Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-05-16
Life IN a Flat.
Some of the mysteries as we'll as n

Some of the mysteries as we'll as mis-
cries of life in a fashionable apartment
house have been made public in the
story OF the binding ana gagging OF
Miss Harvey in the Sloane flats, at
Broadway and Thirty-second street.
The testimony of her negro a%ssailant, to
the effect that he had been domiciled in
the servants room for three days, re-
calls similar revelations by lola in
reference to the styl sh apartment
houses of Paris, and lends pecul AT en-
phasis to the imported title applied to
the New York tenement houses of a
fashionable grade, viz: French flats.
Apartment-house life in New York is a
modern method of living, and its
peculiarities would surprise the people
of other cities who have not yet been
crowded into such a way of living. In
the first place it banishes the idea OF
home. AS in the French language
there is no word significant of nome IN
its English sense, so in the French flat
there is no need OF room for such q
word. People only eat and sleep there,
and, indeed, do not always eat where
they sleep. They occupya corner Of
an immense caravansary, quite as pub
lie as a hotel, but cheaper and less ex.
acting in the matter of perpetual dress
inc for meals. They neither know nor
care who may be living under the same
roof and in contiguous rooms. Money
is the broad certificate of responsibility
which opens the front doors of the
''palatial apartment-house to its
''guests," and money is omnipotent.
Clrgymen, gamblers, brokers, grass
widpws, adventurers Of all sorts --alfmay
find shelter there if they a pay in adj
vanEe for rooms and keep up the pay
men It's promptly. People who have
morley and want to enjoy life secure
apartments in a fashionable quarter,
boalll their horses at a livery, dine at a
restaurant, and proceed to enjoy life
without it's troubles. Perhaps they do
enjoNdivesting themselves Of the cares
as well as the comfort of a home, BUTT
is a sad thing for their children, if they
have any. The young people grow up
without the restraints as well as the ten
der, loving atmosphere of a home; they
make all sorts of acquaintance in the
halls and on the stairways OF the vast
hOoO oibo CulOO1S INCuCS vi Utility ldulI-
lies, and they understand the mysteries
Of life before their parents realize that
they have fairly outgrown the limits of
the utsery and school. That possible
ties of vice and crime may be presented
to their eyes is seen in the story of
apartment-life tragedy with which the
newspapers have been ringing this
week. A dear price is paid for the hole
in-the-c corner pretense Of a home. Tene-
ment- house rooms-or, rather, suites OF
rooms rent for $40 a month down;
French flats range from $40 to $50:
apartnent.house suites range from
$1,000 to $4,000 or $1,000 year, &C
cording to the style of the structure and
proximity to fashionable avenue. The
cheapest garnet in one of these fash
ionable dens will bring 500 a month
and people will pay it, and go hall
hungry rather than remove out of 60
ciety's limit. It is a wretched sort Of
life for all concerned, and society real.
ICES it by finding that the dollar is
mighty beyond family lineage, reputa.
ton, or brilliancy of intellect.-M. Y
(O2.. PaInHeLnhIn Rocor1