tchy Room

aron Von Lodge was the head of a small country known as Lilliland near Switzerland. The time was the early 1900s.

The Baron often had visitors at Lilliland Castle. The castle had many fine guest rooms and they were all given attractive names. One room was called the Rose Room, another the Lilly Room, and still another was the Lace Room. One room had two names; it was officially called the Room with a View, but the staff nicknamed it the Itchy Room. It received that name because every overnight guest who stayed in the room would complain the following morning that they itched.

When the Baron heard about the Itchy Room problem, he simply said that the room should not be used until the cause of the itching problem was solved and removed.

One day, many weeks later, a guest of the Baron asked to stay in the Room with a View. The Baron immediately requested the room be prepared and the itchy problem solved and removed.

The staff took all the furniture out of the room and had it completely stripped and varnished. When the varnish was dry all the original furniture was brought back to the room. A staff volunteered to stay in the room that night and the following morning the itch problem still had not been solved. The new varnish had not solved the problem.

Next, all the furniture was again removed to the woodshop and cleaned and polished. The volunteer again slept in the room and again had the itch in the morning. The window drapes were removed and completely replaced. Still the itching was reported the following morning.

Finally, the mattress was removed and replaced. The volunteer was delighted to report that the itch was gone. An inspection of the mattress found that a nest of ants running from the flowerbox in the window of the Room with a View was the cause of the problem.

The Baron was very pleased that the itching problem was solved. His guest arrived and had a wonderful stay in the Room with a View.