The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-01-14
TuE DESPOrIC M'PEAS.
.u,,n MISSION ~ iffE TO NfhE
i",I,r Du Ell Ems WISER iBLE.

.,ld a young lawyer, 1T could unfold a
~. r.,ty tyranny o' general Interest. The
",.r. III ngaged in theircampaign against
,.,u.,s and their only satisfaction In lie
- ROM. from making other people uncom
80. Won vii find that their reputation
49,, 4, every npsrtmcnth house where they have
And ~. amaling thing about II to the
.,v.r % tie iact that the landlords were tie
last I'D them out.
W, I Encv this couple they had charge Of
,,, ,osrtnent house on the upper West Side.
To-, "a. q smooth. spoken bully with eyes
.,o., together and his wife had a vocabulary like
r,,,,rr gun They were in charge Of the
t,p.. when We looked for our apartments; as It
-. AZ, first ,ap-rienre in fat life We paid little
.,.p,ion to them. We engaged the apartment
.,d,.os n. aeys a month before We were ready
a. no,. IN My first hint tina anything was
x,op, With the McPeas came from an cxprcssman
IN N, u,irNborh od. I hired him TO take three
,,ur,s TO our new hat. When I mentioned the
address he said
Ism tMcPen IN. jsni,or Of that building
Yes AID /
-'WrL yJu will have 10 excuse me, knew
NcPe. ,ni ut wife when they were at their last
pl,cc. and The express charges wouldn't begin
a, r.ps, me for the row | would have with them
III attempted to deliver your trunks
"'Bu, they are merely the ianitors Of the build
,rs said l. They would have no RICH. to inter.
ierc with you
Guess YOU don't know hat ~ianitors, said the
,,rressman You will have TO hire some one
Vhodoes not know them to deliver your trunks
q VAS disguised with the exprcssman and
hr-i a man down town When he came to me
for his pay he said That's a lively ~ianitress
YOU have, sir. She disputed my RICH, 10 deliver
your trunks at frst and when | insisted she fol
lowed me- up to your fat lashing me with her
tongue all the way wish you luck with her
THO days later | went to the fiat to look for
som. things that | had ordered delivered there
rs one OF the furniture stores. They had not
arrived. ! called the store up on the telephone
and complained bitterly. When | had finished
the man at tie other end called me down hard.
He said that the furniture had been sent but that
the .ani,or and his wife wouldn't let them deliver
It Sad thatlt would soil the halls. had given
Mrs McPea the key to my 1at tina, goods might
be received there and had tipped her generously
Tor any trouble this might give her hen /
took her TO task for not receiving my furniture
she Was apparently very pen!trnt and said by
way Of excuse that the furniture man was i'm
rudent 10 h"f. Nume Of my things ord red later
were received ami some Of them rejected by the
suto,raic 'lrpsas. decided 10 make thu best
Of il until had moved IN and then | VAS going
70 have an understanding with these peoplc
! on see was ignorant II the possibilities OF q
i,nl'or>hlp vs. suoa as We had moved in the
icculn and the mllkman and the butcher came
sfngId ee.h reCUmmendci by Mrs McPea We
discharged the Ic~man az the end of a week for
oau>" and engaged a new one Ills ice came up
On the dumb waiter all night the first day, On
the following day II did not appear aud when the
coos went down Ia the basement Ia ask II the
itr.aan had not appeared she found u piece Of ice
melting away near the stove that heated the hot
water
is thatourite. Mrs. ,lcPear she asked.
have too much TO do 10 be bothered with your
lee. SAID Mrs. McPra, That piece Was left here
ny your new man, and you can tahelt UP yourself
1romplained 70 the iccnan. and he told me thai
having only one customer In the house, he had
to pay tribu to Mrs hcPca. Hccouldnt
afford IT, When he put our ice on the dumb
water TO send IL upstairs Nrs. .lcPea pushed him
away. and told him she would S"rd il up, as be
might break the dumbwatcr vs. soon as the
had gone Mrs NcI'ea had taken the ice
Of the dumbwglter and placed it whcreit would
melt quickly.
