Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1900-11-07
A WIDOWS FRIEND.

It cost ten thousand dollars a year
more or less. to live at the Renwood.
But it was worth 1t.
The Renwood was the most aristo-
cratic apartment house in the city.
There may have been other buildings
whose stairways were made OF finer
marble. whose plate glass was trif'e
heavier and whose telephone wires got
crossed less frequently, but they were
not occupied by people with such large
incomes and such irreproachable rec
ords as was the Renwood. 1t was
great feather in ene's cap to have the
name Of living there.
There was nothing like 1t for gaining
social distinction.
Families that had recently found the
way to wealth and were still on the
lookout for the road that led into So
ciety's exalted sphere, had been known
to resort 10 every plan that could be
devised by inventive minds for reach
ing the desired haven without avail; but
as soon as they took rooms at the Rem
wood all prejudice was swept away and
they sailed triumphantly on to their
goal
If a woman gave a tea and the soci-
tanned paragraphs descriptive of the
''assemblage of wit and beauty at the
home Of Mrs. Mark, who Is residing at
the Renwood this winter" that good
womans reputation as a social leader
was straightway established.
When somebody else was shopping
md said, Send 1t to the Renwood," the
clerks knew at once that they were
dealing with a person who scintilated
as one Of the most sparkling lights in
that upper world of which they caught
faint glimpses over the counter now and
then, and they humbled themselves ac-
cordingly.
1t was considered a great honor to
co respond with any one who was DOM
iciled at the Renwood. and Renwood
women frequently received notes which
they were compelled to answer through
common courtesy. The recipients of
these replies. however brief and formal
they might be, always took particular
pains to show them and to remark cas-
ually:
Il have received q letter from my
friend, Mrs. Blank, who lives at the
Renwood," and everybody. even in the
complex social system, seemed to take
on an air of exclusiveness from the
little transaction and felt themselves
raised several degrees in the estimation
Of the world.
But 1t required a great deal of wire
pulling to secure accommodations at the
Renwood. People who wished to re-
side there had to put in their appli-
cations months beforehand. just as
would-be incumbents Of appointive gov
ernment offices and lucrative positions
in corporations file their petitions and
await their turn.
The Renwood contained but twenty
five apartments. and as people seldom
moved and the list of applications was
lengthy, 1t seemed a foregone conclu-
sion that there were a good many anx-
ious aspirants who would pass through
time and eternity without finding shell
ter beneath the Renwood's roof.
Another thing that made admission
difficult to any except recognized social
lights was the rigid examination
through which each new tenan was
required to pass. Men who had come
through civil service examinations with
an average Of SO p. c., and still others
who had taken their degrees at West
Point. Annapolis and Yale fell down on
the questions put to them by the pro-
prietor of the Renwood.
Age. pedigree. occupation and amount
Of wealth possessed were sworn to be-
fore a notary public. and those inter-
esting family histories were pasted in a
folio-sized morocco-t eund book which
was kept on a special table in the re-
ceptjOn room, where other residents of
the Renwood might refer to 1t at any
time and see just whom they were as
sociating with.
1t would be difficult to determine who
was responsible for the ultra exclusive
ness of the Renwood.
1t certainly was not the proprietor.
He was a plain. unassuming man, whose
tVSteS were incllneO Oec1Oe0ly toward
simplicity rather than ostentation, and
when he bought the site of the Rem
wood and put up his fine building he
had no intention of making 1t other than
a first-class apartment house which
should rank with others of its kind.
He proposed to conduct his business
ir a modest, quiet way. and when he
found that his house was becoming a
regular Mecca for the swell set, the
shock Of the surprise very nearly in
capacitated him for business The first
member of the fashionable clans to
ONE to him was Mrs. Clyde Moore.
After that the Renwood seemed to
crow into favor without any special
fort from any one.
Mrs. Moore unconsciously served as a
brilliant orb which attracted numerous
satellites to circle round her, and be-
fere Mr.. Merrick was aware Of what