New Britain herald., 1926-01-22
TOKYO ID TRY OUT APARTMENT HOUSES
Bringing in Western Methods
 0i Living

have an American apartment house, i the first erected in that city Of five l million inhabitants and considerable 1 congestion. The Japanese govern ment itself has advanced part Of the money for tho construction of the l building which is looked upon as an 1 important experiment in adapting 10 ! Japan western methods ot meeting ! housing difficulties. "Japan's turning 10 the apartment houso does not present q strange picture, after all" says bulletin [ rom the Washington, D. C. head quarters Of the National Geographic 1 society. commenting on this latest building project in Nippon,
 Apartment Houses Not New "Tha apartment house is by no ! means a new housing device. except | ta our particular development Of it. | along lines Of comfort convenience | and luxury In all ages and in 1 many parts of the world, conges- 1 J!on in cities has been a major fac | tor in driving different families to share common roof. China may be laken az the shining exception which proves this rule, for although ,l.e units ot her teemiNg population nave been treading on one another's fges for many centuries, few of them lave torsaken the individual dwell- iug.
 Babylon has been suggested as ne home O. the first apartment aouse or tenement; yet that frs '-orll metropolis may have repeated merely the reaction 10 population pressure shown by other cities, lost beyond the horizin Of history. An liant Rome had two and three story tcnements Of brick and stucco, tut they disappeared long ago; and 7ome og their sites no doubt sup port today modern community dwellings. In the ghettos and other sections Of medieval European cities. ..mi.!.s toYni il necessary to occupy dwellings jointly just as they do to day in London. Paris, Berlin, Vienna and dozens oi other cities Of tic u.d world.
 |. $. Fertile Field For Apartment
 Houses.
 Tt is in the United States, how yer, that apartment houses seelA 10 have found their ultimate dcvel- opment in quantity. quality. volume and height Not only do they lin- the Fifth avenues and the Michigan boulevards Of the population cen ters, but they are sprnging up as well along the Main streets Of count less small towns where congestion has not yet been icit. The American desire to get q thing done efficient ly anl quickly is another cause for the marked trend toward apartment. ho,isn hlr.
 Apartment houses early came in- 70 exlsta%cc Cu;sldc cities as well n" in them. The need of association for protection was doubtless the chief reason for the rise of the iso- latad community dwelling. Probab- i,. very early in mans history, in re- c.ons where the facilities were suit able, groups of families found Il sal- ost to occupy natural or artificial caves in the same cliff face, so that alarms might be spread easily and so that the full man-power Of the community might be quickly mar qhaled in times Of danger. Such dwellings, probably constituted the worlds earliest apartment houses
 Early Community Homes In Our
 Southwest.
 Tn America these safety apart mants had q somewhat different de- yoIopment at much later date. The CHr dwellings Of the southwest we're occupied not by savages. but .,y peopl" Of considerable culture. ,tor were their dwellings mere caves. Structures Of excellent masonry .,rre bri!i on inc lodges Of cliffs un- ter ovcrnarging corniccS.
 "The Pucblos still occupied today .4oug to a second type of American apartment louso.' Those aro uau-
 'ly constructed on tiat-topp"d h"I .@ mesa and consist ot a more or l.z4 5umblfl pile Of rooms built o' ..obo or mud brick. To still aE' ,. ,Dr .ype. most closely resemb.ina e apartment louso of today, b. .yngal the great masonry structures
 nch ;s pusMo Bonito in Cha". r.nyou. N.~ M2zlco, which in J.
 ylay. cea'uri'4 ago, housed 12o. ,ecple. The exploration and partia ra stora'loa Of this great dwelling !. rae National Groeraphi" society he.
 :4cozaI hin, rous private ao"r'. .a.uts a,j lsltH rooms or 'Ec@"th .n15,rUc'lou.