The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1874-04-30
Arc May Movings N American Mali
a0yt

adys
malsdy may be defined as ga disease pro-
ceeding from impaired, defective or morbid
organic functions" In one OF these respects,
at least, our annual May movings are malady.
1t is the disease in the organic functions of
the American housekeeper which morbidly
causes him to move once in twelvemonth.
Not more certain are the focks of wild geese
from the south to seek the frozen north about
this time than is the average American family
to hurry away to a new abode. though only in
the next block or the next street, on May day.
The new house is often not SO good and sell
dom so cheap as the old one but, unlike the old
one, its merits and faults remain to be tested,
and there.seems to be q pleasure in making
the experiment for at least three-fourths
OF our housewives. Nothing can be more
trivial than the reasons which generally in
fuence people to change their abodes. The
bedroom windows in the Mansard elevation
are SO high that the poor relation, full of
complaints, but without money or energy to
get work, is unable to see what passes on the
sidewalk below. The bedrooms are cramped,
by excess OF useless furniture. The parlors
are too small as double rooms and too large
with the separating doors unhinged. The
stairways are too narrow or too steep. Even
the location of the Croton in the kitchen, or
the situation of the coal hole is matter of
the utmost gravity. If no other excuse for
removal can be found it may be looked for in
the quality OF the doorknob. Though the
next house may be in no better repair and is
more expensive, it is in better neighbor-
hood, or little nearer to the Office or the
theatres or Broadway or has some other
imaginary advantage. LII another year, how
ever it is found to be even worse than
the first house-the poor relation has
been compelled to take back room, more
furniture has been put into the bedrooms
or there is no coal hole ut all-and SO
there is another removal, with its discomforts,
and loss OF temper, and breakase, and expenses
and increased rental. And so rents 60 up and
people in moderate circumstances GO down.
till at last the luxury of ''whole house is
exchanged for French fat and then the fat
fades away into apartments in a tenement
The waste and extravaganza Of frequent re-
movals have had more to do with these
changes in circumstances than the victims
suspect; but there seems to be no help for
them, for May movings are malady for which
no remedy has yet been discovered The dis
ease Is in the blood Of our people, and blood
diseases are hard to cnre We are at once
gregarous and migratory. We live in herds
and fly away in focks. On May day we trans
fer our homes from one house to another. As
soon as the new house is comfortably arranged
we. run away from it for an uncom-
Portable room at a watering place hotel. In
September we come to it and undergo another
period of discomfort while it is put in readi-
ness for the winter. As soon as the carpets
are all down again and the fires brightly blaz-
ing we are off for what o too poetic imagina-
ton has called the orange groves OF Florida,
or seeking to extract delight iron the stale
pleasures of Havana. If we could all be
among the summer swallows, who fly to Eu-
rope as soon as the spring opens our May
moving malady would be all the more deli
cious, for then we would have no uses for
houses Of our own at all. As we cannot all
be summer swallows, let rs be as happy as we
can with our opportunities, and begin the
year of migration 1874-75 with another
grand exhibition OF our May day malady.