The evening world. Newspaper, August 24, 1920, Page 18

aN A LTERATION of roomy private homes. into several small apartments and subdivision of large apartments into two or more apartments of two or three rooms have been notable develop- ‘ments of the present building season. Results will be more crowding of families, fewer babies, a rising death rate, fewer contented homes, more divorces and a train of evils which follow housing shortage. In the emergency it is perhaps a bétler remedy than to force more families to double up in single apartments or camp out in tents, But builders should beware of the idea that all i the occupants of two arid three room apartments live so from preference. Many do so only from ‘hard necessity. Builders should not overbuild this type of dwelling. In the new construction the tendency should be ~ toward larger and “roomier apartments. The pres- ent subdividing of living quarters promises to result ai an oversupply of small apartments. Builders may be sure that as rents come down, those who have crowded together from necessity, , Will spread out from dhoice, will want larger rooms, and more of them. For their own profit, builders should remember that they are building for a generation, not for a EXPLANATION IN ORD! "FD RESIDENT LA GUARDIA of the Board of a -Aldermen is right in asking for more informa- “tion on the Court House limestone contract. 3 discrepancy between the Hanlein limestone and, the Killian granite estimate is so striking demand explanation. Working from the same plans, one contractor says he would sell the city a volume of building ~ material 29,000 cubic feet larger than from the * other, : Where would this excess material be packed in? ' ‘Td help visualize this difference, it is well to note ~ that 29,000 cubic Feet of timestone would make 2 solid block more than 30 feet on each edge. It fs - as large as many a modest cottage. - «. The granite contractor believes that he can con- _. struct according to plan with only 82 per cent. as much stone as the near-suocessful limestone builder. Perhaps there is a simple technical explanation, © Perhaps it is customary for the city to pay for 18 | per cent. of material which is wasted in cutting and — ; shaping. If so, the Mayor and the contractor should ae to explain. Ba SPs savtitory evbtarition, the votes wil |» be'forced to conclude that the favored contractors _ fe selling something the city does not need, and at a substantial profit. f "Such things have happened in municipal politics , «end the pubiic is wary of a repetition. 3 SPYING ON THE SPIES. ‘ EVELOPMENTS in the Eckert murder case seem to promise unsavory revelations of cor- motion in the dry enforcement army, If these develop they will be merely ‘a repetition of similar revelations which have appeared in other quarters, , "Ht begins to appear that the regular force of dry ~enforcers is so generally corrupt’that a super-body of enforcers is needed to force the enforcers to en- force the law, abstain from graft and do their duty. * In time it is apt to be found that these super- “enforcers have in turn been corrupted, and then we 1 | shall have @ third hierarchy of dry spies spying on the spies who spy on the spies. + The well-known rhyme seems to describe the situation in a made-to-order fashion: i Great fleas have little fleas upon their backs bite ‘em, And little fleas have lesser fleas, and so ad , infinitum, And the great fleas themselves, {n turn, have greater fleas to go on; While these again have greater still, and greater still, and so on. Which doesn’t help the poor ultimate victim of the fleas. + i ‘ bd is the season of greatest activity of that all well and widely known social organization, The *If” Club. ped This club has an snormous membership. Elec- 5 “ay - tion, initiation and dues are dispensed with. Meet- | ® ings are held on subway and elevated platfonns, In ~ Clubs, theatre lobbies, at the corner near-beer bar, in | parks—in fact, anywhere that baseball fans con- » gregate. = The identification card is 4 table of club standings of the big leagues. The password, from which the : “organization derives its name, is “If 4 As a matter of fact, The “If” Club is more than an organization, It is an infection, This year the malady is raging in an acute form in the Greater City. ; ‘ “If the Yanks win ‘three out of the Chicago | | "af the Glants trim Cincinnati" +, “If the Dodgers only stick it out and grab the pennant” —— Such is the introductory ritual of the fraternity, followed by partisan objections and scientific deduc- tion of probabilities that put to shame the tame speculations of the affiliated orgunizations, the Radiator League of the winter months, This year The “If” Club has an unprecedented membership of incomparable activity, For is it not true that all three of the local big league teams are in easy reaching distance of the coveted trophy of baseballdom? ‘The fact is undeniable. New York has more than an even chance of see- ing part of the. games of the World's Series. New York has a fair prospect of seeing ALL the games of the series. If the Yanks win the American League pennant— AND, if either the Giants or the Dodgers lift the National gonfalon—Oh, man!