Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-11-01

MATTERS OF INTEREST.
o. HE completion of the large hotel build
e;1j ing at the northwest corner of 14th and X
e " streets will make an important addition
~ 20 the facilities which already exist here
:or providing temporary homes for the thou
sands of strangers who visit the city each year.
The increase in the number of hotels and the
enlargement of hotel buildings has been one
of tho marked features in the history of the
city during the past few years 1t is evident
that the temporary population of the city is
very large, and like New York city and other
large cities it is necessary to make ample pro-
vision for the crowds of visitors that find their
way here. The number of spacious buildings
that are devoted to this purpose are steadily
being added to. The Norm andie, the Sh ore
ham, the Arno. the Randall, the Lang
ham. the Fredonia are some of the hotels
which have been built during recent
years. Then an extensive addition has been
made 10 the Arlington. The SEorcham has also
been enlarged and other buildings devoted to
hotel purposes have been reftted and
furnished Chamberlin's, Welcker's, the Ma
tlonal and st. James have had their
capacity and facilities greatly extended,
and 1t may readily be seen that the
hotel accommodations of this city are much
! greater thar they were few years ago. 1t
should not be forgotten that there are a large
number of boarding houses which supplement
| the accomm0 dations offered by the hotels, and
far proportion CT the travelling public make
! their homes IL boarding houses when they are
! III this city. Some of these places. account
| OF their size, fully deserve the name OF hotels.
| ana there are instances where the capacity
exceeds that OF some of the hotels The
ample supply of hotels and boarding houses
! explains the ease with which Washington can
take III crowd OF people and entertain them
! comfortably. On special occasions when an
| extraordinary throng Of people are In the city
| IT is conceded that there 10 less discomfort and
| complaint than III any other city III this coun-
| Try under similar circumstances While the
| hotel facilities of the city have been increasing
| the needs CT the growing suburbs i'll this par
! ticular have not been neglected. Large and
| spacious buildings have been erected in differ
ent sections of the country bordering on the
| city. and during the warm season these coun-
! try hotels are well patrOnized. Good ex
amples of hotels of this character
found III the building erected on
| the heights above Georgetown, on the
| IenlcytoWn road. and the one at Forest
! Glen. on the Metropolitan branch of the Balti-
| more and Ohio railroad There are other hotels
| IN the county and also large boarding houses.
and no doubt the near future will witness the
| erection of a number of other hotel buildings.
! As has been already mentioned in THE STAR, a
| syndicate has begun the erection Of an ex-
| tensivC hotel buIIding in the subdivision of
| lexington, which VIII be near to the center of
the city OWING TO the electric cars and yet will
| be III the country.
| SOMETHING ABOUT APARTMENT HOUSES.
| ct is surprise to me-" remarked q real
estate agent the other day, 'that there are not
more apartment houses or flats built in this
| city. NEAR every one in search of a house OK
presses IL preference for n central locality
| However, wien they fad Il house located TO
| suit them. they are apt to discover that the
rent asked is more than they want TO pay. The
consequence is that they have to go some dis
| lance away from the central portion OF the
| CITY in order to get house. Now it seems to
| me that an apartment house, with rooms III
suites OF four, five or six. could be built that
| the rents would moi be more than is now asked
| for houses of that size on the outskirts of the
| city. The fact is, however, that such build
| ings are seldom erected and there are but few
now Ill tie CITY,"
A STAR man asked Mr.. George w. F. Swart-
Zell of the firm Of b. II. Warner Co. If he
thought that apartment buildings would prove
to be paying Investment in thIs city.
L am certain that they would" was the
prompt reply, especially when they built
III localities where the first floor can be rented
for business PURPOSES.
Independent OF this latter consideration Mr.
SwGrizell saw no reason why buildings of this
character would not prove profitable He said
| that he had erected tor a client all apartment
Dul ding, and that ever since 1t had been ready
| Tor occupancy the suites had all been under
| lease at good rentals. The net return upon the
| money invested, he said, was more than the
same amount invested in houses would yield.
| There seems to be an opinion that the build
ing OF apartment houses Will be one OF the feat
| uras of the future development of the city. 1t
! is said that the conditions are favorable. Rents
| are acknowledged to be high and yet the num-
| Der OF houses still remaining vacant is not
| large. The demand is such that houses are oc-
| cupied as rapidly they are built and when it
| Is stated that more houses were built last year
| than any previous year the inference may rea-
| sonably be drawn, which is, however, supported
| by other evidence, that the population of the
| city ls rapidly increasing.
| ESLARGING A BUSINESS HOUSE.
| The extension of the large building occupied
by Messrs. Woodward Il Lothrop SO as to Sc
cure a frontage ON 10th street has been noted
in The STAR. The new addition is six stories
in height and is now nearly completed Re-
| Gently, however, additional ground on 10th
street, adjoining on the south the now extern
sion, has been secured and a building is being
| erected, which will make the entire frontage
on 10th about rs feet The store building now
| extends throu2 IN the entire depth of the square,
with ample frontage on + and 18th and 10th
streets. The design for the new addition has
been made by MIR. James G.. HILL who was the
architect of the main building as well as the
recent extension.
| MR.. b. II. WARMERS RESIDENCE
The handsome residence Of Mr.. b. H. War
ner, corner 2lst street and Massachusetts, ave-
nue., is being further enlarged and beautified
! by the addition of large dining hail. which
will be built 20 the south of the house and will
| be elegantly finished and decorated from de-
signs and plans and under the charge of MIR.
T. +. Schneider, the architect. The walls, part
tho way up. and ceiling will be paneed in
! Guartered oak. An deliberately carved oak
screen will separate the new room from the old
ono and will be supported on carved oak
| columns. The end of tho room toward 2lst
! street will be circular and almost entirely of
| plate glass. Other improvements will be made
| to the interior, 80 that the whole first floor
| with its pretty staircase, can be thrown into
one large suite for entertainments. Emmert &
HeIsley are the contractors.
| OPENINGS FOR THE FRUGAL DOLLAR.
man with limited means has presented to
him good many opportunities in this city for
safely and proftably investing the few dollars
which he is able to lay by each month There
are in the first place the various building asso-
conducted. as they are in this city, in a con-
! servative, judicious manner. The prosperity
| of these associations here is an evidence that
| their money-saving virtues are appreciated
| BY laying aside a few dollars each month MANY
| a man has been able to accumulate sufficient
| sum to start him in buying home for his
| family. One association, which is the largest
in the city and is one Of the largest
in tho country, has about 5000
| shar holders and the receipts last
year were over a million of dollars
The savings represented by the sums paid into
these institutions are used mainly in the