The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-11-25

An Estimate or the Cheap Lodging Houses
ny Ono who Has Tried Them.

Persons passing frequently along the Bowery
can hardly have failed to observe the hanging
signs of some Of the lodging houses. Rooms
20 and - cents. Baths free This is n famil-
lar legend, and. to persons not acquainted with
the interiors thus recommended. ii coniures up
a figure OF penury clothed in rags. They see in
fancy n house. with passages AS filthy as the
Board Of Health will permit. with rooms full OF
offensive odors and crowded with cots filled with
vermin. and with dodgers in no respect superior
TO their surroundings.
Nothing. however. could he further from n
just conception Of II cheap I>owery lodging
house as represented at least in the better grades
OF those desirable retreats for the impecunious.
As a matter OF fact. they represent about the
perfection ut arrangement In econoiniZing
space; and they are quite admirable examples OF
cleanliness dnHa .; ~; \ man Eth NAY Si,pe pass entirely through
dodgers, without any disagrceable sensation
and unless he enters the general reading room.
or office, he would hardly learn from his sense
OF sight alone that nc himself ana his attendant
were not the exclusive occupants OF the premises.
Enter the front door and 20 up the stairway
of II representative Buwery lodging house. The
stairway is narrow. certainly, hut the steps are
carefully protected against wear by well bur-
clean. Reaching the landing. and turning to
the right; one enters IA large room, AT once office
clerk. pcering through the opening of what in
theatrical terminologS would be called the box
office; This official stands ready to register the
guests name and assign him to his quarters.
But the room itsel: and its tenants will be the
first things 10 attract attention, As to the first,
ciently well furnished, and in the centre on n
table are To be found copies Of all the morning
be in The hands of readers. As to the tenants,
they seem often to be kind Of men who give a
in the expectation, Of finding himself in the
ompan Of congenial spirits. The elossicst Of
S ,Sr rsa. and nf fstts abound Nd or wsI Arr not =. at
are the rule; and. though it wonld be too much
10 say that the cheap Bow"ry lodging house does
not lie directly upon the trhmp's highway, it is
evidently vet at II considerable distance from
the railroad ties.
The secret nf a possible twenty-cent room, so
tanntinEly Offered as Il trontispiece on the out
wari wall Of the house, will be found on exam
reading room one discovers a long passage
Ing to the rear wall, and on each side
less than Tour feet from each other,
he observes a line Of door knobs. These are the
ting the guest TO his sleeping room. Hut the
rooms, il must be confessed, are II good deal OF a
seclusion in sleeping apartments, bur they are
rather stalls than rooms, In the first place the
only rise 50 high that they would lie difi-
cul, Ia climb over, and. in the next place.
Their dimensions ara "t he'd bs T ,hHni mSrn ,bs IN
tive feet wide is fnnked by a space hardly
more than one foot wide, and these are proper.
room. But everything within is well arranged.
\ small closet no moro Than "A foot square, with |
= hat shelf ~ the top, furnishes a place for
hanging Clothing AT the head of the bed. and the
PED iiStlt Is ~ lean rs II can be made by freshly
pillow needs Ia h" SET IN end and are
adjusted when used. to make II com
imrI""l" ~ nmI IL prG6sniy requires some
the inlpecunlpus guest that he shuuld expect
himsclft e get his Lead higher. As To the toilet
and bathing apartments they are reached
through an opening Ia the lett, between the
stalls, and, tins is the general arrangement
he furnished on a FLOR space not greatly
NOR" than twenty by nifty feet - dimensions.
they are y study within themselves very much
more inierestine ilan the house. They are 50
them a general classification. Among them are
Ia he found men ~ ali trades. mechanics.
and hnrny-handed lalnrers, uuahlct 10 obtain or
wlllIlg " iuregu, luxurious heds and rnomy
quarters for the sake of the economy al obtain
ing shelter and The convenience at "a large, we'll
Ideally open all night, for less than $40 a week
hui II Is also clear enough Al a glance that they
lppers, Even the younger sous of HE EilrIisL
nobility, those who are So often compelled
inknoSn a. Tie sow@rS ci.eanp' ' i%gains ar hon not
To commercial travellers AID other airy
Gentlemen Of the sort ilr recent panic and cur
BILE 20 their initiation into It's my Lcrirs. Then.
gam there are 10 he found among the guests
branded studentsa inventors who can invent
but a panacrl for impCcuEtnsity,
poets painters, actors, and journalists ~ whom
NAMED unsvnpathetic and All occasional pnliti-
al economist no doubt.
As 10 the habits of the guests uf the Chran
ndglng house. they seem to he generally uncN-
'eptionablc. .ltpe smoking, with an occasional
,lsafettt IN the fingers uf some dainty youth.
'orm the chief indulgence. but the extrava-
CANT habit OF. cigar, smoking il practically IN
lnoYsn; and OF drunkenntSs there appears To be
very little. Occasionally, in the wee sma'
hours. some hilarious tTuckmAn or fellow OF
ne sort may wander into the reading room and
I umble against the stove ia a futile effort al
his pipe, but In any such case the dis
urher Is soon got ont of the way.
" hateyer the recommendations OF the chean
housa however. and no matter how re-
lned may tethe Instincts Of some ofits patrons
{ can never be popular, The architect has been
khtul IN planning for the seclusiOn OF guests.
lnt u Is not a perfect seclusiQn, The nasal pro
nnuo OF sOmnolency comes floating over tha
20 disturb slumber, and none but tLe
most p~raetised sleepers can retire before mid.
or 1 O'Clock ~ tbs morning snd be per-