The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1921-10-17

u There is no occasion to relate how
the money was subscribed, the com
pany incorporated and all that sort
) of thing. Nor is it necessary to de-
scribe how the site was bought, how
its former tenants were forced to va
cate with the aid Of court orders anG
how the contracts for the new build
ing were let. Suffice it to say that all
these things were done by the women
who organized the Beekman Hill Co.
operative Association. Chief among
them was Miss Florence Kober, who
is an expert in building management
Having taken courses in building
construction at the Carnegie Insti-
tute Of Technology in Pittsburgh
and served in France as chief me-
chanic for the woman's overseas hos
pital, it is not surprising that when
the time came for her to figure bids
on contracts for this cooperative
building she was equal to the task.
She became the boss of the job and
acted as buffer between the archi-
tect and the dozen different contracts
whose bids were accepted.
my real work began" Miss Kober
said the other day, 'when we learn
ed that it would be much cheaper to
let the remodeling work to lot of
Individual contractors instead of
handing it over to one general con-
tractor. We had competitive bids
from. carpenters, plasterers, paint
ers, plumbers, tile men and roofers.
Being more or less familiar with
building prices I knew what bids
gave the contractors a margin of
reasonable profit which was all we
could afford to allow them. This
system was a tremendous saving
over the general contract plan, fo:
you have no idea how some big con-
tractors will try to impose on a pros
pect, especially if the prospect hap
pens to be an inexerienced looking
lot of women. When Itook the job
of manager I agreed to work at it
two hours a day, but before long it
was taking up so much of my time
that I had to give up my other work
and toward the end it took all my
time"
Miss Kober told the story Of the
evolution of the ideal that changed
three ugly brown stone fronts into
an attractive looking house of thirty
four flats. She recalled how the COM
mittee tramped weary miles upstairs
and downstairs in houses over New
York before they made their selec-
ton.
The women paid $67,5oo for the
lot, which is los feet by eighty |
feet. The renowating cost $4,000.
The members Of the cooperative as
sociation subscribed $4,000 each,
or $1,000 where two women have
taken one apartment. After the |
mortgage is extinguished they ex-
pect to be relieved Of rent problems.
In the meantime tho rent is from$50
to $3.50 for a three-room apart
ment. But they insist that they do
not look at is merely as a matter Of
dollars and cents. While working
toward their own emancipation they
are hoping to improve the condition
Of society, and with that idea in
mind they have set aside a small sum
from the net earnings to proumlgate
cooperative education. As the by
laws have it: -
''The purpose of our association
IS to house members as economically
IS possible through the united funds
and efforts of the members; to fur
her a fundamental economical ad-
iustment to bring about a better
lind of civilization"
Miss Kober claims that the new
3eekman Hill house is one Of the few
absolutely cooperative houses in
Manhattan. She hopes there will be
'thers, but she would not consider
my proposition to repeat her ex-
'eriences as manager. !
There are certain discouraging
circumstances" she claimed, that ]
make it very difficult to carry {
through project in New York un- '