Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-09-24
FOUR GIRLS TN A FLAT
THE SUCCESSFUL EXPERIMENT OF
HOUSEKEEPING CLUB.
THE MAKING OF A HAPPY HOME.
Accomplished by Pooling Four Small
incomes-rhe Total Cost for Rent,
Table, Washing, &C., Only One Dol
lar Day for Each Girl.

correspondent Of the Boston Herald
gives pleasant account OF an adventure
In cooperative housekeeping by four
young women In Boston. Two OF them
were sisters. the elder teacher OF physi-
cal culture, the younger dabblng I'm liter
allure. which gave her nuctuating yearly
sum total, but left her to dispose of her
time TO what she thought the best ad
vantage; that is, so far as the arrange
ment OF working hours went. The others
belonged to the great army of kinder
gardeners As their homes were far dis
tant from the scene OF their labors I'm the
CITY OF Boston. they spent not a little time
ana money in going and coming. not
- mention the physical fatigue, and on
the eVentful day when a sudden vista Of
possibility opened up before them they
had. one and all, sighed over the cost
OF living In town. whore boarding Is an
expensive performance. even when eked
out by light housekeeping on chatting
dishes and gas stoves.
Among them they earned about 5000.
Now, 500 or 50, is not much for one, but
5000 Is very fair income for four and
when once this undoubted fact had
dawned upon them the busy brains were
set to thinking, plan was evolved which
was carried out, despite howls OF pro-
test and indignation from the families Of
the self-supporting spinsters. and they
spent in consequence what they declare
to be the most delightful year Of their
lives.
THE FLAT.
After a great deal of trouble they
found apartments to their liking at 500
the sum they decided they could spend
for rent.
1t was a recently finished apartment
house in the very outskirts OF the Back
Bay, built with careful attention to the
canons of good taste, with every modern
Improvement. and an entrance which
gave 10 the dwellers therein an instant
social prestige. Up on the very top floor
was an apartment of seven pieces, as
they say i'm Paris, perilously near the
sky. it seemed. but the windows, each
room being on the outside Of the house,
looked out beyond the Charles to the
dim BrOOkline hills beyond, and the
janitOr grayely assured them that he
| (also. tie plumbing, There was a good
sized drawing-room, a smaller one, with
bookcases built in, which would make a
| charming little library, a sunshiny din
ing-room, a tiny kitchen, quite complete
in all its appliances. even to a gaS-stoVe
| two comfortable chambers and "A bath
room I'm itself enough TO settle the ques-
| ton ON the spot in its daintiness of por-
| celain tub and white tiles. In some sub
terrancan depths store-room was pro
! vided. and the servants were removed 10
| "A distant quarter of the building, where
! rooms for them were ranged in tier,
one for each apartment. The literary
| lady who reads the newspapers, shook
| her head a bit and looked doubtful at this
! last arrangement. She said 1t led to gos-
! sip and Generalization, and would be bad
for the girls. for whom the employers
were bound to feel some responsibility,
But the one drawback was offset by the
| numerous obvious advantages, and when
! the rent was discovered to be within their
means they clinched the bargain on the
| spot and departed in high glee
The die was cast. the first step had beer
| taken. and the experiment would very
soon be in practical operation.
FURNITURE.
In a few days they moved i'm, amazed &c
see how much furniture, how many pic
lures, and what a display of knickknacks
! they possessed among them. The drawing
! room took on Immediately an atmosphere
| Of home, (women nowadays have genius
| for disposing household goods effectively.
| which was very likely because nothing IN
| IL was brand-new except the curtains OF
| plain ruffled muslin. Rates big fern flleC
up one entire window; Polly contributed
an esthetic palm and a blue-and-whitC
h. ind
! established in one corner a divan witt
! many cushions, severely disapproyed Of
| by her old-fashioned parents and hitherto
| condemned TO remain hidden from thu
| general public i'm her own room. The
| rugs were OF all sorts and sizes; so were
the lamps. and as for the chairs anC
tables they belonged to many periods
! from early Colonial 10 late Japanese, L
! the Indignation and scorn of gentce
widow on the next floor below, who wa
| consistently Louis SieZe, even in the mat
ter of tides But the general effect ha'
! a charm which somehow or other he
| carefully thought-out interior could neve
continue TO wear, as she acknowledge
ruefully.
Bringing a fine array of books and he
old-fashioned secretary, the scribble
straightway turned the adjoining room
into temple Of other muses.. a photo
graph Of the Parthenon; another of IN
beautiful Harvard gate, Marie Lisa, o
the mysterious smile and Guido's "Au
rora" did excellently well to represen
art against the background OF red paper
There was a palld bust of Pallas on on
bookcase: RookwoOd jar bloomed Will
wild flowers till cold weather set in, ant
then with whatever could be bough
cheapest at the greenhouse; profusiol
of photograph frames, and Well-chosel
vase or two answered for ornaments;
rubber plant fourished i'm n sunny spot
and in the pleasant cosiness OF the htti
den nobody ever noticed that the rug OF
the floor was rather a tight fit. or tina
a small sofa and two chairs made tn
entire seating capacity.
DINING-ROOM AND KITCHEN.
The dining-room and kitchen taxed tn
girls ingenuity and resources tremen
dousiy. but they were satisfied TO begil
siuniv nicAing up six chairs for So at al
auction room, where they also invested
I'm a secondhand table of cherry, though
q casual observer was sure 10 be de
ccived into thinking il mahogany. The.
made shift with an ancient card-taoI
for a buffet until money enough to bu'
one had been saved out of their earnings
II was great fun hunting up odd bits o
china 10 set forth their simple meals
tumblers at 80 cents dozen answered a
well as cut-glass. plated knives, forks
and spoons came to very small sun
total. and yet, ar everything was hep
exouisitely clean, the linen spotless. tn
silver polished TO oazznnS brightness
and the plain fare served as daintly as
!, had been composed of all the costl
deticacies i'm the market. why were the
-. 80. ,,aTI of a : II they had gone shop