St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1879-05-02
Our New York Letter.

PICTURE-A PALATIAL TENEMENT
COSTLY LUxURY-CURRENT EVENTS.
NEW YORK, April 25, 1879.
To the Editor of the CaledOniam
The increasing success of the rapid
transit lines in New York proportion
ately increases the appIehensions OF the
Jerseyites, to whose alarm lest they
should lose the best class of their popu-
lation, referred in a previous letter.
A conference was held in Newark this
week, presided over by the Mayor OF
that malarial burgh, and attended by
representatives of the many railroads
interested in the carrying of New York's
suburban population, at which the
threatening danger was frankly recog-
nized and proposition discussed to
make a sweeping reduction in fares
over all these lines to stem the dreaded
exodus to Manhattan Island. Some
such step as this will doubtless be taken,
and it will be piece of poetic justice
as magnificent as it is rare for the
avariciOus fears of dozen wealthy cor
porations to be the means of securing
substantial benefits to a large and long
suffering public. U
The new accessibility of the upper
part of this island, which these elevated
roads have brought about, and which
they will ultimately perfect, causes a
novel interest to attach to large area
about Central Park, which in spite OF
the fact that it lies almost at our very
doors is as thoroughly terra tncOgnita
to nine hundred and ninety-nine cut
of every thousand New Workers as
Kamschatka or Patagonia. West of the
Park, where it needs no prophet to
foretell the growth of serried ranks of
brown-stone fronts within the life of
the present generation, is at present
tract of land hundreds of acres in eX-
tent, which has for years been given
over to the occupancy of a ''squatter"
population. speak of this region as
Gland" by courtesy only. In point OF
fact it is one dismal waste of barren
and broken rocks with only here and
there an oasis of mould big enough fer
a modest potato patch. No decent
structure is anywhere visible nothing
but One-stOry shanties built of refuse
boards, ricketty sheds perched up on
the boulders with roofs only about half
covered with bits of waste tin and refuse
felt roofing. Paint is a stranger to this
neighborhood, and window glass exists
for the most part only in shattered
condition. These shanties contain one,
two or three rooms, and each shelters
a family more or less numerous
ly more-t together with its proper feudal
appendages in the way of pigs, goats,
chickens and less useful domestic ami
mails.
Many of the residents of this queer
locality live in voluntary or involuntary
idleness, while others are hard working
people who have some trade by which
they earn scanty subsistence. Ash
collectors, bone pickers, junk dealers,
oil peddlers, garbage men and street
scavengers are among the number. For
the most part the squatters are Germans
and Irish, and only occasionally is one
of another nationality or a negro family
found. Here and there is little plat
of garden vegetables, which somehow
seem to be preserved from the vandal-
ism one would naturally expect in such
a place. The community is complete
in itself, having its tailOrs, shOemakers,
grocery stores and saloons all within its
own confines. AS may be imagined,
the cost of living in this region is not
extravaganza. | should Judge, from my
own rather cursory observation, that
the average income of one of these
tnr 70
or four dollars week, but venture to
say they are full as happy as some
other Gothamites whose outer cOndi-
ton offers a striking contrast to their
own.
Such, for instance, as those who in
habit our very "swellest" apartment
houses, and who, by reason of their
wranglings and scandals are frequently
brought into unpleasant prominence, a
result possibly of the unnatural glitter
and flash amidst which they live. The
tendency toward increasing gorgeous
ness in these rapidly multiplying tene-
ments has at last brought the most eX-
pensive among them to an absurd pitch
of gaudy luxury. There is one such
house on Fifth avenue, the proprietor
of which testified in n recent lawsuit
that it cleared him $4,000 during two
of the least profitable months of 1878.
A few months ago | saw a full descrip-
ton of this luxurious establishment,
from which | cut out few particulars
to preserve as curiosity.
From this account it appears that the
furniture and pictures in the general
parlor of the house cost $4,000.
Throughout the building satin is the
favOrite material for upholstery, while
the floors are marble mosaic, covered
with thick Turkish rugs, and the cell
ings deeply paneled, and covered with
gold and frescoing in every nook and
corner. The following is the descrip-
ton given of the elevator of this struc-
tuIe: "Of course there is an elevator,
for the building is nine stories high
And the elevator is bit of thing out
of fairy land. Its four delicate walls
are covered with shining mirrors, the
joints concealed with narrow strips of
pink velvet. From the roof hangs
chandelier composed of thousand
pieces of sparkling glass, tinkling with
the motion, and sending their bright
reflections everywhere. The young gen.
tleman who operates this gorgeous ma
chine is dressed in swallow tail coat,
white tie, hair parted in the middle,
low shoes and black kid gloves. He
looks nice enough for Grand Dukes
ball, but he smells of hair Oil.n
Your readers will hardly need to be
told that it costs something to live in
this place. One suite of four rooms
costs its occupant $240 per week, while
another somewhat larger though higher
up, was leased for ten months by a
gentleman presumably more richly en-
dOwed with money than brains, for
$4,000. In each of these cases the
price named was for room rent only.