The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1888-04-25
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WEDNESDAY,, APRIL Is, 1888.
LONDON LODGINGS.
PLACES WHERE MANY OF THE GREAT
clTYs POOR FIND SHELTER.

The Common Lodging House of Today
Clean and Fairly Comfortable - The
Various Glasses of Patrons-view Of an
IntsrIOr--A Valet.
The common lodging house of today is
clean and fairly comfortable Each house is
licensed to receive a certain number only;
every man must have bed to himself, and
each bed must have so much space given to
it. The difference in this respect may be
judged from the fact that in one common
lodging house with which am acquainted
room now licensed for eleven beds formerly
contained twenty-eight. Moreover, the law
compels frequent scrubbings of floors and
whitewashing Of walls, and the slightest case
Of illness must be at once reported to the
nearest police station. Seeing the class Of
customers the proprietor has to accommo-
date, you may imagine that the floors Of the
dormitories get a terrific amount of scrub
bing, with the result that they are far
cleaner and more wholesome than the car
peted rooms of many more pretentious estab-
lishments, where an overworked housemaid
ficks the furniture with duster, ticlkles the
carpet with brown and sweeps the fluff
under the bed
There is very keen competition in the
trade, and some houses are naturally much
better than others. As consequence the
class Of dodgers differs also. One proprietor,
by keeping his house as dirty as he dares SCI
cures the patronage of one class, while am
other, by making his house as comfortable as
possible, attracts men Of superior grade.
But to thoroughly understand what the
common lodging houses are you must see
one. Come down this narrow, unswept and
under the weather looking street. You see
that house which looks as though ii were
double fronted shop with the shutters still
up. That is a commoa lodging bouse. The
door in the center is a swing door. Outside
it gentleman in the unpicturesque tatters
OF our national costume is smoking a clay
pipe, and with his hands thrust in his trou-
sers pockets is looking fxedly at nothing.
Over the doorway at which the gentleman
stands is the inscription in white letters on q
black board, Registered Lodging House.
Beds, SID and I'D. Night
Let us push the swing door open and walk
in. 1t is broad daylight outside, but directly
we have passed the swing door we find our
selves almost in darkness The room we are
in is the Kitchen" or common room, in
which all the guests sit and take their meals,
and amuse themselves until it is time to go
up stairs to bed. / cannot say how one of
these kitchens would look in the glare of day.
There is nothing to show sunbeams that they
would be Hospitality received, and SO they re-
main outside. And even there they are
snubbed, for, lest they should be inquisitive
and try and peep in at the lodging house
windows, the said windows are kept as grimy
as possible outside, and inside they are COW
cred with coat of some dirty looking prep
aration.
The light in these Kitchens, then, Is gener-
ally Of the dim, religious order. It suits the
scene. The people who are sitting on the long
forms at the table, or crouching together
before the duh red fire, would, some of them,
look hideous in the full light of day. In the
red glow that the fire throws on them, ms
they sit in the darkencd room, they look al
most picturesque.
The worzmen who live in these lodging
houses are not home yet. They will come in
about o'clock. There will not be many in
this house because 1t is low house--that Is
to say, it 10 house frequented by tramps
and ioafers and shady customers, and more.
over tits 'family house, and that mean
women and children to disturb the harmony
OF the evening In the common kitchen Tho
fact that these common lodging houses
where beds are let out at fourpence night
are largely patronized by worllnen in regu.
lar employment may astonish people who are
not behind the scenes. But know IN some
Of these houses workingmen who have lived
there for twelve and sixteen years.
These men are single men and widowers,
and the houses which are for linen only
suit them much better than private lodgings
would. First Of all the house is open night
and day; all day and all night tho red fire
CLOVIS and Is ready for man to cook his late
supper or his early breakfast at. Then there
is the society of the other men, pipes and
conversation, and always pal TO take q
hand at cribbage, which is the fashionable
common lodging house game Moreover,
each man has bed to himself, which In pri-
vate lodgings for worlingmen is not always
obtainablc. And there is always some ono
to call him early In the morning, in order
that he may get up and go to his work, with
out having TO pay the policeman on duty to
throw stones at his window and yell out that
1t is "half-past A.
The common lodging house is to these men
home and club combined, and the proprietor
who gets this class Of men--men in steady
employment = tries to please them, and
gradually they fill his house, and then he ex-
cludes chance customers and "roughs,n and
his house becomes a regular workingmans
home.
One great advantage that q man with regu-
lar wages finds In these places is that he is
able to keep valet. Yes, valet. In all of
these common lodging houses there are men
who, for a copper or SO a week, ''valetn for
the aristocrats For twopence week paid
to poorer fellow lodger the aristocrat has
his boots blacked'and his supper cooked In
addition to this, the valet runs his masters
errands and keeps his favorite seat by the
fire till he wants it, and when there is a dis
cussion on any matter the faithful valet
chimes in with his master and is always
ready to back him in any assertion he may
choose to nlake.--George r. Sims in Phila-