Newspaper Page Text
omance th* baled 1
2j!B Houseboat So- J S
Nearandtet-Sofar
60 " '" www How Young Mr. Livingston
■ Jr.. Who Married His' Aristocratic Mother's Housemaid.
■[hors'Right Down in His Humble Craft in Newport Harbor and <
■aunts His Happiness Right Under Society’s Upturned Noses. vlW'l V '
Pxiled Livingston Mason Juniors sj| on their houseboat, right under the aristocratic cliffs of , 1L \ \
tor*. Society snubs them, holds up shocked hands, but CAN’T ignore them. The Masons are *, i 1 ' X -' U4 |b'' Jft F 1W /B
MKtfy hanny They have solved the problem of the high cost of liv.ng at Newport. 1 f^ 4 \ .-®fc ® /l) \ 1
■ a-■ ■ \ BL 1
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Ml is the romantic and thrilling tale
■of one Livingston Mason, of New
who ran away with Celia *
■ bis mother’s parlor maid, some
rB ago. Then, with his wife., he
K into Newport harbor, aboard a
anchored the boat in the river
right under the noses of his in
Mt family, and has lived happily (ami
ever since.
(.■Ljx years this tubby little craft, the
Kg, has been large enough for the
■ family, but now there is to be a
a more imposing vessel, atm
Mfestion now arises whether or not
boat will win any social recog
its owners The members of the
will net recognize the loving
Kb until they have been forgiven by
Hason family. Mrs Mason, senior,
Ki year after tbe runaway marriage.
Kid not. forgive her oldest boy
■ home of the Arthur Livingston Ma
Knn Halidon Hill, overlooks the liar
■ outer bay. Every day. from her
room windows. Mrs Mason could
R°wn in the Atheling She would
■ defiantly anchored right in the
the million dollar yachts,
Kbw York Yacht Club ensigns.
Kbig black Corsair, flying J. Pierpont
burgee, frowned disdaintully on
Kuse boat 'with its turkey red cur-
■ its clothes lines flying the family
■ and its domestic atmosphere. The
■mte. Electra, with Commodore El-
Gerry in«romuiand, hedged it in on
Kort side, and the North Star, the
Knnna vessel owned by Cornelius
■erbilt. and managed by Mrs. \ ander-
I manv times attempted to steal its
|h The little Atheling, squat, slow
■defiant, held its own against the mill-
■of dollars encompassing It about. It
K of domestic happiness, laundry soap
■ New England boiled dinners. It is
■triumph of love over wealth
lx y<: s a ?° ,he bis tua ” slfln 0,1 Halt
I Hill was epared for the Mason fam-
L A large force of servants was sent
|L from New York It was to be a
■ gay season, for the Masons had a
■ty daughter. Marguerite, to entertain
Kind an eligible elder son to marry off
Fservants 'prepared the house for the
■lv but before their arrival the parlor
t hastily discharged herself. A new
| had to be secured on the spot, and
■ty Celia Brown, of Newport, was on
udia was as trim and pretty as any
ze maid She was witty, too. The
illy arrr ed with their trunks, their
rel« their pet dogs and their social
_ ’ Mrs Mason noticed the new par
maid and while she approved her. said,
fear she is too pretty
falia in a trig black frock and dainty
!>nd apron, served tea "I know she
» pretty, ' said Mrs Mason, but she
Tinly is' a jewel."
®w a Newport season is a strenuous
itter' Mrs Mason was a v<*ry busy
L on She bad much to do. aside from
L Newport plans She was president
Society of Colonial Lames, of Rhode
■nd and an officer of many other as
■ati’ons. Then she had to marry oft
Kgston. Jr., and carry on a huge
HLpondence with the War Department
. by the departmen’ dm ma
&h wa: Anii !n
‘C Kk/l'ing :1 !,t '
PyTylL th iik aboir
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Thames street, near an old dock ®
"Let’s go down and watch the boats. .■
said the bold Livingston. They went r -—— ,
They returned to Thames street, with ""it fr <B
smiling faces and the elopement plans alt
“lade.
Livingston did not take his family Into T'r Z /
bls confidence He knew better. Ils pa f ■■■ Qi»'fo’lt t» ’’Ml
rents had other plans for hm He was i f- ’Wt
to marrt Into the Circus Set. preferably j ty > .<
a girl with millions Mrs Mason had a ' wllw. -i i' f
s < arefully compiled list of eligibles There 1
wa Mice tlrosvenor. w iih one million after ■Sit' T ‘
name Gwendolyn Burden, with one '-'~X CfeirC.c
and a half millions after tier name, md tf©.■ >, c ~
Laura Swan, with a question mark ~mtMjb W* *
There were girls who were older than , gF’ *
Livings! . and girls who were younger. EF '■
but they were all eligible in Mrs Mason's Wr e>
eyes Livingston liked them. too. lie W -y- "
m to play tennis at the Casino with ™ By * ViO W IhßmmK
Cynthia Roche before Arthur Scott Bur 9 wR L X
den interfered He went driving quite I ' 3r 1 EmS™
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The Beautiful Mrs. E. .y. Brooks, Who Has Unsuccessfully Carried the Olive Branch to the Houseboat.
