The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-09-16
TO HOUSE THE BACHELOR.
NEW KIND or LODGING-HOtSB
KEEPERS IN NEW YORK.
They Are Foreigners In the Main-Their More
Busiuess-iike Methods-Direrences Be-
tween Them and the Landiadies Of the
st-Ma Of Rooms for Unmarried Men.

tween Them and tho Landladies OF the
Matter Of Rooms for Unmarried Men.
The old-fashioned landlady OF New York's
lodging houses Is disappearing along with the
oyster house. the English walters in the chop
houses and some of the other figures Of city
life a decade or more ago The landlady's
disappearance Is not yet 80 complete as that OF
the other landmarks mentioned and she still
exists In fairly large numbers but her doom Il
sealed because others are doing her work very
much better than she ever did. The success OF
her followers In a measure Is the result of the
professionals superiority over the amateurs,
for the old-fashioncd lod0inR-house keeper
was likely to remain somewhat Of an amateur.
however long she might have bccni n theb
The business Of renting rooms to men Is profit
able enough TO tempt many persons into il
who have had no real preparation for such
work The demand for bachelor apartments Is
proved by the number OF buildings that have
been put up for that purpose during the last
few years, In Il certain rart Of the city there are
blocks between Fifth and Sixth avenues de-
voted almost exclusively TO lodgings These
houses. Of course, are In expensive neighbor-
hoods and ore the most costly Of their kind,
although the small difference Of price asked l In
various parts of the city is occasionally striking
when accessibility and other advantages are
taken into consideration.
The new 10 giug-housa keepers gradually
supplanting the women who for so long hal a
monopoly Of this business in New York are
chiefly foreigners. Tiny have nearly all seen
service In hotels or private families n buffers
or housnkeepcrs or walters. Among them
the French and German preponderate. AMI
the smaller number q Englishmen who have
taken these houses were the frat TO come into
the neli ~ rivals to the natives, The newer
workers began by an effort to adapt the houses
they took to their purpose. The number OF
bathrooms in the average olt-faShionei New
York house is entirely Inadequate TO meet the
denan - Of n Logging house. II II surprising
TO discover how many of them. renting FOR ~
much ~ 5000 a year. have only one bathroom.
The majority have only two. One Of the first
tenlan = made by a prospective logger has to
do with the use of a bath. He wants to know
how neal it is and how much his share of its
use Is to be, This same tendency has lei hotel
buil4ens during recent years to see now Tar 1t
Is possible to supply every room with a bath
and yet keep the prices down to a moderate
figure. The success Of one hotel l. generally
pre- iictel because it announces "A room and
bath for two dollars a Gay. The Logging house
keeper, without even a bathroom to every floor
in a house, is NATURALLY able to give very few
l'AT'A" VIZ . ''N 80
The newcomers in the field turnci their at
tentiou first to this Getail. Thcy supplied every
large room with IA private bath, using for that
puI pose the small closets devoted to the wash
stan l.. This one feature gave a house a great
advantage over one that had a bath for the
use of four or five persons, or, a. In some cases
where there are no baths On a floor, for half a
dozen. This also secured for the lodger in
such rooms a degree Of privacy that had never
been possible before. BY thi, one reform in
ordinary 10 4eing house existence in New York.
they went far ahead Of their competitors.
But they did not cease at this work of M
provemeat. Most Of them were able, start
ins under the circumstance they did. to equip
q house with new furniture. Most OF this
had the look ofhaving been purchased on the in
stall ment plan by mea who make a business
Of furnishing lodgiag houses ia this way. This
l. no objection, however. to the comfort and
c~leanline = Of II. whatever the grounds for
aesthetic criticism may be. These two adj
%vHntages were enough 70 prejudice >earohers
for quarter, in favor OF the new proposition.
And they were all wise enough TO Improve
| in other particulars on the old methods. Most
Of these house, kept by foreigners have a
and there l. a busine ~NIikc way Of 60. Z ICtiug
them that contrasts decidedly with the meth
odS ofthe Old-time Odging-hOr-e keeper who
was usually an Impoverished widow or some
woman suddenly overtaken by misfortune
who had q home or got friends 10 provide her
with one and then began the business of taxi
ing dodgers No such promise ~ home com
fort l. ever made by the new school of lodg-
ing house keepers. Hotel comfort with modittca-
tions l. rather the thing they -r.I to supply.
Privacy, n~eatleSS and good attendance are
the advantages they seek and lhey are the
qualities that a bachelor i looking for and
fnds hardest to get in n moderate degree.
Oae aeN leitufe OF New YORK NE mas helped
10 lnoS veal E um9 Hun Sst II ,bd men yro + toa ~ S1d n rdiTct
house keepers In New York have declined
greatly during the past few years. Guests
are more eNacti1g and profit l. cut down in this
way. the facilitiei for eating in restaurants
are much Rreater than they were and paSsahle
restaurants are cheaper, while the, number
Of apartment hotels at price, possible even
10 persons Of moderate means j. much greater
now than IT was ten years ago. These are some
the profits Of boardinc-hduse keepers and COM
pei them 20 take M the business Of n lodging
house. which makes their work Lighter AID the
serious thnn In a boarding house. in which food
must be provided in addition to rooms.
York 's see snf Ht to ho %st%t the 6 bn barIS~i it Z L s ssrs
prislng to find how much difficulty one will
encounter in the search for satisfactory lodg-
the amateur landiady and her efforts 20 maize
money by means which are more likely al
ways to keep her house empty rather than fun.
Oae tenant In a house on one Of the streets
in the thlriicS, only two door from Fifth avenue.
engaged n front room and the hall room ad-
joining II. two flights up, for 81 u week. The
price, in view of the neiehhorhood. was not
high. The rooms were shown 10 him by the
iandlady and he had no opportunity Of seeing
the servants. He never saw the servant and
began to Judge from the look ot his room and
the re.t Of the house that there might not be
any. He was mistaken. The servant who
was expected TO do al the work for the
house was a little girl about 10 wears old. lie
was In the mind Of calling tho attention ot the
Gerry society Ia her condition, hut he com
promised by giving mp hi rooms and telling
the landlady whv She wa astonished TO ind
him dissatisfied with the service. She thought
| TINT n child and ghp vrarp nnrflptlN Hnnnlla
OF doing all the work necessary In a four-story
house half filed with lodFerS. II Is rarely.
II ever, entirely filed aud the reason for that
Is obvious enough. Sufficient service 10 keen
the house clean and the lodgers satisfied would
not cost a. much ~ tho expense Of having he
house nearly always half empty. In another
house the bathroom was shown, II proved Ia
be an inside closet so impenetrably dark that
II was impossible to see whit the room looked
like. After the suggestion had been made
several time. the la1dlHdv liz tho gns. The
tub had at one time been made Ct tin. hat tho
material was So covered with rust and other
discoloratinn that il would have been diA1cult
10 say of what II was really composed.
You don't mean 10 say that anybody cets
into that tub9" exclaimed the prospective
lodger, Astonished NJ the sight. "or that any
body has been In IL for an agc?"
The lanilady drew down her upper lin.
There Is nothing the matter with the tub"
she answered severely. 1t is only n little
discolorcd. but IL Is perfectly Clean. and she
turned out the gas with vicious suddennesS