, 1884-08-20
TIE AMERICAN HOTEL
Where congregate the Disseminated
and Unthrifty.
Some Zig Ventures and Foolish In.
vestments in the Hotel Dusi-
ness-New York's Houses
summer Business.


IhhluH enquirer LcLlGf-l
Ths Amfr.cAn hotel is both the center and
the nuisance Of the town. Around the hote'
conrr gate all the disconnected people, tho q
who from various reafons AVE lost industry
for housekeeping and thrift for plain boa-d-
ing. They are like birds In a cage, always
tempting others TO come to the hotel TO liv',
and yet always e0sirous themselves TO get
back again to some substantial life. At the
hotel you not only get all the news, but al
the scandal. It becomes the snoozing and
boozing place for the young fellows around
the io~n. who there tell their cid stoT-ei and
cultivate tue barkeeper, and l have often OBJ
served that the bark scper Is tho favorit,
guest in the hotel You can zee young mill
ionalres or expectants that way, leaning ON
the bars telling tLeir private family lie t.
the bar-keeper. Liquor encourages ccnvivial
intercourse, and the bar-kecpor here silk
the bar-mAid In England-some one to make
love 70 when ali other socinl in ercourse L.
frustrated. The ~bar-keeper wears such a
aice white apron, such a spotless shirt, has
bis hair frizzed every morning, l. dainty
about his shoes, no juggles the crystal
glasses 50 deity that he would seem to be
what tho ladies call "such a refine man.
When a man has got a hollow stomach, look
pale and weak from his secret exc sea, an
has finally not much OF anything but a rot
address, insinuations and good suit Of cloihri.
he gets the 7 a ne of being so refined"
Some American towns are altogether in
ferior in the matter OF hotels, while others
are too well provided. There are a cool
many hotels in this country, with some great,
unwieldy, rickety old house put up in the
peculative day, too big to keep clean, II
furniture dropping TO piece, and still there
Is the elovntor running like the worm that
never dieth- When the cook Is underpaid,
the laborers mutinous, the chamber
maids ~insolsnt and the ceiling falling
down, you can depend Oh two thinGi
being steadfast, the ~barkeeper and the
elevator boy. They will ride you ur-
stairs, whatever else they may do u~njustly TO
you. Some OF our hotels, erected in the
proper manner to meet a real want, continue
I be profitable all the time. These are ofte'
fatal examples 20 multiply hotels where they
are not wanted The Fifth Avenue hotel /
New York produces a rent OF about S,50,0J
n year. It was built some time before the
rebellion. The proprietor had ready monry
and a good credit, and he bought a piece Of
ground hardly matched on the globe and put
up this fine house, and has always had re-
sponsible tenants, most OF whom have made
money.
Hotels require to meet n deInand rather
thnn to make one. Paran Stevens was the
most fortunate American hotelkeeper, te-
cnuse he knew the business and had capital
and credit at the very time when we were
stopping out in hotel enterprise, SO as to en-
counter n new wave in intercourse. Yet
Stevens made some foolish Investments. The
Victoria hotel, as 1t Is now called in New
York, was put up under the name Of the
Stevens house, to be a series Of apartment
residences. The ground and building cost
-. .-.t -. a. Enn mn e, 20 mn nm
and now it has had to be RACED TO be a regular
hotel at 10 much a day. l should think 1t i'm
possible that on such valuations as the above
it could make reasonable interest. The
Brunswick hotel, opposite the Victoria, has
been built up by q steward from the Hoffman
house. 1t cost a great deal Of money and
charges very high prices, yet several time.
has been in a hard condition from want of
real cash. The st. James, which Mr..
Sprague, formerly OF Cincinnati, and
Mr.. Conner. the theatrical man"ger
took together at a rent Of $1,000
higher than ever paid for tn, same property
before, has just retired Mr.. Sprague, who re
ceived, l understand, $4,000 from Mr.. Con
ner for his third interest in the lease. Thi,
property was built up by Walton In the day
when he was successful in betting. and prob
ably was worth TO him more than 70 any
OhAA1A pa N1as a = ~ CA9 "a - WI aHk~A1 ~
New York, but the rent Is too high The
great hotel called the Murray Hill house, pu
up by an omnibus man who had n fat TAXI
in Twecl's time, has cum a tenant, and &
about 10 be opsned. A large hotel is about
10 be erected at the Central PARK gates by q
combination Of builders, and, to show how
nothing goes smoothly in this world, thu
brickla. ers, etc, have just struck on all the,
buildings for shorter hours Of work, so tina.
the contractor are menanced with ruin O.
the ono side or short profits on the other.
The best summer business in his country
now is Of the cheap kind. There are but few
So hotels left any where for country boarders
The West End hotel at Long Branch gets s!
a day for some of its roomS but Saratoga
has been struck by a blizzard, and while there
are, perhaps, more people in the country this
year than l ever knew, they are nearly all al
the chea hotels Atlantic City and Asbur
Park are, perhaps, the two largest settlement
OF a summer character on the American
coast. and 10th are OF n cheap nature. Tho
average cottngo at Atlantic City probably
costs less than 90, coo. The best hotel, the
Mansion house, charges about SIS a week for
Loard. When we get the water all pumpe.
out Of this summer property they will b.
vcsy CAD to keep most OF these hotels for
$40 u day, which was considered a hig
price before the rebellion. At that figure !
stopped as late as 1859 at the bost hotels H.
New York city, and they made more money
tnan they do now at $3.50 a day.
Tho huge, overgrown hotels which were
built in wsr times at a high cost are, as a
rule, clos, d. The Stockton house, At Cape
May, cost the West Jersey railroad morp
than half a million dollars. 1t was built, like
many OF these hotels, TO draw railroad travel.
Labor at that time was IS and 80 a day. Last
year 1t lost Ss0,U o TO the railroad, which re
solved this year to shut it up, unless 1t could
earn something that would not come cut Of
the railroad dividends. Having failed to dc
80 It was closed at the MD lie of July. The
big hotel at R~ockaway built by Ben Smith
has never been opened at all The Coney
Island hotels have been doing poorly. BuI
the little houses run on moderate rates are
making n living, and that is about all tina
nature designs the average hotelkoeper Il
dc
The Honeymoon.