_ Jb •_
Young Mrs. Livingston Mason, Jr,, and
Their Houseboat Baby.
constantly with Alice Roosevelt wl ? e °
! she was visiting the Ogden Mills that
Summer He went from dinners to
dances, from luncheons to flirtations; he
led the life of the usual Newport mascu
line butterfly. There were at least eight
fair damsels who confidently expected to
become Mrs. Livingston Mason before the
year closed.
The Mason family discovered the
idyl and. dear me. what a fuss there was
on Halidon Hill! Mrs. Mason stopped in
the midst ,pf her social career and dtSr
charged Celia Mr. Mason took a day off
nd lectured Livvy The air overhanging
Halido. Hill was blue. Livingston and
Celia were also blue.
Lvingston rejected all invitations and
shut himself up in his rooms 'lhe eight
fair damsels who had had expectations
thought he was ill and sent him flowers
and notes He threw the flowers out ot
the window and tossed the notes into the
waste basket. For days life was a dire
tragedy under the Mason roof.
Then one morning Livingston did not
• ring to ha his breakfast served in his
room A search resulted in the discovery
that he had flown There was nothing io
he done He was of age and had money
enough to live on. That night a telegram
arrived, announcing his marriage to Le ts
mears and lamentations on Halidon Hill.
No one heard anything of Livingston.
Jr for several weeks He made no de
mands on his father for money He did
not need to. But he could by no means
support a Newport menage
“We will never see Mr. Livvy any more.’
sang Newport. But hist! Young Mr.
Mason was clever. His mother was clever,
too She invented a wonderful shade tor
our navy hospital ships that was used suc
cessfully during the Spanish war and she
also invented a flannel band that has
saved many lives in the tropical climate of
Cuba and the Philippines. Livingston, Jr.,
did not follow in his mother’s footsteps.
He merely invented a cheap way of living
in Newport!
One day Mrs Mason looked out from'"
her boudoir windows in the blue waters
of the harbor she saw the Corsair and
said, “Ah, Morgan has come in port to eat
his famous lobsters.’ She saw the Nour
mahal, the big three-masted yacht flying
Colonel Astor's colors. She saw millions
of dollars floating on the water in the form
of yachts And then she saw’ a chunky
object, white and red. sluggishly moving
in toward shore This chunky craft
dro ped its anchor right under the Mason
windows! Its owner stepped on deck and
Mrs. Mason would have fainted had she
not been the daughter of a soldier and
the descendant as Colonial Governors and
revolutionary fighters. She looked again
and then saw the all too-pretty Celia also
on deck. The houseboat Atheling had
solved Livingston. Jr.’s, problem of living!
It was near the close of the season.
Newport was at its gayest. The news of
th' - houseboat's arrival flew through town.
The eight deserted damsels hurried down
to the harbor to view the sight. The
mothers of the Circus Set hurried to
Halidon Hill to sympathize with Mrs.
Mason.
But the happy lovers on the houseboat
cared little for the damsels or the moth
ers They were outrageously in love. They
sat on the deck and billed and cooed in
daylight and dark. The Circus Set spoke
to Liwy when he strolled down the ave
nue, but d ’ not call on his wife. Oh. dear
ro
Young Mr. Mason stayed on his house
boat practically all Winter. Mrs. Livvy
war happy, even when ice filled the outer
bay. The Masons made overtures to Liv
vy. but he said. “Take me, take my wife”
Each Spring since their marriage the
young Masons have anchored their house
boat in the harbor. Celia the second V
a big girl now, five years old. She caif>
row with one oar. swim and dive like a
fi h. She hardly ever puts her foot on
shore She is a modern water baby
Celia's parents are as- much in love as
when they ran away. They have only one
ret .one sorrow —their houseboat must
be replaced. They are outgrowing its
chunky dimensions. A new one has been
ordered, but it may not be finished this
year
The death of Mrs. Mason senior within
two years of the elopement did not soften
the hearts of any members of the family.
The .Mason family in Newport is a largn
one. There are the John J Masons and
Miss Ellen Mason, who are connections.
Last Summer the Masons entertained
.Mrs. E. H. Brooks, a very beautiful young
Southern woman Mrs. Brookg had heard
the story of the houseboat and its exiles,
and felt sorry for them. One day she
slipped away from the Mason’s haughty
chaperonage and wandered harborward.
The boat was near shore. She got a boy
to row her out and clambered on decku
The Masons were at home. And whaj
happened The beautiful Mrs. Brooks di J
covered that the Masons did not want ■
be recognized by Newport! They nej
no. unhappy' They were disgracefuß
bappv and sufficient to themselves. r
like their life, they only stay in Newiß
harbor because they like it and
Livvy is too good a fighter to run awaß
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