Daily Kennebec journal., 1896-06-10

Waldorf and Savoy. They hav -.
Dewest convenienccs and are VIooI
lar hotel management. So II
prising that people enter them 50 cents.
full sentiments after long uSy mail.
struggling with the problem of-AxA. s,.. y
In these hotels a good mal-~-,,o>
find shelter They are persons
tried housekeeping and been rou
difficulties; tried boarding and
against constant, forced intimacylm DOat
congenial people; tried ordinary hc-
fled from the public character of
there; tried fats and becore acqu
with despair. The family hotel dom nj
ford freedom from good many Of thlllU(
jections to their former modes Of life
ing arranged in suits. 1t gives rs muon
privacy and Independence as o fathOuse:
its character is less public than that OF an
ordinary hotel. The chief annoyances OF
boarding house life are eliminated, and
there Is none of the troubles of house
keeping.
The family hotel nnd the ordinary hotel
arc two distinct varieties, although soma
Of the latter type have guests who live In
them the whole year round, and most of the
former arc glad to entertain any casual
transients who happen to find their way
to them. Some of the family hotels how
ever. are so strict in constituting the regu-
latiuns which are intended to guard the
comfort and susceptibilities Of their guests
that they will accommodate visitors to the
city only IS favor not granted to every
one, just Gs on the other hand Shere are
hotels that prefer to depend altogether m
their transient trade and do not care to
encourage permanent residence by reduc.
ton in rates. The family hotel, indeed is
an evolution Of the boarding house and the
hathouse rath,r than the ordinary hotel.
1t is tho great progress which has been
maGc in methods of construction in recent
years that hes made possible the present
development ti family hotels in this city.
The family ho.els always offered a favorite
solution of tn" problem of living but the
older ones did not afford any great degree
of luxury and besides ranged from rather
expensive 10 extremely expensive. They
were found mostly on or near Fifth avenue,
and tp live in some of them is proof in
itself not of respectability alone. but also
claim of long descent, Some Of these
places are sources Of wonder and envy to
the newer generation of hotel keepers.
They have been gold mines to their land
lords for years and still are. though they
may have been left in out OF the way To-
calities by tho growth Of the city, and may
be old, badly constructed buildings with.
out tho conveniences which are generally
regarded now as Indispensable. Their
guests have become attached to them after
having grown old in them and know Lp
other home. So they 60 on living in them
year after year. Among these guests nre
somo curious characters, such as solitary
miIlionaires who keep their relatives at q
distance, live with extreme simplicity and
leave estates that delight tho heirs by prov
ing larger than anybody ever suspected
them to be.
II tho older hotels can be Kept going by
their name and established custom, tho
new ones have to offer all possible attrac
tions to so3u:e guests. They are from
eight to ten stories and upward In hight.
They arc as nei,rly fireproof as the newest
methods nf construction can make them.
Their frame WORK is of the steel cage type,
like the big Office buildings down town,
and all the metal work is inclosed in fire-
proof material. The floors are of terra cot
ia or other fire resisting material. and SO
are the partition walls. This affords q
double advantage-it gives protection from
fire and it prevents the occupants OF one
suit from being annoyed by sounds III the
suits on either side or above or below.
Floors and walls are soundproof. The
rooms are sometimes fitted with telephones
connecting with the office rs tho central
station, but mo;e commonly with mere
speaking tubes. They are lighted with
electricity, CT course. The plumbing Is
exposed, the bathrooms are tiled. The larger
suits have private halls and nre In all re-
spects like fats Of the first class, save that
they aro withuut kitchens or ruoms for
servants. Ge1.erslly there ure hardwood
floors for these who prefer them. In those
hotels somo pe,plo hire their rooms by the
year or fo- longer periods and use their
own furniture Less furniture being ne"d-
ed than would DO required for house or
an ordinary ils.s, there is a tendency to OK
pend the differ snce in cost for things of q
better quality, SO that one finds o surprts-
ingly large nu.nber of apartments in s'ich
hotels absulutsly crowded with handsome
furniture ana expensive bric'a-brac ana
decorations .she hotel servants do the
houscwork, sot.hat tho mistress has ahso-
lutely nothing 60 do savc SEQ that the sers-
ants do not bseak her china when they are
dusting This result is about as easya
mode of existnuce us could ho desired by
lazy person. The manager OF the hotel
practically relicvcs his guests of all the
cares Of living sNve that Of paying their
bills.-Now York Sun.