The evening times., 1897-02-08
THIS MORTAL QUESTION
OF PAYING RENTS

1
causes they give:
rapid transit said one, has made
the suburban home as accessible as the
home in the heart of the city. The long
ride, whether by car or wheel is accom-
plished as quickly as the short walk, and
the rent saved will pay fares and leave
money to bank.
"The 800 vacant houses on the market, y
explained a member OF "A large firm, lis
no indication that the city is overbuilt,
but simply that there are more houses
than there are people who can afford to
rent them. These are hard times, and
when a IN an is forced to retrench the first
move he makes is out OF his house and
into someone else's where be can live
on cheaper scale"
"a small house isn't the investment it
used to be- said one agent, who makes
a speciality of renting them. ''Of course
there viii always be fair demand, but
the apartment house has put an end TO
] the rush. "
That" | suggested, ''may be because
| there are 20 few houses at low rents in
the central parts of the city. Wouldn't
| il pay if capitalists were 10 run up pretty
| little lows on some of these vacant lots
one passes year after year? 1 Know the
| land is valuable but
| much too valuable he interrupted
"An owner hopes to sell his lot every hour
| in the day There was some talk awhile
| ago of building large apartment houses In
the central part OF the city for small fam
| lilies only, but the gathering of so many
| under one roof would be neither safe nor
pleasant, so | suppose the idea collapsed.
| Two years ago gentleman built row
| of small bricks on a quiet street which
| was occupied 10y laboring people. BY degrees
| he told or exchanged them until every
| Louise had its separate owner, and then
the trouble began. l am telling you this
| to show you how careful one must be in
| q business like mine. One day tenant
| moved out and its owner took the rent
ing from my hands and let his premises
| 10 an undesirable party. The neighbors
/ on both sides left in high dudgeon, others
brought me their keys in turn, until today
| there are just five houses rented out of
| a block OF fourteen"
The last agent consulted had no doubt
whatever as to the mea ming OF empty houses.
1t was because women couldn't agree. In
| vindication of his theory he produced a list
| OF vacant houses that were formerly ten
| anted by women who sublet rooms.
| "Once on a tipnc," he continued, "every
other wona with q living to earn took TO
| renting rooms. AS not one-quarter or tlIe
| number a az in the business today, there must
be a reason. and here it is: When woman
rents, say, her third floor front, the first
thing she knows she is resenting the number
| OF times She has TO answer the doorbell.
hsr aff
evenings with her gas flanng at full tilt;
that she cooks things on a patent burner;
that she makes tracks on the hall carpet
in wet weather; that she stays in the par
lor more than she has right to, and that
if she keeps up her fnghtful banging she
will ruin the upright that is stIll being paid
for on the installInent plan.
"She has to work hard, and there
are times when it irritates her TO have
her tenant invade the privacy OF her
kitchen to do bit OF pressing or to
steep pot OF tea. Those are the times
when she will tell you that she is as
kind as the next one. but that when she
feels that she is being imposed on she can
| be as stubborn as mule. Her rent has
| to be paid in advance and IL doesn't [ make
| her lot any easier when her tenant, who
| generally waits until the end ofthe month,
| fails even then to come to time. She has
| deprived herself to furnish her house and
to see the way her chairs are scratched
and her carpets spotted is enough to try
| the patience of saint.
Then comes the wall OF the tenant She
has paid for her room with gas and heat,
| and when she finds that her landlady has
screwed mean burners on the brackets
and is economiZing in coal TO a degree
that chills the register il naturally puts
her in the frame of mind that is some
times known as hopping.
''She ia kes her meals around the corner,
but when her head aches, or the weather
is bad, she doesn't see any great harm
in boiling an egg on patent burner, or
| ma king pot of tea down on the kitchen
range AS to the way her callers are
treated, it's downright shame; sending
strangers up TO her room without a
| word of warning and sometimes opening
the front door with such scowl that
her friends get frightened and never come
again-and, SO, in course of time, despite
the exceptions that only serve to prove
the rule, women have grown so mutually
tired of living together that tenants are
taking to private flats and the majority
of landladies advertize; Gentlemen pre-
ferred.'
Each agent spoke of families doubling
up on account OF the times, and several
OF them called my attention to the num-
Der of business women who occupy rooms
on the upper floors of the various public
offices in the heart of the city. They
are generally big rooms with plenty of
heat and sunshine, but untitled for ordinary
rental on account of their height.
Yesterday l went to see two sisters
who live together at the top of law
building, near the city hall. Their home,
like the SPIDERS, is up winding stair,
and there is a chair on the landing for
the visitor to drop in while she gasps out,
ut would kill me to live like this!''
1t was very sunshiny and snug, once /
was up there, aud / could appreciate the
spirit of the younger sister when she
said:
II often feel that we ought to live nearer
the earth's surface. now that We can afford
it, but we were scandalously poor when we
moved up, and we have been SO contented
here these three years that we don't care
il the wall paper does look like mustard
plaster, and the old roof shakes in the
wind.''
1T couldn't be more inconvenient." put
in the practical elder sister, but we knew
they were only office rooms when we took
them; so we are not stupid enough to COM
plain-and you can't think how cheap we
live
I'm hunting statistics, how much does
it cost you a month";
twenty-five dollars for the two. That