—words fail—the town will go crazy! The fact is, we all belong to The “If” Club. ROUT THESE PYGMIES! arcane out the absurdity of the Republican candidate’s oratorital clap-trap about return- ing to the foreign policy of Washington, Senator Hitchcock says: “Isolation as a policy was abandoned many years ago and Senator Harding could no more return to It as @ national policy than the coun- try could return to the candles which Washing: ton used when he went to bed.” It is time intelligent Americans rallied to protect the memory of George Washington from the be- littling tactics of Republican leaders who speciously misuse it to cloak their hatred of Woodrow Wilson. As The Evening World has more than once in- sisted : : No unworthier tribute can be paid the First Pres- ident of the, United States than to assume that his just, well-balanced mind would have remained im- pervious to the changes and progress of a century and a quarter; that the cable, the steamship, the extraordinary developments in international inter- communication and the consequent larger comeep- tions of international relationship—not to speak of the growth of this Nation in population, wealth and powet—would have made no alteration in the for- eign policy which Washington prescribed for a new- ‘bom republic of less than 4,000,000 people, setting out to overcome Its poverty and make a place for itself in the world at the close of the eighteenth century. Is the ‘Republican Party to be allowed to go on misusing the greatest name in American history to cover a shameless campaign perversion,of truth in the interest of present day partisan narrowness and unscrupulous reaching for power? ‘ Where are the true admirers and defenders o George Washington? WORDS AND DEEDS. 66T\EEDS are masculine, words are feminine,” is a translation of “Fatti maschii, parole femine,” the motto in the seal of, Maryland. Out of these words other words are rising— mostly feminine words, it must be admitted. Maryland Suffragists, newly enfranchised, are SAYING that the State motto should be dhanged. They have been saying this for some time. Doubt- less the Maryland legislators who refused to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment snickered in their sleeves and pointed to what they had done as a proof of the motto, Now that women are to have the vote, they may continue to talk, but they have the opportunity to prove the motto false by DOING away with it. Prove its falseness, ladies—~in Maryland and else- where. . For if the motto is true, Suffrage is a sad mistake. ‘Male politicians and male voters have been able to produce a surfeit of words, What politics need js deeds, “Words are masculine, deeds are feminine” would be a timely amendment. PARAGRAPHS FOR A PORCH-CLIMBER. It would help to bolster up the Front Porch if the Candidate could point to something at- tempted, something done, Something, say, just os good as a Babe Ruth home run. eee Aa labor ia divided under the G. 0. P. plan of campaign, the Junta does the stopping and looking, the Candidate listens. see There 48 #0 little reason to the #ront Porch, perhaps, because there is no rhyme for it wee It dawns upon the Many that the pitlur of a Wront Porch is but ¢ vain substitute for u Pillar of Fire. . When the custodians of the Cundidate have decided to wean him from the Home Piazza, it shall Be written again aa in the daya of the Chronicles: “Also they ahut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps.” eee “I had rath:r,” quoth the Candidate, “have didustrial and social peace at home than com. | mand the intrraational peace of all the world.” i As interpreted by the light of further Front | Porch eloquence; “Bo long as there are fresh | apples, plenty of sugar and rich spice in ny } plece of pte, I don't care what ftling fs served to the reat of tho world,” FROM EVENING What Rind of! letter do you find most readable? Ian't it the one that gives you the worth of a thousand words in a couple of hundred?” There is fine mental ezercise to say much tn a few words, Take time to be brief. Te Own a Home. ‘To the Bditor of The Evening World: George W. Knell’ letter in The ening World of Aug. 17 states: “Every famlly in New York which Pays a rental of $404 month should own its own home.” I quite agree with this, but have a different plan to offer