The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-06-14
RENTING THINGS
ANY ARTICLE DESIRED AS A
 LUXURY OR NECESSITY.
Equipment for Wedding or a Busi- meas ofhee, Human Beings and Ani- malls, by the Hour or Day
 From Babies to Cameras.

meas 0mee, Human Beings and Ani- | mnis, by the Hour or Day | From Babies to Cameras.
 New York Tribune.
 This burg is the greatest place for | renting things. in the world" said a student in the real estate school. of the West Side Young Mems Christian Association after a lecture the other night You can rent anything that there Is. if you will take the trouble to md the man and pay his price. Yes, although have never felt the need. am certain that you could rent set of false teeth or glass eye. happen to know that you can rent baby--to say nothing of renting perambula and a crib and baby clothes for the christening. "
 How's thatg" asked another mem Der of the party.
 Why, one of the cbfidren's sociA- ties turned heaven and earth to break up the baby renting business 1t seems that women beggars found that If they crouched ;on the sidewalk with a baby in their arms people would drop coins into a hand that wasn't stretched out, but was accidentally posed so that a coin could be dropped into it.
 These beggars who had no babies of their own to torture rented them on percentage basis. either from .baby tarms' or heartless mothers. The beggars. it was found, pinehsd the lit- tie ones. or did other things to make them cry or moan. and the societies got busy"
 Every fence or blank wall of a building is for rent" suggested an- other. to am an who wants to paint q sign or stick up billboard. In fact, they had an awful row over a fence around city building in process of construction because somebody sold the space to advertisers. And while you may not know 1t. stores with show windows on busy street make large part of their rent by letting some con- cern show its goods. Of course, win- dows along the line of a parade or an automobile race bring high prices"
 My concern rents its offices clocks" broke in a third. The man whe rents them winds them up and sees that they keep correct time"
 For that matter, my firm rents It's typewriting machines. its water cooler, its towels, combs and brushes. and even the office soap. And my wife rents her sewing machine, her gas range and actually makes a deal with the florist whereby she rents all her potted palms, ferns and decorative plants. This Is a development of the business renting potted plants for weddings. funeral and receptions. In some Of the big hotels you rent decorations for banquet; flags of all sorts cost so much an evening. And a private school rents aquariums with all sorts of poilywogs and things in them"
 That's pothing.s was the remark of another T rented a seat in a sub- way train during ( rush hour. I was sick and messenger boy had seat. I rented 1t for q dine for as far as was going. Whatnever if rains rent an umbrella from an energetic kid who waits at my station. And now I come to think of 1t, we once rented a watch dog to guard the factory.
 Animals? You can rent any old sort of livestock in New York, from A dancing bear down to ferret to drive out rats. You can even rent immunity from vermin. A place where lived charged me a dollar a month and guaranteed that nothing would eraul into my flat. My lodge rents a goat and know you can rent alligators, or snakes, or trained dogs or monkeys for an evenings entertainment. Also youfcan rent butler, or detective or a paimist.
 "For that matter, I know a promot- CT who came to New York and wanted to put up blum in q hurry, who rented q whole establishment, house. furniture, all the ixings, incuding a trained staR Of servants. Moreover. he rented all his once fixtures ana furniture. Another man I know rents another mans name for thousands of dollars a year. The name he rents is one old in his business and brings clients. Young doctors frequently rent the name of an old physician who is retiring.
 q know of one family in the west which comes to New York for amonth or two. Of and on. The day after they have arrived they appear in the ave- nue in their own motor Iandaulet. with chauffeur wearing their private livery. The fact is that they neither own the automobile nor do they hire the chauffeur. They rent both by the month from a transportation company. which has a special department for supplying people who care to be in the city for a short period. with a convey ance which you can't tell from the people dodge the help question, the expense of repairs. and, when they are through with the vehicle, there is no worry about storing it. The same family rents it's entire staff of servants from another concern, which even has house manager to look after them and keep them in order The same concern rents chaperons for women, shopping guides, secretaries; in fact, anything human you want. They will rent leader for a german. if they need one.
 If you want to give a picnic or an outing in this city, you can rent ev- erything for it. You can rent a Fifth avenue double-decker motor bus, or the tin spoons and china plates from which the kids eat ice cream at a May party. You can rent enough ice or roller skates for the crowd, or tents chairs, monographs. sunhats, baby carriages, buckets for lemonade, steins for beer fests. You can even rent cake for a wedding, and sometimes on the East Side, 6 couple has been known to rent a large assortment of wedding presents. These are labelled From Uncls,' or The Best Man etc. and fix a standard of giving for the rest when displayed some time before the happy event. Wedding clothes. from the bridegroom's glad rags to the brides veil and artincal orange blossoms are all for hire. And. of course. you can rent any amount of Jewelry if you want to go in for that sort of thing.
 "So far as fancy costumes are con- cerned. you can at ten minutes notice Fig yourself up to resemble anything from the Lady of the Lake to Cleopa. tra (asp included). or from Dronio to the Doge of Venice. As an antith esis to msrrymaking some Undertakers