The sun., 1909-05-02
FOURTH AVENUE HOTELS
dgEfNG WAY TO WHOLESALE
= ~ BUSINESS BUILDINGS.

) ago Are BeIng Torn Down to Make
n way for Modern Lott Buildings
TIE Everett ,House the First to Go.
The Chain OF old time hostelries that
nj 6derF Fourths avenue from Union Square
~ Ntadtgqhs sqyars the centre Of the
fnhionshie hotel district when the Rialto
was ia, Fourtesnth street is rapidly dis
appearing SsPhe Union Square Hotel,
tts westmofeIand,, the Clarendon, the
.Fprence House. the Belvedere. the Ash
lapd Hopse and the Putnam House-all
shbw places OF r.the sos and '7os-are
bsing crowded out by the northward
march of trade. The Everett House,
Ike the old Fifth Avenue Hotel. has
.Altsady vanished and in its place has
tissn 3. modern loft and Office building.
ItJso only a matter Of few months. or
pessthsy-s . year. before the others will
hase dsappeared too.
1he. expansion or the business district
has long since wiped out the once ex-
clusive residential neighborhood cen-
tripe, ine'lower Fifth avenue and has
steadily pushed the shopping centre
np&own from lower Broadway to Four
; teenth street. than to Twenty-thrd street
and. finally to .Thirty-fourth street Up
I town New York of two generations ego
10 now downtown or midtown. All
through the altered districts the brown
ytone residences. the little shops and
markets and the old fashioned hotels
have given place to business buildings.
Fourth avenue, shielded on the south
by Union Square. has held out longer
than the other north and south thorough
vfares,, Most Of the frontage on both sides
d, the avenue is controlled by estates
whose Representatives have been too
conservative either TO sell or to improve
Eieirj holdings As result the north
lt*Aid trend Of business was diverted to
Btoadway, Fifth avenue and Sixth avenue,
while Fourth avenue remained dnchan ged
but its transformation Is now advancing
at a lively pace,
1.-The first Of the old time hotels to go was
the Everett House, which stood at the
northwest corner Of Fourth avenue and
seventeenth street. II was built in 1889
~ Edward Everett and in its time was a
resort of fashion and wealth. Henry NJ.
stanley Prince Henry OF Battenberg and
the Dowager Duchess Of Marlborough
heyday Of its prosperity. With the rise
Of new hotel district further uptown the
Everett House lost prestige. Its Promi-
ueut guests sought more luxurious quar-
ters and its revenues dwindled.
In 1905 j. A. Siebert and +. B. Mccarthy
organized the Everett House Company to
take over the hotel Siebert had been a
contractor uptown and had built number
Of big apartment houses. He was de-
scribesi as a man extremely optimistic
about certain mining schemes in the West
Indies. 1t was said at the time that Sic
bert's roseate views on mining we're in
spired by Mccarthy, who was we'll known
01 the curb.
At any rate, after the new management
took possession the hotel became quite a
resort for mining spectators, who fire.
a,iented the cafe and dining room and
nayer talked in terms of less than million.
While Siehert and Mccarthy ~ere dis
cussins fortunes Of elk oiphers the every
day finances Of the Everett House we're
getting sadly muddled For seven
months the place was run on tick, even
when II came to engaging the services Of
the official rat catcher Supplies were
bought on credit and only the employees
kSlaries were paid in cash. notwithstand-
ing the fact that the hotel was making a
pfoftt Of at least 500 a day, according to
Ghe'active managers 8 assertion.
,iAlong In DJc ember. 1905. the foreclo-
sure Of chattel mortgage precipitated
the filing OF claims for $50, 900 or $4,000
and the Everett House Company went
'6nt OF commission. j., H. Siebert unob-
.trlsiveiy packed his grip and went else
where. After the tangle had been
straightened out the Century Realty
Company took over the property for
se5o,0Oo. Under it's oSnership the man
agement of the hotel ran along under a
lessee with few minor Interruptions
until last year. when the restaurant
capped the climax.
Notice was serve ed on the seventy-odd
guests that the hotel had given up and
they were forced to get out. After that
came the housewreokers, who tore down
the old structure, and the iron work ers,
Who rushed up the steel skeleton of the
sixteen story business building that now
stands on the site. The new Everett
BnfIdinR was finished a few weeks ago
and Is now filled with tenants.
SSA. block to the northward, at the south
cast corner Of Eighteenth street and
Fourth avenue, is the Clarendon, an old
fashioned five story building that in its
day shelterd prominent statesmen, men
iof testers, society folk and members Of
theinobility. Among other noted sigma
tures the battered hotel register bears
the name Of Grand Duke Alexis. Thack-
eray on his visits to Amoetca always put
Up at the Clarendon.
Fifty years ago the Clarendon was con-
adhered the hotel Of the metropolis. Visi-
tors entered with inward trepidation, and
ka1sd upon Its luxurious fittings with
admiration. To-day the splendor OF the
modern skyscraper hotel has eclipeed the
transient glory Of the old Clarendon, and
the Fourth avenue hostelry has declined
to the rank OF quiet family hotel. Henry
Corn. man who has built SCORE OF mod
en-" business buildings In the midtown
district. now owns the Clarendon. He
will tear it down and replace it with tall
mercantile structure.
Across the street 10 the Florence House,
which came into prominence in the early
'7Os as the pioneer apartment hotel. At
tho southeast corner or Nineteenth street,
adjoining the Florence House. is the
burnt out shell of the Parker Building,
which furnished spectacular blaze
eosnewhat more than year ago. Irons
kTodd bought the Parker Building at
snction this spring A few days ago the
Eorence House was added TO their hold
ihge.s On the combined plot. which in
cludes the entire block front on the east
sido of Fourth avenue between Eighteenth
and Nineteenth streets, twenty story
business building will be erected.
Last Friday night the guests got to-
gether in the faded parlors and listenedto
farewell speech from Michael Powell.
Tor nineteen years the night clerk. Yes