, 1884-12-16
BOSS OF THE FLAT.
A NEW STATE OF THINGS AND WHAT
IT ENTAILS.


ID w II UTUITU III H7TTT-TTTTTI UTTU
n resort to the hat-house system 50 long in
vogue In continental Europe. With this new
system has come among us a peculiar, n
unique, and an interesting creature, yariously
styled. according TO the section OF the city
and the magnitude OF the building over
which he ruigns. In vulgar pariance he Is
known as the boss OF the fat At times no
is called the ~janitor; indeed. that Is his
technical description. Vt others the more
modest term Of agent Is his distinctive APP
pellation. With his rooms in the attic,
where he can at once with the
Creator above and the creatures beneath,
the boss Of the fiat rules supromely, his sway
there h mono to dispute. He Is popularity
supposed TO know all about tho building,
wherein his word Is law. II tho roof leaks
he has TO see to II. He makes the allotment
Of bins In the cellar. To him Is conhded tho
care Of articles left for the various lodgonL
Happy is the boss I'm the summer time, for
10 him belongs the exclusive privilege Of tho
roof, where. with his family gathered about
him, he can smoke and take his ease as In bis
inn. In all well-reg1dated fiat houses tenants
are privileged with places In the cellar,
where they keep coal, wood, and surplus
provisions, such AS potatoes, apples, beets,
carrots, turnips, with now and then a leg OF
mutton. Suspicion hasn't MS yet dareI to
fasteu the hand OF fact upon the shoulder Of
the %Janitor. There Is no question that coal
disappears with marvellous rapidity in spite
OF the lock upon the bin. IL Is oven limited
that the deposit Of the niatutinal milkman Is
more aqueous after the pitcher has been do
posted for the ~janitor to send upstairs than
II was at first. In a thousand little WAYS the
boss draws to himself the comforts and even
the modest Injuries OF his tenan = existence.
All groceries left at the door are conhded to
his care, and II is astonis hing, the tenants
say, that short weight Is so prevalent, that
eggs are 80 often broken, that milk is so
watery, that sand is so generally detected In
sugnr.
A kind-hearted, good-natured boss can do
much toward alternating the discomforts
that necessarily attend the best regulated
fiat, and the power OF disagreeable function
resting In tho hands OF a tyrannicnl. moroso,
and obstinate %janitor is proportionally great
II would DO a mistake to suppose that ten
ants OF expensive flats are freed from the ter
rorism OF the boss Quite the contrary, for
while a few ounces Of coal would DO missed by
tho humble tenement house lodgor. IL would
DO no great feat for a competent janitor to
utilize a half ton OF the Goals from the rich
mana bin The highest priced flats, too, are
often out of order. The nues smoke, the
chimneys decline todraw, the elevator Is out
49, ~ wi NA21A y NIX AAIEu~
keys don't work, and all manner Of physical
Inconvenience occurs, necessitating the con-
slant coddling OF the chieftain aforcmen-
toned. In the lower and particularly in the
lowest range OF flats, for so all those tene-
ment houses In which the poor burrow cnd
the wretched herd may well be called, the
bossism OF the janitor Is literally a reign of
terror. This Is largely because he, as a rule,
is also the agent for the collection of rents.
There never was a time when II was con-
venient for tenants to pay rent the day 1t
was due. There certainly Is no such thing
known to-day, and 1t is doubtful IL this side
Of the millennium there ever will be. In
ability 10 pay rent when 1t is due puts the
tenant under obligation to the landlords
agent II the landlords agent is the janitor
OF the building, living there with his own
family, he becomes OF necessity at once q
representative Of law and order, Of brute
force, and master OF the situation. The first
thought Of the poor man in the morning is to
get out of the house without oncounterinR
the eagle eye Of the rent extortioner, and the
constant thought Of the hard working wife
and mother who remains at home with her
children, washing. cooking, drudging as best
she may, is how to manage the boss, when
mis- discordant knock is heard at the door of
her premises.
@aAAA1 AAAka 70 NAANAOh uHOu LuAn ~
with incidents, showing the huge proportions
which men OF vile nature assume under con-
ditions like these. Every sentiment looking
toward humanity, decency, courtesy, has
long since vanished from the breast OF such
as they. Cruelty, rapacity; rudeness. brutal
ity in every conceivable form, find their
amplest developments, when whole floors OF
families are literally at the mercy of the
whim and caprice and demand Of this class
OF man. This bossism permsates the jani-
tors entire family. His wife is the LADY, of
the house and his little ones are the children
Of the master" II complaint be made that
this, that or the other thing is mislaid, or
broken, or not delivered, or stolen with the
faintest intimation that the neglect Of the
~janitor brought about the discomfort i'll
feeling Is en~gendered, and sooner or later
when rent day comes around and the rent is
not forthcoming, a dispotsession warrant q
served, and the edict OF the boss must DO
oboyed. People living comfortably in their
own homes have, they think, trouble enough
with servants, with gas bills, with insufficient
supply Of water, with badly burning furn-
aces, with physical needs that mechanics,
however urgently pressed, are dlatory in al
tending to, but they know absolutely moth
ing Of the discomfort, the mental annoyance,
the irritability caused by a community OF
Aht't@1tf eoubht AOE uuucI circumstances
where diversity OF interest Is the mainsprinR
OF the action of every person in a crowded
house.
There are certain unwritten laws in these
tcnements which are universally recognized,
but which would not be executed wero 1t not
for the iron hand OF the aforesaid boss. For
Instance, the tenant OF the first floor, II there
be hut one, has charge OF the sidewalk In
front OF the house II there are several they
divide up during the week or week and
tUaaI about Tla Afntra 1n.Atu- - A. A.
above, and 10 on all the way up, are taken
tenants Of the floor to which the stairs
lead, each giving a weeks attention to thom.
This. one would suppose, would be a matter
OF pride, but, on the contrary, 1t is a matter
OF Sinking. aud nothing bit the most rigid
discipline OF q relentless master Is able to Sc
cure even common cleanliness and ordinary
dc tency In the lowest grade OF tenement In
fiat houses proper the janitor himself is SUPP
posed to take charge OF the lighting. clnan-
ing and presentablo appearance generally OF
the stairs and halls, the sidewalk and the
yard. 1T once the Possibilities rise before
The most casual observer. II tic jnnitor 10
neat, cleanly and orderly In his own habit
tho house will reflect the same. II, how-
ever, he be lazy, untidy, careless. tho house
becomes, no matter how Determined tenants
may be, u scene Of disorder AMI uncleanli-
ness. Hcro It is that complaint End it. bar
rier. The owner OF the property. ninety
nine times In a hundred, can never DO found.
Everything Is entrusted by him To his agent,
and by him, in turn, TO the janitor, who, b.
ing absolutely the confessional as well AS the
exocutanL may wnu be termed the abons of