Evening star., 1902-02-21
BLooMsBURY's BoARDERs.
The seamy Side Of Lodging House Life
in London.
From the London Mail.

rTpm tne London Mall.
The London boarding house is the resi-
Dental hotel Of the poo1er middle class To
| i've IN good hotel with any comfort n
man and wife with one child must have an
income or from tstO to f1,OO9 a year But
the metropolitan boarding house caters for
the great class living on from 3Os to fG a
week.
The character of these houses differs
largely. according to their locality. The
cheapest Of them are in the shabby -genteel
suburbs. and there are houses at Finsbury
Park and at Streatham where you can no
taken In and done for for as little as Iss
or guinea a week. But they are uninter-
estlne, ana their accommodation is of a
uistressingiy meager charact South KEN
slngton, the great home of the cheaner-
priced boarding houses. prides itself on its
gentHlty. Here fourishes the ..paving
guest South Kensington is declared h.,
man many IN the great army OF boarders to be
lne region OF extras and of poor fare
me landladtes there make a brave show
with very little. They are artistic 1saye
the mark after the manner of ten Years
ns,ntad nsn, me llooon-trimmed banjos. horribly
painted plates. amateurishly enameIed
ualrymald stools, and the like abound in
lnelr rooms: But the man with a healthy
appetlte and hearty ways win scarcely find
south kensington satisfying
For sheer human interest. bloomsbury
comes f1rst. From the Euston road on the
north to New Oxford street on the south,
and from Tottenham Court road Ia Gray's
Inn road the boarding houses are multi
tudlnous. In several streets nineteen housas
out OF twenty are boarding establishments.
ana they have almost wholly replaced the
old type OF landlady who took in dodgers.
Here and there a specimen Of the old
bloomsbury dame Is still to be found bur
sne must be searched for. The clean Scan.
dlnaVian and the methodical Dane have
driven the Dickensian landlady off the field.
ana the bright German waiter has replaced
the "slavey"
Guilford street is the favorite center. They
are numerous in Upper Bedford place.
where Americans are specially found There
are many OF still better class around
bloomsbury square. Some OF the cheapest
OF all are in the neighborhood of Keppel
street.
There are houses where you can obtain
board or a fairly substantial character for
guinea week. or husband and wife to-
gether for 8Os., but they are crowded and
not comfortable. The rooms are small and
split up; there Is heavy air of cooking per-
vad1ng everything, and the whole aspect Of
affairs Is somewhat hot, greasy and stuffy,
Thirty shillings for men is, generally
speaking, the recognized minimum rate, and
% shillings for ladies. From these figures
you can go up to what you please. There
are several establishments which give prac-
tfcally all the comfort Of good hotels at
about half their rates In many cases sue
cessful boarding house managers extend
their premises TIL they become consdera-
BILE hotel proprietors There are several
prominent instances Of this in Bloomsbury
est and most fashionable hotels In London
today was started by an ex-butler in this
manner. He Is now country magistrate
and a great land owner.