The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1888-06-29
\ AND DEMOCRAT BLOOMsBURG COLUMBIA COUNTY, PAL
LIFE IN A FLAT.
Trials and Tribuiatious OF People whe
Live In Bia A apartment Houses.

Trials and Tribuiatious OF People whe
Live In Big Apartment Houses.
Beyond, however, the merely construc-
tive faults lie the real causes for dissatls-
faction with life In flat They have no
resources. Tax them ever so little, they
cannot respond. Friends cannot be en-
tertainedi in them with any satisfaction;
to be sick in fiat intensifies every ache
and pain; there is not cheerful room in
the suite when the parlor is shut off and
one must lie in the small, not too airy
bed room, with all the varied sounds OF
not only ones own household but also OF
that above and below, distinctly and
severally audible to the weakened nerves
and tired or feverish brain. And II fiat
Ia no place to be sick, still less Is 1t
place to die. Grief there has neither
privacy nor sympathy. The mourning
pennant must hutter from the common
entrance door through which strangers to
the beloved dead indifferently pass; all
the paraphernalia Of death, the coming
and going Of the undertaken, the visits Of
condoling friends, and finally the last
sad bearing away, must be carried on
under the curious IL half concealed
scrutiny of the fellow tenants. A fiat
should be like heaven-there should be
neither sickness nor death, neither mar
rying nor giving In marriage, neither
births, feasts nor funerals, nor any sor-
row nor pain-not one, indeed, Of the
emergencies of life should be encountered
under its mongrel roof
There, too, are the children in flats,
"the pity of It, Iago," there are the chill
dren. 1t is a matter Of interesting spec
ulation to reflect what sort Of race be
developed from few generations OF fiat
children. Physically the child Of flat is
subjected to all sorts of restraint; the jan
itor exercises stern control over his ex-
uberance; his toys and litter can be really
nowhere in the cramped quarters which
his family occupy; his play ground is the
streets. Nor are his manners and morals
subjected to the right sort Of influence.
Said a ladG In the writer's hearing not
long ago: "In the course Of search
lately for fat, entered an apartment
house in desirable location uptown. The
entrance was attractive, almost imposing,
and the neat, polite hall boy added to the
pleasant impression which l received.
After looking at the Fat to let detained
the boy moment In the hall for some
further details, when our conversation
was interrupted by noisy clatter Of some
one descending from an upper story.
When the person came into view saw q
large, slouchily dressed woman, coarse
and forbidding in feature, who, ignoring
my presence, advanced upon the hall boy
and began to upbraid him with harsh
vehemence for some duty unperformed.
at would be impossible for gentle
woman in any station Of life to reprove
servant for whatsoever offense, In the
manner and language which she en-
ployed, and I hurried away feeling that
nothing would induce me to place my
young children in position to possibly
assist as witnesses to future similar
affairs" And such neighbors must be
encountered more or less In sharing with
them the privilege Of common entrance.
Margaret H. Weleh in The Epoch.