Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1883-02-02
NEW YORK GOSSIP.
INTERESTING NOTES OF DOINGS IN
THE METROPOLIS.
The "Flats" Becoming Unpopular-A
."PrOper" But Dull Masquerade-New
YOrk's Great Society Balls-HOw
They are Managed-A WOmen's In
surance Company.

They are Managed-A WOmen's In
surance Company.
Special Correspondence of the T1MEs.l
New YORK, January "A, 1888.
Investors and spectators who
placed large sums of money in the
hands of builders for the purpose of
erecting vast apartment houses, are
beginning: o;..feel uneasy. A reaction
has set in, in the universal desire to
live in them, and should this turn out
to be mo- e'than momentary feeling,
the erasff which will bring down large
SPECTATORS will be heavier than the
awful real estate collapse of some
years ago. When first these houses
were started they proved a good in
vestment. People were glad to have
all their rooms on one floor, to have
accommodations and convcniences
which they could not ENJOY without
additional servants, and to enjoy the
novelty Of joining the comforts of a
home with some of the advantages Of
a hotel. Then everybody with money
to invest put it in apartment houses,
and speculative builders ran enormous
risks in building such caravansaries
by tens and twentics, and in one or
two cases by fifties. But the risk
was crowned with success. These
houses were built to a height of five,
six and seven stories; they were fur
nished in the most elaborate style,
provided with every modern conve-
nience, and given high-sounding at
tractive names. Apartment houses
became the fashion, and the rents
asked and given were enormous. The
building of SO many of them, howev
er, brought rents down, but even now
money invested in them brings from
seven to fifteen per cent. per annum.
An enormous interest when one can
obtain but five per cent. for money
loaned on first class bonds and mort
Cages.
And is all this to be changed: 1t
is well known fact that frequently
the smallest causes bring about the
greatest results. | met prominent
real estate man the other day ii
Broadway. He seemed to be very
depressed. Said he, "That destruction
of the Newhall House, Milwaukee, by
fire, and the subsequent hotel fires
have had a bad, very bad effect
People who live in tall houses, ant
particularly those who occupy upper
flats, have got scared. Our janitor:
say so, and know hotel clerks car
hardly get guests to go above the sec
ond floor. If only this thing had MOI
happened SO near May!' and h,
walked away in very thoughtful
mood. After all this may be only ;
momentary scare, but should few
more fires of the kind alluded to oc
cur there will be a general exodus te
suburban places and property or
Long Island, Brooklyn, Jersey City
Westminster and other contiguou.
places will advance accordingly.
Like dutiful chronicler of met
ropoltan events, | attended the annu
al masquerade ball Of the Cercl,
Francois de Harmonic, "the French
Ball." as it is generally termed, at the
Academy of Music, last evening. A.
usual, the adjoining Nilsson and IT.
wing Halls were pressed into 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 hordes Of cidd,
women-mostly French-in the flesh
liest of fleshly Ito use an Oscar Wild
ism) costume, but somehow there wa
but little life in thom. Perhaps the,
were willing to be lively, but our pc
licemen are perfect cerberi of moral
ity and propriety, and therefore tn
wild, weird abandon which the con
sumptive youth Of the yardstick an
the curious old boy from the rura
district expected to find, shonc by it
absence. There was less Ornamental
ton of the ballroom, sad absence @
carnivalistic pageants, and deplora
BILE absence of novel and pretty fame
costumes. The domino seemed to b