New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-07-11
IMITATORS OF NOAH.
HOW THE RESIDENT OF THE HOUSEBOAT
ENJOYS LIFE ON THE WATER.

From The San Francisco Wave.
know some people who have solved the prob
lem Of having a maximum good time at a mini
mum expense, and they live In households or
"arks' over at Belvedere. The writer passed
two days in one Of these arks last week, and IL
he lives and does well he hopes some day that
he will have ark all Of his own, and pass
two months Of every summer in the same IL is
hard to say just wherein lies the charm OF ark
life. At first thought or glance one would be-
lieve that the inhabitants would be something
too much cabned, crbbed, confned-that there
would be no walks to take no rides nor drives
that space would be wanting in which to swing
the proverbal cat, and in measure. ell THIS
is true. Cabined you certainly are Only one
man. we believe, ever succeeded in walking on
the water, and he's drowned. and the swung
cat is sensation that must be experienced to
be enjoyed. But in weeks time the house,
boat man "adapts himself to his environment
1--WE did it two days-even less), and when
he has done that and got into the spirit OF the
thing he begins to that there are other
things in life besides mere walking and driving.
and that the habit Of swinging cats can be out
grown. Note what are some OF these otner
| things: The pleasure Of boating combined with
the comforts of home. air that Is better
than champagne. cool plunge bath at your
threshold with fresh water every hour or the
day; fishing that Is a relaxation, not an exer-
ton 0he fish are caught while you wait and can
be cooked soon as caughD; an entire change
of scenery out Of the window four times DAY.
as the boat swings with the tide; ne,s s nmS
last Of all. but merely DETAIL OF course--a
trivial advantage that only the sordid bourse"is
would appreciate-absOlute and complete IN
munity from ground-rent. taxes, insurance re-
pairs, and all the rest Of the expenses that are
connected with residence In town house.
| One Of the first novelties you experience when
| you go aboard ark to take up your residence
is the confusion of ideas suggested by this float.
| ing house. You sit down to table and you iee'
! as though you were in any wel-appointed DIN
| ing room Of the Western Addition. There Is
| a
scription; in five minutes you have forgotten
| that you are on q boat, then suddenly the nanS-
| ing lamp sways gently, and the water In the
gOblets Tor say wine il you like shifts its level
and the floor and whole room careens signify
and settles to its place again 1t Is really very
curious. especially IT, as the writer did, you have
quite forgotten about the nautical character OF
| the thing, when that boat heaves under you,
you think at once of earthquakes or the
haunted swing" or else you clutch wildly Dut
| furtvely at the table ledge with sudden suspf-
| cion as to the strength and readiness OF your
hosts wine. Then he tells you that 1t is only the
swes of the o'clock boat and you remember
1 where you
| 1t Is some time before you reconcile these
conflicting sensations Of house boating and ark
life, because when you remember the house part
OF the ark you forget the boat: and when you get
used to the boat you forget the house. For in
stance, when we got up and were dressing the
next morning looking out OF the window the
while and listening to the cluck-clucking OF the
| water along the sides, we couldn't get back TO
| the "house" part Of the scheme at ALL and found
| ourselves wondering how long this blamed boat
4 was going to stop out here In midstream. And
| when you come to that you are not cr1DDed nor
confined after all, any more than Is the venetian
| Every ark has its little following OF r0wboats
nuzzling at it's TANKS. and the shore is but half
dozen strokes away. Many OF the arks. TOO.
have their naphtha launches. These last are, or
| course merely for the fun Of chasing up and
down the bay in the near neighborhood, Visit
| ing from ark to ark, or going after the mail ana
| the like. but it is very amusing 10 notlce now
| af rlr 70 hqa m
| the shore-living tradespeople. The butcher, the
| baker the laundryman and the grocer eacn mas
his launch or boat, and goes the round or the
arks twice day, just as his brothers In the CITY
| call with their delivery wagons. Some or the
arks even have telephone wire laid to shore,
and II wouldn't be surprising II next season saw
stationary boats. Not altogether stationary,
| however In the winter season. when the rail-
road bridge is lifted. the arks are towed over 10
| their winter quarters on the other size vi the
nav and are laid up till the following summer
| What makes the whole affair so interesting Is
| that It is so unique Nowhere else. save perhaps
| i'm the rivers of China. has one ever heard Oh THIS
custom Of living in arks. The thing mas become
| en- nonular that the number increases every year.
and some day, perhaps, they VIII nave 10 De iaid
| omt in rows and blocks at right angles, and the
streets. rather waterways named anu pfla6es
| thrown across here and there, and immature
| Venice created But think Of the confusion x
the very unlikely event of gale OF wiho' or
one of the arks should slip its moorings ana go
| careening riotously off with the outgoing tide!
| one of the most original as well as one ol "
most comfortable arks at Belvedere Is MIR. Hape-
| nicht's Nautilus 1t has been built of four street
| cars placed end on two and two and the parti
| ,ions removed. 1t is surprising What dellgh'-
ful pair of rooms such combination brings INTO
avistonce-plenty Of light on all sides, coup (
| NJ sliding doors at both ends, lamps bullt INT.
| tho wall yentilators a-plenty and a long bench
| 6arkng the walls. But where else, on what o'hs,
| ,ors Of tho world than this bay of ours. would
Won find such an anomaly, four streetcars DUH
as a boat and used as house!