Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-09-20
MODERN APARTMENT LIFE
By Frederic 7. Haskir

TINE modern apartment renter
| wants a list of advantages long
enough to fill a sheet of old
fashioned foolscap paper He knows
| he cannot have them all and the
agents must divide desirable things.
If you have a sleeping porch. you
| cannot have elevator service. If
| there is an elevator. the kitchen is
dark. If the kitchen is light, you
i have no foyer hall. If you have a
| room, and so on, straight down the
list. 1t is a case of you pay your
money and take your choice" but
! paying the money always comes first.
The thousands of apartments to let
| each Fall would seemingly make Sc
lection easy, but the woman who has
| climbed long flights of stairs and
rung hundreds of elevator bells in
quest of the conveniences needed for
| the comfort of her family is sure that
! desirable apartments are growing
| scarcer each year because of the in
creased demand for them. Having
taken the one which semed nearest
| suited to his needs, the renter signs
an irrevocable lease and moves in,
| committing himself to Providence.
Unforeseen disappointments can de-
velop in the one which seemed most
| desirable, while the least attractive
| apartment may prove convenient and
comfortable. The disappointed ten
ants console themselves in the hope
| of better luck next year. It is the
annual movings of the dissatisfied ten
| ants which cause the rush each Fall.
The apartment house is actually
displacing the dwellinghouse, both in
| large cities and small. 1t has reach
| ed the suburb also, and is rapidly
l1x- Nl-,@ to- l.. H.. nj.
| economic advantage of the central
heating plant, which relieves the head
of the family from the responsibility
! of the furnace fire is it's strongest at
traction. Having the rooms chiefly
upon one floor, with no steps to clean
or other outside work. appeals to the
woman, especially if she keeps no
maid.
The possibility of living within easy
reach of employment was the first
argument in favor of the apartment.
| This does not apply to the suburban
| apartment, the increase of which has
| bal one of the notable real estate
developments of New York within the
past two years.
Life Is Unique
Life in apartments is unique in
! many ways In a building inhabited
| by several hundred people you can
| live as a hermit, not even knowing
the name of the person separated from
| you by a six-inch wall. You may
hear your neighbor snore and be
keenly aware of the subjects of his
| quarrels with his wife without ever
seeing his face or acquiring speak
ing acquaintance with him.
An English alienist recently ex-
| pressed the opinion that the large
I increase of insanity throughout the
civilized world was largely due to the
monotony of fiat or apartment life.
| The average American finds more in
! finite variety in A single week of
apartment life than could be expert
| enced during whole year in the
average private home. 1t is always
gamble whether the janitor is going
| to turn the heat on in time for your
| seven o'clock breakfast, or If you
will eat while shivering in your over
| coat. The elevator boy may turn
away the one person in the world you
most desired to see and usher up to
your apartment full assortment of
| book agents and bores.
The night you are tired and want
to go to bed early the tenants upon
the floor above you are giving dance
and the music of the fox-trot strikes
| like the hoofs of satyrs upon your
aching head. Yet when you want
to give a musicale the next week and
| the lady across the hall sends the
| janitor to request less noise. at the
very minute when your soprano is
preparing to render her finest solo,
you feel a deep sense of grievance.
Thus the apartment house develops
g. degree of forbearance and con-
sideration for the rights of others not
! likely to be acquired otherwise. The
| crouch is his own worst enemy and
| the man who complains of his neigh
Dor is likely to be complained of. 1t is
| better to ignore the loss of an occa-
sional nights sleep and to forget that
! water from the porch above was
spattered upon a new book upon your
porch. Next week you may unin-
tentionally splash water upon the
floor below you.
Garden Apartments
In contrast with these simple but
attractive apartment homes for work
ing people are the palatial structures
now being designed and erected for
the increasing number of millfonaires
who are. finding it more satisfactory
| to occupy apartments than city homes
| during the winter season. Some of
these apartments are two stories high
and include a spacious drawing room
with walls so lofty that the visitor
receives the impression of the inter-
ior of an italian palace. The walls
are finished with fittings brought
from European palaces including pan
els, tapestries and sculpture. An
| apartment recently completed, to be
rented for the sum of $4,000 an
nually, is finished entirely with anti
que oak which has been taken from
an old English house that had to be