Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1907-10-03
From the New York Sun.

Experienced woman agent will look
Ap apartments for persons prior to
their return to town. Commission
bnsis- Send particulars of what you
need to advertiser"
This advertisement in Il newspap per Of
recent date doubtless brought joy to
many of the summer hotel and board
ing house women contemplating a re-
turn to town and dreading the neces-
sary hunt for living accommodations in
the city.
A letter to the advertiser brought n
speedy response. with "A printed slip to
be filled out by the prospective tenant,
mentioning the number of rooms de-
sired. the number of persons to be ac-
co~nmodated. the price. location, as we'll
as references as to responsibility, etc.
AT Il cOnvient New York address the
advertiser was to he seen after bust
ness hours. Her fat hunting labors
she has added Az u branch to the work
Of decorating apartments and opening
country and town houses In readiness
for the arrival of their occupants.
Il find the numbe" of persons desir-
ing me to find flats for them far In
excess of my expectations" she said.
indicating n pile OF correspondence. Il
have also found it is necessary for me
to charge a fec in advance in order to
Insure the good faith OF my clients.
Il have carried on this work now
for a few seasons. but l did not adj
vertise until this year. Undoubtedly
Il offers n field for work which would
~vnonopolizc the attention of any one
willing to devote thought and labor TO
the enterprise.
Il now employ two or three bright
women who DO the actual fiat hunting
for me. When l began l went about
myself and nus gained a pretty good
knowledge of locations. prices and the
ways of renters. agents, janitors. etc.
1t is lively and interesting work. but
Il il very firing and one must be strong
and able to stand fatiguing climbs to
be a success at ii. 1t is difficult to
understand that some women go out
OH these tours of fiat inspecting who,
40 the %janitors and agents say, actually
enjoy 1t.
-Womer come In from out of town
and make rounds of furnished apart
Meuts advertised for rent just to SEQ
the furniture and decorations. and. OF
hate. a class of petty thieves obtain
entrance to homes ON this pretcnse.
You see. then. that the woman who
fS known to agents to be in the bus
tness of flat getting will have more
SUCCESS than the stranger. who may
hc suspected of killing time or going
about the new buildings through cur
kosiiy.
This is the season when he great
demand for apartments exists rather
than In the spring rs formerly. The
first of May nowadays sees families
nuSslhIiiS up iltuStfctI,IiiS anu SUI IiiS
furniture in preparation for country
living and European trips. But about
September there is a general home COM
sng md of course. Il demand for living
quarters. Those who seek for such
places in advance of the great rush al
ways fare better. for prices often go
away up just before the first OF Octo-
her.
Living accommodation is scarcer
than ever in New York. and yet some
twV,Nc 81 eZ -. 49,, = l. -.,r "a -, 40 $50, ncs - ynt
lis always rewarded If people are not too
particular about ncighborhoods. Up
Harlem way and in The Bronx there
are plenty of flats to be had. of course.
but even in these sections there are no
epIIce sSionS made that in the old days
resulted In the saying that it was
cheaper to move han to pay rent.
Harlem was once identified with
cheap rentals. but it is so no longer.
Modern flat houses with improvements
cali for a rental of about sl2 a room.
and there is no time given free as in
the days of ten years ago. Those were
the times when Harlem tlatters fitted
about from place to place during a
year. getting a month free. and some
times more. Builders filed their houses
I'm this way in order 20 sell them, and
It did not matter In the least IL ten
Auts played this game SO long as the
house was sold before the exodus.
"T'here arc many advantages offered
III upper New fOTk, out t1cTe If Il
strong tendency to locate in the down
tow sections. This is owing to the
hard conditions of travel during the
rush hours. getting to business down
town in the morning and returning
home at night.
Rents below Ftfty-ninth street keer
no although the apartments may be old
fashioned and undesirable as to neigh
borhood. Small apartments are sc
scarce that owners are making over
their dwelling houses into tiny living
apartments.
1t Is surprising also to note that
people will take almost anything to &c,
living places within reach Of thei
friends or their favorite churches and
chOols Half of the letters l have re.
ceived state the church or the schoo
z the square near which the tenants
must have accommodation.
Numerous people wish to get near
the big hotels. or course. l am III
q with the agents Offices and 1 pre-.
pare my lists OF what Is required and
send them out. Then I get replies tell.
ing me what Is to be had and at what
prices. I send my women assistants
out first to look these places over and
II they report we'll on them l go myself
and then send word to my clients that
have found a place for them. Pend
ing their arrival l manage to hold the
Rats, for / have a certain amount of In.
Auence with agents. controlling sc
many applications as I do.
my assistants and myself are pretty
well acquainted with the field and W,
know Oftentimes just what will sui
some of those who apply for rooms. Al
I'm every other business. familiarit,
With the field is of great value.
W. are treated better than stranger,
~ j~anitors and elevator boys and w,
also are able to get concessions In rem
when we have good reliable tenants t
sl1er.