The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-12-19
HOST COSTLY CITY HOME
CORNERSTONE LAYING MARKS IN-
 CEPTION or sII,5oe,oe0 BUILDING.
Ganta Claus Saved 10 Young Mnnhat- tanites--socfal Centre of Metro po1ls Defermfned--Ten Thou snnd Lice on Accident In-
 dustry.

New York, Dec. is.--with little of formal ceremony. New York is today entering upon the task of erecting tho most costly municipal building ever reared in America.
 At one of the last public appearances of his administration, which expires on January l, Mayor Mcclellan wteid- ed the trowei in laying the corner stone of the new s11.5oo,ooo city office building which. when completed, is to house the various departments engag- ed In carrying on Father Knickerbock- er's business which now entails the expenditure of s175.ooo.ooo yearly. The building stands near the Manhattan entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge and Is to tower twenty-five stories in the air, overlapping all the other sky scrapers around City Hall Park.
 It is to be really q twenty-eight story structure, the three lower floors being below the surface of the street. It is to be completed by January l. 1912. which allows practically only two years for it's erection. a requires ment which will necessitate unusually rapid work for a building of it's size. When 1t Is finished nearly all the work of city administration excepi that of the mayor, the aldermen and { the police, will be centered under one roof and an army of over six thou sand city employees will ind quarters there.
 In spite of the tremendous outlay required for this municipal skyscraper. the city authorities feel that th,<>. will be economy in its erection as the city now pays out more than a million dollars a year in rentals for private butidings used for municipal purposes.
 If Santa Claus is appreciative of l- tfcularly fine present in the sock of the proprietor of one of the best known family hotels in this city when he makes his annual rounds next week.
 The debt which the ola gentleman with the reindeer, team and the over flowing bag of presents owes to this individual Is nothing less than the prevention of his exile from Manhat- tan Island.
 With the disappearance of individual homes from the city-a movement which goes on with steadily increas- ing momentum each year--there seem ed to be every prospect that the childrens patron saint would be per- manently exiled. As everybody who Is familiar with the average New York aotel apartment knows it not only has no chimney for the rotund dispenser of gifts % descend. but also affords no room for Christmas trees.
 Confronting snis situation, the Ho- tel Majestic, which is the city home of a large number of wel1-to-do families who cling to the old-fashioned habit of rearing children. several years ago established the custom of having every year a huge tree Tor all the children In the hotel. This plan has been copied by. a number of othei family hotels so that old St. Nick bids fair to retain his foothold here in spite of the dangers that threatened him for . time.
 Meanwhile the pioneer in this move ment has gone farther in it's provis- ions for meeting the needs of child life and has established special play rooms with . profusion of toys. an open-air playground on it's two-acre roof equipped for all sorts of outdoor games, afternoon dancing classes and many other features designed to make life as pleasant for the children among its guests as for their elders. Thus in one more field does the hotel In New York supply thS functions ordi- narily fuiflled by the home.
 The social centre of New York is now located ct sixty-second street, just east Of Fifth avenue. not far from the main entrance. to Central E8Eks f
 This important information has been derived from a statistical study of the names appearing in the latest issue Of the Social Register, which Is the ofii- riai guide-bool.. to that somewhat elastic body known as the Four Hun dred but which in this case has been stretched to include more nearly four thousahd. The social centre of course fs quite distinct from the business centre, which is at Broadway and Thirty-fourth street or the centre of population which Is near the East River in the lower part of the city.
 For several years this imaginary point which marks the vortex of those activities which furnish entertainment and gossip for large numbers of in- telleetually sterile people has been moving steadily northward.
 This year there has been a halt Hr this movement. due 1t is explained to