Omaha daily bee., 1902-06-10
ROUND ABOUT NEW YORK.
Ripples on the Current of Life in the
Metropolis.

Ripples on the Current of Life in the
Metropolis.
A patch Of real estate rightly located IN
New York City rivals in productive wealth
the best strikes" in the Klondike or Grip
pie Creek. Last year a department store
syndicate purchased the greater portion Of
a block OF ground at Thirty-tourth and
Broadway. A little slice Of one corner,
fronting sixteen feet on Broadway, re-
NAMED in possession of a nonresident. The
syndicate thought that shoebox slice Of
ground was within its reach and offered
$40,0 a price proportionately higher than
the cost of the remainder of the block. The
owne asked $4,000. The syndicate hesi-
tated and when II concluded to pay the
price asked the owner lifted IL to SIS, 900.
For four months the syndicate dickered
about the price, each delayed acceptance
being met with a raise, until finally a spec
ulator purchased the corner for 1915. 900. A
few days ago this valuable corner was
leased for a term of twenty years at en-
annual rental Of SAC, 600, equal TO 8 per cent
on 100000. The lessee agrees to pay all
taxes and max the rental clear to the
landlord. Meanwhile the department store
syndicate is giving an automatic kicker a
CuduC0 ~ HOIh ONeTIlue.
Another hotel, designed to overshadow
anything Of the kind in New York. is to be
built on the site OF the Plaza hotel, at a
cost Of $40, 600, 900. The greater part Of this
sum will be furnished. it is understood, by
men whose fortunes have been created out
Of the steel industry. Among them are
Charles M. Schaub, president Of the steel
trust; John ]. Mitchell. president Of the
Illinois Trust and Savings bank; John w.
Gates and c. A. Fleming.
AS 1t is now planned the new hotel will
have a frontage Of 200 feet In the plaza,
while in Fifty-ninth street, overlooking
Central park. the frontage will be $50 feet.
If property for which negotiations are now
pending is obtained the frontage In Fifty
eighth street will be the same as that in
Fifty-ninth, but architects are now prepar-
ing plans on the assumption that the struc-
ture will have a facing OF 1875 feet in Fifty
eighth street. The structure will be Of
twenty stories. and in design will be in
keeping with its proportions.
From the New York Life Insurance COM
pany the Plaza hotel has been purchased,
and with 1t three lots In Fifty-ninth street.
The purchase price was $4,000 900. One OF
the interesting features Of the purchases
is that the property was paid for with cash,
making 1t the largest transaction OF the
kind that has ever taken place in New
York City.
A day or two ago, relates the Brooklyn
Eagle, Superintendent Goulden OF the
bureau of membranes decided that a
board fence extending across East Nine
teenth street, near Cropsey avenue, and ad-
Joining the Fort Lowrie hotel at Bath
Beach, was maintained in opposition to the
law, the street having been legally opened
to Gravesend bay.
That was chapter one. Chapter two was
provided yesterday when an inspector from
the bureau, armed with all proper au-
thority and an axe, strobe down with ma
jestic steps to Bath Beach with the inten-
tion Of .obeying orders and cutting away the
Objectionable fence. When he reached the
scene Of prospective action he halted in
surprise. The sight which he saw was
enough to make anybody halt. Astride the
fence were four women, grim looking and
determined.
$50 you're going to chop this fence down.
are your" said one Of the quartet. well,
before you begin Just listen to me. II you
chop this fence down you've got to chop us
down with It. Understand 1t don't como
down under any other conditions. You
near US, don't your
The inspector heard and, lifting up his
feet. he departed.
you can argue with a man. he reported
at headquarters. but you can't argue with
four women on a fence top"
Curious waves Of superstition sweep at
Intervals over certain sets in New York
and nobody ever knows Just why they
should come at one time and not at an
other. Probably the cause is the appear
anoe Of some especially successful medium
or clairvoyant.
Such a woman has lately come on the
scene, reports the New York Sun, and the
story OF one or two remarkable predic-
tions by her has Travelled among women
until she is Just now the most popular OF
all dispensers Of the occult. Her modest
rooms on the east side Of town are daily
sought by women who would not under
ordinary circumstance be found in such q
neighborhood.
However popular the purveyors Of the
occult may become they are rarely able
to raise their prices beyond q certain low
figure. The usual maximum Is 81 and
there Is no profit in an attempt TO charge
more. Even when the medium is most
popular, the women who visit her expect
her services to be reasonable.
The only person who was ever able 70
get high prices In the city returned not
long ago to London, because he realized
that the end OF the game, so far as he
was concerned, had already been reached.
But for six weeks before his departure
he doubled his prices and at the rate OF
$40 a sitting he was occupied all day.
He was the only person ever able TO do
that The demand for the supernatural
may be brisk, but the article must h