Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-01-04
BOSS OF THE FLAT.
A NEW STATE OF THINGS AND WHAT
IT ENTAILS.
The Little Joker Who Sand. Sugar Ma
nipuIstes Goals and Waters Milk
Certain Unwritten Laws Rec
ogniLei in Tenements-
Nav Work Herald I

The growth OF New Nork's population dur
ing the present decade has uecessitatei here
resort to the tiat-houSe system so long in
vogue in continental Europe With this new
system has come among us a peculiar, a
unique, and an interesting creature, variously
styled. according 70 the section of the city
and the magnitude OF the building over
which he reigns In vulgar parlance he is
known as the boss" of the fiat At times he
is called the janitcr; indeed, that is his
technical description. At others the more
modest term of agent is his distinctive ap-
pellation. With his rooms in the attic,
where he can at once commune with the
Creator above and the creatures beneath,
the boss Of the fiat rules supremely, his sway
there is none &c dispute. He is popularity
supposed to know all about the building
wherein his word is law. If the roof leaks
he has to see TO it He makes the allotment
of bins in the cellar To him is confided the
care Of articles left for the various dodgers.
Happy is the boss in the summer time, for
to him belongs the exclusive privilege Of the
roof, where. with his family gathered about
him, he can smoke and take his ease as in his
inn. In all well-regulated fiat houses tenants
are privileged with places in the cellar,
where they keep coal, WOOD and surplus
carrots, turnips, with now and then a leg of
mutton. Suspicion hasn't as yet dared 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 1t is even limited
that the deposit Of the matutinal milkman is
more aqueous after the pitcher has been de-
posted for the janitor to send upstairs than
Gx--t In, I. .t,
boss draws to himself the comforts and even
the modest luxuries of his tenants existence.
All groceries left at the door are confided TO
his care, and it is astonishing the tenants
say, that short weight is SO prevalent, that
eggs are so often broken, that milk is so
watery, that sand is SO generally detected in
sugar.
A kind-hearted. gooi-natured boss can do
much toward alleviating the discomforts
that necessarily attend the best regulated
fat. and the power of disagreeable function
resting in the hands of q tyrannical morose,
and obstinate ianitor is proportionally great.
II would be mistake to suppose that ten
ants Of expansive flats are freed from the ter
rorism of the boss Quite the contrary, for
while few ounces Of coal would be missed by
the humble tenement house lodger, it would
be no great feat for a competent janitor TO
utilize a half ton of the Goals from the rich
mans bin The highest-priced flats. too, are
often out of order. The fiues smoke. the
chimneys decline to draw. the elevator is ont
of order, the electric bell doesn't ring, latch
KEYS don't work. and all manner of nbysical
Inconvenience occurs, necessitating the con-
slant coidling Of the chieftain aforemen-
toned. In the lower and particularly in the
lowest range of flats, for SO all those tene-
ment houses in which the poor burrow snd
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 q time when it was con-
venient for tenants to pay rent the day it
was due. There certainly is no such thing
known to-day, and it is doubtful IL this side
of the millennium there ever will be. In
ability to pay rent when it 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 c
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 encountering
the eagle eve of the rent extortioner, and the
constant thought of the hard working wife
and mother who remains at home with her
children, washing. cooking, drudgiuy as best
she NAV, is how to manage the boss. when
his discordant knock is heard at the door of
her premises
Volumes might be written u,on this noint
with incidents showing the hugo nrorortions
which men of vile natIr. assume nnde- con.
d;t;ons ill., tb.s, Ey.r,- .o,,,i,,,a,,t Io,,.;,,.
,a,,,.r5 h,,n,a.,t,, sen.,,,. na,,-. t-s
ooNe.S, eoui 'e>y, has
WIZ siii0e sHii,sned rum 'ne oieas' Vi sun
is euey. Srueity, rapacity, ruoeness, Drutai-
ity IN every conceivable form, hnd their
nplest Developments, when whole floors of
-amilies are literally at the mercy of the
yhim and caprice and demand of this class
,f man This boSsism narma,t.,s the i.ri-
go a,,,;r. t.,,;Ir u;s ,,;f. = -, 81 ~ =,
-. -. .,..., -, te = 'ue tauy oi
'ne nouse alo n.s niue ones are tne cnlloren
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 int nation that the neplact Of the
ianitor brouob, shou. tho 1isco,rfor+ IN
80, :. .,,-a,,so.I -
-, -, ae :, -, - -
"hel rent oay ooiies aiound anu Tue rent Is
not forthcoming, dlspossesslon warrant Is
served, and the edict of the boss must be
obeyed- People living comfortably in their
own homes have. thew think, trouble enouph
with servants with GAS hills with insuf,icient
,,,,,,,,,- :. -, - IL, h,.;- -.
supp -, "i'a oaiy oui iiiis iuih-
aces' VIII physicai heeos mat nechanlcs,
however urgently pressed, are dilatory In al
tending to- but they know absolutely moth
ing Of the discomfort, the mental annoyance,
the irritability caused by a community of
interest. sought for under circumstances
where diversity of interest is tba mainsnIing
of tbe action OF every u.rson in crotydaS
bouse
Tharo .r. oo-+oi, ,,rv,r;,,.r I.ys IN .b.,.
.,,,a,.o,,. ,,t;I - - ,;,'rIi ,.oil;S ~
49, .bich ,'n,'Id nr, t rar',t.J 49,, ,,u,
-, IT, -, Sa,,t -, tic oIorsSaid - - L. e.
instance, the tenant of the first floor, if there
be but one, has charge OF the sidewalk IN