A Pen Picture of the Apartmant Houses of France.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 256, 18 April 1888, Page 3

A Pen Picture of the Apartmant Houses of France.

" AiM-uriTMLvr a louci.' 1 or in simple En<i-li-h, " Flat (o let., ' is ;i that meets the \ie\\ fib e\ery tuin m !\uK And Mill huildinci uoos on as if thcie wcio nob a \acunb ap.u Unem. iv u<. luui, „lu,luhm.o .ma blocks of hou-eb lemaining empty tor month-, together. There ];■ but a very small .sprinkling among them ot private dwellings, or "hotels?,'" as they are called, .md w i(h '•o much to choose ftom ifc would -ei-in to bo an ea<-y matter to be suited. It thoio is no restnction as to locality and ilnMo aie no Amenean pie)iidices to Jo away uitli m repaid to steam heat, set. wa-htub- and 1 atlnooms then it is easy to Mud a plcas.mt a,^ailment. There arc airy moms, elect no bell-, and an absolute teelwilt of sif'-ty against, liio in the well-built hou-e- The enhance is not made ftom -'cj)-, but horn under tho porto eoeheie. The house with ,"n elc\ator is the e\cep (ion. not the nic, m I'm is. Amencaiw .no ividently shmt 'no. abed and v.eakkned, lor it is thov ulio complain ol the sfaii s Tin- most o\pen-i\c tlat in a French ,<paiiment-hou-e is the pionner, w hieli )- two (lights up. it l- alv, a\s more handsomil t >' decoiated and has loftier eeilingthan the oihus. Balconies are built at tins uid the tomth tlooi. The entresol is fh" -inn bet \\ ten \hc j^iound floor and the libf ilooi Thou is a tilth and a s-i\th llooi The fomx iis not too plebeian tor a man hLc -Ju'e- himon, the journalist and lo;i ld>)i, to oruipv, or Theodore Stauton, (he cicu'i sou ot Hli/abeth C'ady Stanton, who, with hi- rieneh wife, it. fast becoming pnpulai in -ot i.il circle* in Palis. The >i\tli lloo' i- al\\ay> devoted to the domc--tios ot tho < utuc house, although theie aio often -u pa- rooms that aic lot oaf (o lodgois .u I'io moderate \ early jo'il.d of s2O oi S?i a 100111 T<ie price ihi'.'herit (hotels a luo.ilacc, bub the iloor i.s always oi stone. ." much greater .-atety a-^aiiKsr' lito than t ht o- ' m ary wood lloor.s It, is p )— il)le to bo ,i iloetly respectable ,n id 0.-ciip.v such a k; .m 1L is also possible to hi' the ooeupinl n. a piemier in a ime hou-o in \\h:.J\ 1 ! \'- bi\th tloor neii, f hbouis .no an* tlr."u - \ nt i espectable. Ameiioau- pufuu'ails v omen, when th \ look at Frotu 1'!1 '! .ipail-nenti- for the first limenie shuck v. i<h lh.) number of recen-lion-:ooms and Hie small kdehens. The ante-cbambo! nir;hh be di^niliod by the name ot reception 10 in, and j^ivos a very agreeable imoios-ijn to tl.o \ isitor, if ifc \vv\c not for the ne.-es-ary ha! -rack and umbiell.i stand. Tho v.uid oannot be translated b) "hall, " boeau-^ that but half exp,c.ssp« it-5 moanMir It generally square oi oblong, is iaipishod with )->ict\n-es and eui tains, and is e.',hoi s> U> tastefully iitted up. *Thoro are two drawing-rooms in apartment- ot any ptotoiue. The larger room is only us don ".u iiomu 1 ' days and .state occasions ; the smaller one U tho ordinary Mtting-ioom. it \ iMtor.s ariive dining the eaily°parb of the day they are generally shown into m \damo\s bechoom, where she imanably ?ni nds hot mornings. Bub the kitchen is Iho room which .shows be^b \\hnb may ho done with little space and nnioh inyfonuit.\ . 1b is usually about bi\ ioet. wide and ton feet long, and is lighted by one saial' w indow. It is palatial if It i<* any laruor or better lighted. Every available space on the wall is hung with bright copper sircepans. At least two io\vs of shche- contain unique and curious utenpiK tor cooking. Fancy coloured papers hang from the shelves like a fringe, and oho a \ory tidy look to the room. Nc\t the kitchen there is always a staircase whioh ih u-ed by the servants and tradespeople. It is very narrow and generally dark, but always spacious and clean. The bathroom is more of a nuisanco than a convenience as it is arranged in a French tlat. There is an enormous tub, to be sure, and plenty of cold water, bub fcho hot wabci must be heated expressly for the bath in a small 'boiler which stands in the bathroom, and for which gas or oil is used.

j The heating arrangements for the rooms aie on tho most frugal scale, bub that is chiefly because wood and coal are $11 a con. Steam heat is unknown, and in most houses there is no heat furmMied by tho proprietor. In the new quartern when the landlords catei to American tenants and tastes there i-> a furnace or raloriferc in the cellar, which supplies heat ni the public halls and gives a trifling amount in tho ante-room of each apartment. The lo£C is always within, and on one side of (ho porlt cochare, and when the great double door is closed some one must always be there to answer the bell. The door is opened from tho loge by mcanb ot ,i pulley, and permission has to bo demanded to go out life well as come in when it ii closed.