The sun., 1903-12-13
FIATLIFE THE SECRET
OF CONFINEMENT.
People Who Take an Opposite View
from the Rev. DR.. Rainsford.

, don't know that the fat need be blamed for
! it, is that there is no incentive to the me-
chanic or other wage-earner to save money
| toward buying home Of his own. He
| knows that land is too valuable. 1t can't
be done. For that reason some men be-
come discontented, radical members OF
, the community"
SWELL, their discomfort never seems to
propel them out OF New York toward a
locality where elbow room is cheaper,
the listener remarked.
THAT is true. In fact. so few OF New
York's fiat dwelers ever become discon-
tented enough to move out of the city that
they hardly count
Mentally" commented man of letters,
who was born on the other side OF the At
lantic, Il think boys and girls, men and
women are all the better for rubbing up
against their neighbors, Much depends,
of course. on who the neighbors are.
"A populous fiat district undoubtedly
offers chances to the young for learning
some things which might not be gotten at
so easily in a street Of private residences,
but the question is whether the knowledge
thus gained is not on the whole, useful to
boy or girl who is destined to spend his or
her life in New York
AS for the fiat itself, it is far ahead of
the primitive private dwellings of the an
cestors of many of us, both in this country
and in the old country. which consisted Of
three rooms. perhaps fewer, and in which
closet beds, as they were called, were a
feature of every kitchen. and such thing
as absolute privacy for any member of the
family was unheard of.
Father, mother, children of the his CHEST
responsibility in Scotland, Ireland, the
United States and elsewhere lived that way.
and out of just such undesirable condi-
tions-or apparently undesirable conditions,
l would better say-rose some of our most
respectable and influential men. In some
parts of the United States to-day there are
large families living in a two or three room
house, but because they live in a house
there are agitators who pretend to think
that they are better off than the fat dwelers
in New York. /. for one, do not agree with
them | will take chances every time on
the children brought up in a fiat
Il really don't see what difference it
makes" said woman who lives in fat
near Central Park. whether rooms are
piled up perpendicular'y or spread out
horizontally, provided there are the same
number of them. Now, this fiat has eight
rooms and bath.
Before coming here i lived in three
story English basement house containing
exactly the same number of rooms, the
kitchen, which was quite dark, being poked
away down in the cellar, as called 1t.
al much prefer this apartment and
have exactly as much privacy as l ever
had. don't even know the name of my
next door neighbor, and have lived here
six months.
"In all probability | shall never take
house again in New York. ] see nothing
TO be gained by it unless in the case of small
children, who then can pla y in back yard
that is, if the house has one. 1t has come
to pass you know. that even private houses
don't always have a yard
Few women who have tried a fat will
deny that it presents many advantages,
chief among which is that a mother can
more easily look after her children and
have more time to give to them. That
ought to be a consideration of weight with
every clergyman and philanthropist. The
only invasion of privacy l suffer from is
The noises that float up occasionally through
the arshaft; and 80 far they have not
proved demoralizing to either my husband
or me