The New York herald., 1921-11-20

Suppose, Mrs Housewife. some kindly
disposed genie should ride up on cloud
IT pop up out of the earth and ask you
i9 you wanted him to rub lamp and
produce for you a beautifully arranged
suite in a beautifully arranged apart
ment house, with the city at your front
door and the country peeping in at your
back window; with tennis courts and
other mature recreational facilities for
yourself and your husband and play
grounds for your children; with sunken
gardens to wander In on twilight eve
nings, and lake to row on in summer,
to skate on In winter and to mako the
landscape more picturesque all the year
round.
Just suppose the aforesaid philan-
thropic genie should ask you all this
and then pausing for breath-for there
is nothing on NEUROLOGICAL record to
show that genii haven't lungs just like
their brother builders in the everyday
world-should promise you that II you
agreed to let him produce that apart
nlent for you he would see to 1t that
your dishes wese wasiled while you were
out on the tennis coarts or in the gar
den, and that he would also arrange the
heating paps go t.lat 1t would cool your
apartment ia the summer.
And finsity suppose that this genie
gentleman should pull from his inside
pocket. after the custom which genii
have followed from time immemorial, "a
leasing agreement drawn up in legal
fashion and calling for a rental that
was no bigger If as big, as the one you
are paying now. Would you sign on the
dotted line or would you tell him dis
dainfully that neither you nor your hus-
band was in the habit Of doing busi-
ness with genii and that you preferred
to remain in your nice cozy fiat, where
the piano is so near the kitchen range
that revolving chair does away with
ali necessity for locomotion?
OF course you don't need to mail your
answer to us. for we can make fairly
accurate guess as to just how you would
receive the genie's proposition. In fact
the guess is such an easy one that
group of big financiers in this city have
taken your assent for granted and with
out waiting for the genie to get your sig
nature on the dotted line are seriously
considering the erection of group OF
apartment houses on Washington
Heights that will embody all the mi
raculous features mentioned by the genie
IN his selling talk plus a few more.
For various reasons 1t would not be
polite to indentify the hackers of the
scheme at this stage of the game, but 1t
can be said that the leader Of the group
Is a man whose name works wonders In
both the financial and philanthropic
world Nor can the site chosen for the
venture be located too closely. For the
purposes Of this article let it suffice that
the ground area already rests In the
ownership of the leader Of the group. If
the scheme is carried out along the lines
under consideration 1t will involve
total Investment Of about S10.000.00O.
But don't let that sum stagger you, Tor
the project is to be carried out on a huge
plan and the creator of the plan. Samuel
Harry White, an architect of Cleveland,
has figured out that these apartments
could be rented on a basis of $50 per
room. which is not an exorbitant rental
tor such housing on Washington Heights
in these days. The plan calls for rentals
ranging from s125 for five rooms up tc
$3.50 for the larger apartments.
The prospective builders Of the un-
usual apartment house will have an
advantage that doesn't usually fall to the
lot of those who embark on radical ven
lures In the construction field. Before
they have settled on all the details OF
the plan they will have practical life
sized working model of the housing
group proposed by Mr.. White. for the
latter is already supervising the carrying
out of hiv idea in Cleveland, where the
first of the new type Of apartment house
is already under way at Theatre Bouie-