than that suggested by Mr. Knell. In my own predicament J am seri- ously !n want of five rooms, bur in order to obtain them must pay nbout $70 per month, I can pay #0 a month, which would, no doubt, enable me to own a home of my own except for the fact that I lack the necessary cash deposit. Now, if it were jos- sible for me to combine with a party also requiring rooms and who iad the necessary cash deposit to pay, we posit buy a house, and his depo could apply as rent untll pald up; or, on the other hand, if he decided to remain aa part owner, when I had the cash deposit on the house, we would then be equal owners and to- gether clear the mortgage. W. J. H New York, Aug. 19, 1920 ‘A liar is worse than a thief Money \s the rutnation and dannea- tion of this mation, Money is a bless- ing to some, yet a curse to others. ‘verything we have in this world \s only loaned to us; when we die we leave it all to others. Many a man's money hes put him in hie grave. Many a man's money \has saved him from his grave. Gratitude is ike radium—it is one of the rarest things in t world, ‘Only a coward woukl commtt ‘sul cide: yet it takes @ brave and nervy person to do It A wheath of roses on-a skunk’s head will not remove the odor. ‘This life is only a dream; the dawn of awaking comes in beyond the ra Mun is the only living thing on this earth that Gad has placed the curse of money upon, The plain truth hes a greater power tn this world than all the gold, R. B. (ago 18). | Reply to “Watohm: ‘bu the Editor of ‘The Krening W in answer to "Watchman" of Thurs- day, Aug. 19, evening issue. but he | the watehman’s, I'll ain: |. There was organized last fall at No, 41 Ola Sitp, New York, the Greater New York, for the | and advancement of al) watchmen, to could get together, and with his de- | pald“® sum equal to the amount of | | Kindly give this letter space in your valuable paper (which I have been reading for twenty-five years), | He states he works 14 hours a night and the others work 9 hours a day, does not say & word about those who only work 6 hours a day. It's not a contractor's fault that a watchman works 14 hours a day, It's Port ‘Watchman's Protective Association of IT WASA COMPROMISE 0 WE OMPROMSEOD SY LETTING OUR. DS Z/T TLE DOG AFFLE DECIDE FOR. WORLD READERS | and a lot of satisfaction in trying ;feduce the hours and increase the | pay. The association was instrumen- tal in changing the hours from 12 houra for $3.60 to 8 hours for $4. It 1s a good organization, presided over by a body of capable gentlemen and {t's the duty of every man, young or old, disabled or infirm, who followa the occupation of watchman, whether 6 agency, to belong to this organization, A watchman’s job 1s just as tmport- ant as a police officer's, pare of millions of dollars’ worth of property in the city and on the water have lange families to take cure of. Why shouldn't he get patd a living wage, the same as. other workmen? ‘We must hang together, or hang separately. So my advice to Watch- man" is te join the union and get hiy friends to do likewlse. + A REAL WATCHMAN, |e le Started Something, To the Hditor of The renting World: | 1 wish May of Weehawken and ;Some of those other girls would Freep {stil for a while, for they were ihe ;means of my getting the most won- derful spanking I ever got in my life. Tam twenty-five and over, and I iad my mother weaned away from the jidew that she could punish me, no I |stayed out late and everything, but it'a going to be different from’ now. on, And if she thinks it’s fun, [ll stuke her to a session with my, mamma, who is as strong as a young horse, and uses a cane, intead of a brush. I myself brought honw the copy of The Evening World that had the letter that started it all. MARJORIE OF THE WEST SLDE. New York, Aug. 19, 1920, Resents the German View. To the Kaitor of The Sreatng World Not long ago I read in your pane: jan article signed by a “Gooman | Woman,” who says, “Americang are next to the almighty dollar.” I would so much like you to pub- lish this letter about a near Ameri- can, at least one who has taken out her first papers, ‘This German woman says Amert- cans are common and crazy. Why {s she trying to become an Amert- can? Does she want to belong to the common and crasy people? While in Germany this woman says she “had g better time than tn London or U, A.” (Was she put out of London?) She claims she feels sorry for the Kaiser and Germany. The Kalser was perfectly good. Whet kind of an American would we honest, whole-hearted, good Americans call her? Would {t not be better to rid the country of much people by refusing them citizenship? ~ “Germany was right in the war.” I can say I was raving mad when I read this, IT had two brothers and countless cousins in this great war. | T