This was annoying, and I told the landlord
kept her halls clean. and he didn't believe that
abe meant 10 bother Us I happened To- scl"Ct a
ncwsman who had disagreed with Mrs McPen
n \ house whcr" lsnc had worked previously
About twice a week ono or both of my papers
before any one was W. in my aSi and he had /"
."sye his papers with the %janIr"SS 10 he sent up
tho coal. When ! Cump,aLu"d tu Mrs NcPe
hbout the irrcgllaruty OF my papers. she answered
Il don't know sny thing about them am
dong enough work here now 10 Ill I've women,
and can be- bottle rcd with such things
III" nevNman SAID at urCr that Mrs, McPea
Or her husband had taken IN" pa pers in order 10
annoy him. couldn't hr bothered that way,
and "nsarNi The ncwsman who sup
niied IN" other 'rnantS. We had much the SANE
trouble with our butcher and our grocer after We
t't ceased buying Of the men recommended by
MCPca She demanded trIbut" from each of
hem, and when they declined TO pay IL she did
best 10 make trouble lor them Fortunately,
were both determined fellows, and they sent
'-lverv men with our orders who waited at the
dumb alter uniil our c"oE had received the goods.
! had never had any such bother ciore and
was " nlrrlnr why tive NCrcas had selected
MS as the targets for their III humor when ! made
n ,s si Sn.idIls and d Iis t%S ETH that *. TrP sn, and diT his
Y 1'thy WI" had annoyed them in the 'aIrc way.
We teld I'm Indignation meeting and three Of US
sent to see TIE man who owned tie btndlng.
{ 90 bad. Twill zee about t. but he didn't. because
The NcP.fs wee working Tor him chrarer Than
any other couple he could get. Mcpea knew
nat We had compla.net and he i2oin'd his vie
~ This par was such thnt some 81 the trade men
IN the nc'rhhorhoo1 declined u deliver goods a.
cur house When the McIers were not annoying
'hc tenants tlcy were quarrCllinP with each Other.
never realized how n series Of petty annuyhnCes
q this sort might work on a persons nerves ]
lo1kel up the law and found that # punched
head. Il would cost me about q, much
rs q gears rent, il not more Il complained again
70 th- landlord, but with he usual result \
li me that did not have sufficient ground
'or breaking nv lease. That was a rretty tough
'sNr, can assure you Thrtrnants intrc building
helpless Mrs NcP-a had n habit 81 hang :
Ing around tie halls and insulting pc ,ple who
.am- to call IN the tenants The bells al the
'1trarcr were not easy 10 find ana II frequently
th7t a stranger would ring TIE ~lau,tnr's
vel aud ask for directions. The result whsalways
scolding from Mrs NcPea. Ono voung woman
she rang for the janitor. Mrs McPea raced
llpst'lr9 In her dirt clothes with her hair In every
and threw open the door with q bang.
What 40 you vantg she asked. The young
oman told her the, she wanted 70 call on VS.
I'd enough % know better than 70 rine the isni-
bell Haven't you got any eyes, Where
'ere you brought up anywhere I've got other
hings u do than tn answer this bell all day,'
nd With that she slammed the door. My
vie first heard OF II through a note from the young
81 wanted very much To see You she said.
hut | never would dare 10 fsce that crazy ~jani,ress
II YOU will IL, me know some day when
he is ut IN bring my brother along for protec.
i1n and Try again
We discovered that several other friend. n
bad met Mrs. McPcs and had re,rrated in
'lsord-r before her. We sent out a notice then
o all ~ our friends that Mrs. McPrn didn't scratch
nd that II they met her when they called not
o pay any attention 10 what she said. When
ne cold weather came and the NcPeas needed
rclteneni hey got II by MANIPULATING the steam
ipcs. McFea could rattle the pipes all through
ne house ut 3 o'clock IN the morning In n way
= vase everyone in the building Whenever
ne tenant mct another on the stairs the question
rag What have the NcPeas been doing to YOU :
J ran across people who had known them in
lhei apartment houses and | found that our