Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-04-02
THE FLAT LIFE OF TO-DAY.
Its Advantages and Disadvantages.
IYPERIENCEs OF A PEssIMrsr AND OF AN oPrI-
MIsr-Is Such A HOME DEsIRABLE2


rYpERrEScEs OF A PEssnarsr AND OF An orr
MIsr-Is SUCH HOME DEsIRABLK2
From the New York Tribune.
The American, and also the foreigner who is
trying to become an American, is fond Of COM
fort. No matter how small his income. he likes
a neat and attractive home, with ''all modern
Improvements, good carpets and furniture. a
few pictures and some sort of musical instru-
ment which he or his wife can play. In Brook
Ign he not only desires such luxurious sur
roundings, but generally gets them, thanks to
a clever wife, the various credit systems, and
the unlimited supply of flats.
About half the flats and houses in Brooklyn
appear to be occupied by people of moderate
incomes whose business is in New York and it
is a fact worth noting that for those whose busi-
ness calls them to any point in the Empire
city" south Of Grand street. Brooklyn offers
not only great saving in the price OF rents
either for houses or flats, but also important
economy of time, as the remoter suburbs of
the city can be reached by the elevated roads
in about haf the time it requires to reach the
region Of the Harlem from City-Hall park.
In Brooklyn the fat with all its faults. is
effecting revolution. 1t is causing many who
have been confirmed 'boarders" to go to house
keeping. and is creating what may be Gale a
fiat class" who give up the notion OF hFlng
in separate houses forever more. 1t Is also
making a kind of aristocracy composed OF
childless couples. Such couples have the call
on all the best flats, while the hapless owners
of small sons and daughters and confronted
with the notice, mo children" or the inquiry,
"Any Children
Talking of fats the other day. Brooklyn
man said: The fat has come to stay just as
long as anybody wants to pay rent for it. 1t
ranges in size. cost elegance and desirability
of situation through every grade, from the one
that meets the wants of street-car driver to
the luxurious surroundings demanded by the
millionaire. Ii the fronts of thousands of
buildings here could be taken down, or raised
like curtains. without their occupants being
disturbed. We should have the spectacle of q
great diversity of human beings laid upon
shelves, one above the other. For each shelf.
even in the commonest flats above the grade of
tenement, the rent charged is equal to that de-
manded for houses in the suburbs and in the
smaller towns aud cities of New York and New
Jersey. In every other respect the fiat differs
materially from any sort of house. 1t is gen.
orally lacking in proper ventilation and light,
and its discomforts are legion.
Zach occupant Of a fiat building of the style
that can be afforded by people of small incomes
Is subjected to several annoyances which exist
in all Of them and differ only in degree. He
must meet at the door and on the stairways
with common. disagreeable, ill-bred, and too
frequently with vulgar and offensive people;
must hear their noise passing through the halls
at all hours of the day and night and stand
their piano din. their quarrels. their laughter
dancing, singing, and often their drunken
orgies. on the floor above and the floor below
He must endure the shrieking and tramping of
their older children, the crying of their babies
the odors of their cookery, and take the con-
slant risk Of being burned up some night
through carelessness or matice.n
Others say that the iat-dweller is the most
blessed of beings. They think it pleasant at
night to know that one has neighbors so near
by who can be called in case of fire or burglars
The frequent meeting with fellow-dwellers in
the halls and on the stairways keeps up the
clearinghouse illusion. and helps to reconcile
them to the novel experiment of housekeeping
They find that a fiat can be better kept with
one servant than house with two. There are
perhaps, as many kinds of praise as of criti-
cism for fiat life. but the following remarks of
a New York man who has occupied Brooklyn
fiat for some time will certainly awaken re-
sponslve chord In many people:
''A5 rule" said this observer, 1.-THE fiat is a
deadly foe 10 children. 1t is usually too hot or
too cold in winter, and lacking in ventilation
in summer, and is almost invariably exposed to
contamination from the foul air of those above
and below. When you find fiat that admits
children you also find that there are several
other children besides your own. These may
be all right in their way, but for reasons of
your own you do not care for their too constant
association with your children, and 10 the cir
Gus begins. For my own part, have the ut
most tolerance for the noise, the playfulness
and the boisterous glee of children. l never
forget that not long ago was a boy myself.
The trick of yelling like hyenas through the
halls and on the stairways is really only an in
nOcent amusement which boys must be allowed.
They should also be freely permitted to gallop
into your fiat, inspect the rooms and pry into
the kitchen whenever they find the door I'M
locked.
Il see no special objection, either, to their
taking your clothes-lines for swings and skip
ping ropes, whistling through your speaking
tube or ringing your door-bell. All these are
klttenish little capers which are necessary to
their proper health and growth. especially if
they are dirty-faced little scamps, whose
mothers time is consumed in keeping up her
position and have a notion that nothing but
mischief is amusing.
1T is only reasonable to expect also that they
will put their hands into your letter-box when
they see anything there. If they tear off
the stamps from your letters, or even open and
read them. and then place them carefully back
In the box, you must be thankful for the in
tellectual treat they have enjoyed and happy
that you get the letters in any shape. OF course
1t Is little annoying when they take the letter
away altogether, especially when it is one con-
tanning bank bills for bad debt which you
never expected to receive, or an important let
ter from dear relatives thousands of miles
away.
But life in Brooklyn fiat only begins to
bear It's fruitage OF experience when YOU have
become accustomed to all these trifling annoy
ances, and can regard with perfect equanimty
the cutting off of your gas at the meter on Sat
urday night by some of these playful little
darlings. and the building Of huge bonfires in
the cellar I confess that it is at first some
what difficult to look upon these things as
amusing, but when you contemplate the inno-
cent bliss of the perpetrators, you see at once
where the laugh comes in
The ordinary hat-dweller will no doubt agree
that this observers experience has been excep-
tional.