will just ask our beys who so bravely fought. Some had brothers that ‘pald the supreme sacrifice. efit What will they say Oh, such pro-Germans who only He takes | front and he has got to liye. Some) Sedat Aish catia works for a contractor or an! ee base, AND WHERE OID HE WANT % Go ? UNCOMMON SENSE By John Blake (Copyright, 980, by Jonm Biake.) THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF SELFISHNESS. Selfishness is at the bottom of 90 per cent. of the trouble in the world. Labor and capital cannot agree because both are often selfish. The Red Anarchist, seeking to overthrow government, selfishly wants wealth that he has not earned, happiness without labor. The selfishness of the Junkers in Germany brought about the most terrible war the world ever knew. Had they been contented with reasonable prosperity, they were in a fair way to conquering the world commercially. Selfishness cannot be climinated. It is common to every one. Tn the great, it is called ambition. etousness, You will be selfish if you are human. But if you culti- vate thé right kind of selfishness you will be far happier, and probably far more prosperous. Two of the most successful men the United States ever produced discovered early in their careers that great pros- perity could not be theirs unless they were willing to divide their profits with other able men. Rockefeller surrounded himself with men like H. H. Rogers, John D, Archbold, H. M. Flagler and others. He permitted them all to gain vast fortunes—-in co-operation with him, Had he feared them and left them alone they would have been his competitors. i Andrew Carnegie adopted the same policy. rich with his partners. Without discussing the methods of either of these men, it is worth while to point out that by abating their selfishness to some extent they prospered far more greatly than they would otherwise. The intelligent employee who is willing to let his ‘em- ployer make a rensonable profit on his services has a better chance of succeeding than the one who isn't, 5 Recognizing the selfishness in other men and adjust- ing yours to meet it will take you a long way in the world. Trying to get everything for yourself will only set the world against you and bring you nothing but failure In the lowly, cov- He grew in, A Brooklyn pie baker hag oocu- pied a floor six years in this last tse our country for thelm own gain, Down with them. AN HONEST, TRUE CITIZEN Visiting in France, Aug. 5, 1920. two disposmesses on him to vacate. ‘The tenant could not find a place to live, 80 the new owner moved right in to his rooms and made him occupy the two front rooms while owner has the four back rooms, Doesn't this seem an awful injustice to tenanty to be put to an experise and left without a home so the landlord can get rich? A forelgner who came to this country without a dollar a few years ago and ousting American citizens. Would you kindly find space in your paper so the Judges can see for them- selves that they can be decelved? have been a reader of The Evening World for many years and pleased to read where you are doing your best to help straighten matters out to help the poor to get homes for thelr fami. les. I walked the streets myself for aix weeks until I found rooms, so I know from expérience the hardships others are going Ure ig ‘ MRS. BROWN Brooklyn, Aug. 21, 1920, The Rew To the Miitor of The Evening A tew days ago I read tn The World where a Judge says a tenant whould be evicted with a month's notice ifthe landiord wants to ocupy the rooms himeelf, Quite often the Judge gets deceived himself. I will write you of one case I know to be positive facta. ‘A Swedish woman owned a house on 7th Street and sold it a year ago, bought another two-family house on 4th Btreet, raised one floor $15 more rent, moved into the other floor her- pelf; two months after gold this house and bought another with a gurage, on eth Street, raised rents there also 15; three months after sold this ‘ge, making $5,000 on the three gales, and bought a house on 88d Street. Every time she bought 4 house a tenant ‘had to move to let her move i . ‘ house she bought and she has served | of New York City Government. By Willis Brooks Hawkins. This te the twenty-fourth article of @ series defining the duties of the administrative and te; officers and boards of ti York City Government, TAXATION. Real Estate Assessments. For the making of real estate as- sessments the city is divided into sev- enty assessment districta—thirteen {n Manhattan, eleven in the Bronx, twenty-three in Brooklyn,’ eighteen in Queeng and five in Richmond. Each district is in charge of a Deputy As- sessor, who, under the charter, is re- quired to examine personally “every house, building, lot, pier or other as- sessable property” and