Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1883-01-31
For the Republican
GOTHAM GOSSIP.
NEW YORK, January 23d, 1883.

Rapid Transit problem which is growing
to be a very important question. Ar
Elevated Road come ing the East River
bridge with the more distant parts OF
Brooklyn is inevitable, but after the ex-
pe,ence NV York has had and is still
having with her elevated roads, it Is quite
natural that the authorities are looking
very carefully before they leap. Mayor
! Low is at present considering several pro-
positions. One of them is that the city
| should own all the rapid transit lines and
lease them to individuals or corporations
for operation Mr.. Corbin of Manhattan
! Beach fame, the President of the LonI
! Isl n Railroad, has submitted plan,
the most prominent feature OF which is
that it acknowledges a Drimu fuCje right
of property owners whose lands may sut-
! fer, to lay claim to damages The ObjeC-
ton to this project Is the extreme dIlficul
ty of properly appralsing and adjusting
the damages that will be claimed. 5ey-
eral other schemes and propositions
are under consideration but these two are
the leading ones. Mayor Low, who is q
very active and clear headed man j. de-
votlngSall his spare time to this question,
and he seems determined not to be hustled
into decision by the urgent necessity
OF establishing some meats OF quick trans
pOrtatlOn,
Investors and speculatorS who placed
large sums OF money IN the hands OF
builders Tor the purpO,e Uf re ting vast
apartment houses, arc beginning to feel
uneasy. A reaction has set in in the
universal desire to live III them, and
should this turn out to be more than a
momentary feeling, the crash which will
| bring down large spectators will be
heavier than the awful real estate col
lapselof some years ago. Wien first these
houses were startei tney proved a good
investment. People were glad to have
all their rooms on one floor, to have ac-
cOmodatOns and cOveniences which they
could not enjVy In private houses without
additional servants, and to enjoy the nov
city of Joining the comforts OF home
with some OF the advantages of a hotel.
Then everybody who had money to in
vest put it in apartment houses. and spec
/ ulatiVe bullterS ran enormous risks in
/ bui ing such ilaVanSlrIeS by tens and
tweulies and in some cases 10y titties. But
the risk WAS crowned with success These
houses we've built to a height of five, six
an seven It )rie>; they were furnished in
Tie most elaborate style, provided with
every modern convenience, and given
high sounding attractive names Apart
ment houses became the fashion, and tie
rents aske and given were enormous.
( The building Of So many of them. how
ever, brought rents down, but even now
money invested III them brings from TO
to 10 per cent. per annum. an enormous
Interest when one can obtain but per
cent. Tor money loaned on first class bonds
snd mortgages.
And is all this to be changed? 1t is a
we'll known fact that frequently the small
est CAUSES frequently bring about the
greatest resu | met prominent real
estate man the other day IN Broadway.
He seemed to be very depressed. Sid
he 'ttlat destruction OF the Newball
House Miwau>e by fire, and the sub
sequent hotel fires have had a bad, d very
bad effect. People who i've in tall houses
ami particularly those WHO occupy upper
fl its nave got scared. Our janitOrs say
SO, and | know hotel clerks can hardly
get guests TO 90 ABOVE the second floor
If only this thing bad not happened so
near May" ana he walked away in a
very thoughtful mood. After all this
NAV only be a mumentary scare but
SHOULD few more fires of the kind allud-
ed to occur there will be "a general exc
/ dus to suburban places and property on
/ Long Island Brooklyn, Jersey City,
/ Westchester County, and other COntlgu-
/ Gus places will advance according ly.
/ Like dutiful chronrlel of MetrOp0il-
tan events, attended the annual mas
ouerade ball of the Cercle Francias de L
Harmonic, the French Ball." as it is
generally termed, at the Academy of Mu-
sic last evening. As usual the adjoining
Nilsson and Irwin Halls were pressed in
to service to accommodate the thrOng. AS
was to be expected the crowd was great
but everybody WAS more or less bored.
| There were the usual horde of giddy
wOmen-mostIv French-in the feshliest
OF feshy Ito use an Oscar Wildism) cos
tune, but somehow there was but little
life in them. Perhaps they were willing
to be lively, but our policemen are perfect
ceberi of morality and propriety, and
therefore the wild, weird abandon which
the cOnsumpiive youth OF the yardstlck
and the curious old boy from the rural
dl.trict expected to find, shorn by its alb
sence. There was less ornamentatiOn Of
the ball room, sad absence of carnival
istic pageants, and a deplorable absence
Of novel and pretty fancy costumes. The
domino seemed TO be all prevalent. The
most notable costumes were those of two
magnificent wtmen who symbolized
night and morn NJ. Night wore black
silk bodice and tights, and over this a
black silk tunic, short in frCnt and trail
ing behind. The lady lad black hair
this was trimmed with strings of pearls.
Above her forehead she wore a large
massive gold crescent set with pearls.
Morning swas similarly attired except
that the materials of which her costume
was composed were pure white and her
ornaments were diamonds. These women
created genuine sensation, and they de-
served to, for a handsome picture de fam
tasie was sel,.om seen in ball room.
Insurance business of all kind has
been paying SO poorly that speculative
parties are branching out into new fields.
ynOnp the apDlicants to the State deDart