talk about something else than the house first. It rained from last Tuesday through Sunday afternoon and another storm Sunday evening but it stopped long enough Saturday morning for me to cut the hedge and get some of the weeds out. Mrs. Rinehart stopped and talked for a good fifteen minutes-first time she has said more than a hello. She told me she had heard from one or the other-or both of you and that her son, Dick, is out of the service and working for U.S.F.&G. in Philadelphia and how much he is interested in show business. She says he is 26 and I had thought him a lot older. For some strange reason she also told me she doesn't relish the single life and I don't if that's a hint she's getting married or perhaps moving.

Gid Smith died last Thursday and was buried on Saturday already. Bud came on and I saw him for awhile on Saturday afternoon. He is still in Fort Wayne and now has three children; looks good. They had column headlines-and two half columns in the Sunday Sun yesterday on Gid and discussed his being the last driver of a horse and wagon fire engine in these parts.

Saturday evening the Washington ball game cut out the two movies on WAAM we have enjoyed for the past few weeks so we switched to WMAR from 9 till 10:30 and watched the "Saturday Night Dance Party" with Jerry Lester. He is apparently the star and M.C. for the hour and a half show with different bands and acts each week. This week's orchestra was somebody called King Guyen. Maybe you've heard of him and maybe the spelling is wrong but the music was good; first set up I've seen with two complete drummers and their outfits. Another act was Paula You-Know-Who and the Modernaires; next week, Tony Pastor's music. Following that was the Gunther Playhouse with "South of Pago Pago"--Jon Hall, Victor McLaglen, Frances Farmer, Gene Lockart and someone I had almost forgotten but used to like, a gal named Olympe Bradna. The picture wasn't humorous but the comercials were. At the first break, Baxter Ward, the announcer, was out for a beer and we had three minutes of silence and a blank screen. For the second commercial the lamp in the projector blew out and you could hear the guy beating his brains out while somebody uncapped a bottle of warm beer. We stayed around all Sunday, too, for don't mention-it reasons and I saw part of Eternally Yours, with Loretta Young, David Niven and Broderick Crawford in the early afternoon but walked around the school with Mike while the second feature was on-Valerie Hobson in August Weekend. That was the uninteresting synopsis of our week-end between worrying.

Now to the house. As a continuation of whet I last told you, Ann called Schatz and asked him if we could be relieved of our contract and he thought yes, if agreeable with his brother. Ann said do it now and after two minutes of silence Schatz said how about waiting till Monday as they had ads in for the weekend. I said there was nothing in on Friday but there it was Saturday morning. After telling us on Friday he would try to get $7,300, the ad Saturday offered it at $10,500, which to us is further evidence he is trying to put it so no one wants it and yet try it himself at the low figure. At 7 o'clock Saturday evening right after baths, Mrs. Murphy, Schatz' sister, I believe, called to say she had some people who wanted to see the house in about 15 minutes. Ann and I tore around the house so that we haven't found some of the things we pushed out of sight. The prospects were a couple in their forties, or rather their father, who was with them. Before they left, Mrs. Murphy said he liked the place but wanted to show it to his wife today (Monday) or tomorrow. But we don't know what they offered it to them at or whether they let them know the price before or after they looked at it. We called Mrs. Murphy again yesterday but she had no further information. I picked up the Evening Sun this noontime and there was the ad again at $10,504--this time a little larger and differently worded. So where are we? We've been praying to St. Anthony like mad and I hope we're supposed to go through with this because at this writing, the suspense is terrific. The kids can sense the tension, too, and are much noisier than usual and I go to bed nights mentally beating myself for having pushed them around a little, a thing I never used to do.

With plenty of time over the week-end, I cleaned up Abe's typewriter and fixed the two keys that were only bent. Last Thursday when I worked with the Doctor, Mrs. B. told me to look up the price on a new Standard Royal for use out there so we'll have something available for your next play. Ann also had me go up to the front room with her and we decided Mrs. B. or no Mrs. B. we'd at least take the contents of your drawers and all the clothing with us. It was after we agreed on this that Virginia called to say she could put the stuff on hangers in one of their closets. Ann has washed a lot of the soiled stuff, little by little the past few months and I'm sure if we left the drawers filled, even though sealed, a lot of the stuff would be missing. As to the TV set, we were naturally going to take that along and knowing we have to have an aerial out there thought we could add a cheap set of our own if we have a few hundred left over, out with Mrs. B.'s dictatorial policy of telling us where we have to place each article of furniture, I think Ann already wonders if we have made the right choice, even as badly as she wants to get away from our present surroundings and not the house itself. I doubt if An told you about the antique table and chairs she took an option on thru her friends at the Penny Wise shop for a song. Mrs. B said no to the description Ann gave her (even though we were paying) and Ann had to cancel; next day a man bought the set for just twice what they offered than to us. The one thing Ann positively put her foot down on was when we were shown through the place and one of the bedrooms on the second floor was indicated for Ann and we were told she thought it a good idea to fix up a spot for me on the third floor. I naturally sided with Ann. Wait till you meet her; I think you'd like her but it's just that her way is the only way. So, w'll pack all the contents of the drawer in boxes to take with us and put in more moth protection. I notice that the box in John's metal wardrobe is only half empty. When I called Ann at noontime, today, Virginia had just come to collect the hanging pieces.

END OF LETTER

Editor's Notes:
Charles' family is moving from Catonsville. Charles' employers, the Burtons, have promised him the use of one of their houses in Long Green Valley.
Virginia is a friend of John's.

Next Posting: August 14 1952

Copyright 2012 Stephen A Conner