state the sum for whioh, in his judgment, each pary cel would sel! under ordinary clroum- stances. The deputies bewin their work of assessing on April 1 of each year and close it on Oct, 1, at which time a tentative assessment roll is made up and published. Between that date and Feb, 1, when the permanent roll is made un complaints of ex- cessive asse sments may be made to The Board of Taxes and Assessments. The board's action is subject t re- view by the Supreme Court under cer- tlorart proceedings. ‘The estimate of the value of 4 par- ce} of land Is derived chiefy from rec- ords of sules, mortgaxes and lenses, but other things are taken Into ¢on- elderation,such as rentals, durwbility of houses, location, transit facilities present and prospective, &c, Values thus determined are made the basis of land yalue maps which show for any given locallty the dis- tribution of front foot values. One purpose of these mnps is to prevent the levying of disproportionate as- seasments on adjoining parcels, Real estate taxes are due and pay- able semi-annually, on May 1 ‘and Nov. 1, i Frank J.,Bell, whose office is on ‘the ninth floor of the Municipal Bylld- ing, 1s Chief Deputy of Real Estate for the entire city, a position he has held constantly for thirty-five years. Deputies in charge of real estate in the several boroughs are: Manhat- |tan, Peter J. Kelly; the Bronx, Mi- ohaef H. Kinsle: Brooklyn, William P, Burke; Queens, Maurice Muleahy, and Richmond, James J, A. Hagson. paste che Scale “That’s aFact”’ By Albert P. Southwick | [Orrin Ree are uening Warts | Yielding to the enticing ptos- pect, “Abraham Mortier, Esq,” Commissary to His Majesty's forces, purchased Hichmond. Hill about the year 1760 and bulit there for himself a habitation then con- sidered to be “very fine.” It was | @ sort of Grecian temple, formed of two-inch pine planks. The mansion soon gained a repu- | tation for 3 Lk nospitality, Sir Jeffrey, afterward Lord, Amherst, made the house his headquarters when he had ended those success- ful campaigns which broke the power of France in America and saved half of New York State from now being a part of Canada A glimpse of the interior of this household, thirty yeurs jater, tx given by Gullun C. Verplanek, writing in The Twlisman for 1 There, in the centre of the table, sat Vice President Adams, in full dreas, with his bug and solitaire; his hair grizzled out each side of his head and face, us you see it in Stuart's older pictures of him. On his right sat Baron Steuben ‘ On hig left was Mr. Jefferson, who had just returned from France conspicuous in his red waistcoat and breeches, the fashion of Ver- sallles, Opposite sat Mrs, Adams 1s between Count du Mou shers, the French Ambassador, and Mr. Van Birket, envoy of Holland Algo Chancellor Litingstone, mem- bers of Congress and others. ‘The successor to Adams was Aaron Burr, to whom was exe: cuted a sixty-nine-year lease of the property on May 1, 1797, From this house Burr went to the duel with Hamilton, in 1804, and goon after, a political outcast, he left to engage !n that mysterious Western and Southwestern project (that brings in “the story of Blenner- hassett”) that has never been fully understood nor explained. “The last considerable man to live at Richmond Hill,” writes Mr. Verplanck, “was Counsellor Ben- von, & man who had travelled in every part of the world, knew everything and talked all lan- guages." | “Some few years later the “City Plan” Commissioners doomed Rich mond Hill and all the rest of the Zandtberg range to be levelled. By ingenious methods the old house was gradually lowered as the land was cut away, until, at last, it reached the present street level. It was then on the north side of Charlton Street, just east of Var- {ok, those open Streets destroying {ts surroundings. For a while it languished 4% a road tavern, and then disappeared to give place to the row of snug little brick ‘houses. eeBpash Bie } WOMEN DON’T KNOow. i Lady Astor, the American M. P., | told 1a London a story about an ant. suffragi fragists are alike.” she aald. nce I was canvassing for signatures to a petition about Lord Miiner, the Viceroy to India at that time, ‘When I called on Mr. Boges, the grocer, ho read the petition care ‘ fully and then sald: ‘Who is this here Milner, ma'am?’ ‘Our Indian viceroy,’ sald I. Vot's a viceroy?’ said Mr. Boggs A pro-consul, you know.’ And I } {explained Lord Milner’s position in | detail. | “Mr. Boggs, satisfied, dipped nis pen in the Ink; then he looked up anxiously. : cf “*You're not lettin’ the women sign this, are you?” he said. ‘Oh, no, indeed!’ said I. ‘Thats’ right,’ sald Mr, Boggs, as ie he slowly traced his’ signature ‘That's right, ma'am. Women t know nuthin’ about these things. ‘Washington Star,