The Oregon daily journal., February 13, 1921, Page 49, Image 49

Mm
Fiftk
.venue
V
4
-.-r
if-
Palace and Will Live
Near a Goal Dock With
EastSiae Tenement
The Corner House Is the New
Residence of .Mrs. W. K. Van-
derbilt, at No. 1 Sutton Place,
a Part of Avenue A in New '
York's East Side Tenement :
District. : . -
ouse
iors
Mr. W.K.
-Vanderbilt,
Leader of
New York
Society and
Widow of the
Head of the
Vanderbilt
Family, Who
Hat Moved to
the Heart of
the' East Side.
-X - i - .. ... ... .... r , : u
yyt'l yy ' , - - ' ; I XV - jr , ' - "'.. ,
- kV V :"(- aqK PWi-tA -P -H . ': ' --'v-if ;.!fn iilfc ;'"T . r I f f 4.
i:.,;!!V.;i::rs;:(iiii:.s:i J . r L
i
1 .V ; i -1
i
t V
1 t
flr .. . .y,.!" mn.w
Monday Morn
ing Wash on
the Clothes
Lines Back of
the Tenements
Which Mrs. Vanderbilt Will See on East Fifty-sixth Street,
f the Block Next to Her New Home. -
mental, moral and
physical misery, as
already mentioned,
bat on the other
Side i of the East
River there Is a
great group of fac
tories, which belch
forth , "volumes of
smoke and noxious
fumes.' These are
The Coal Dump at the Back of
Mrs. Vanderbilt Home, with View
of Coal Barges, the Blackwell's
Island Bridge - and Other East
River Feature.
MRS. W. K. VANDERBILT, widow of
the late head of the great Vander
. but family and herself one of the
leaders of New York society, has moved to
the East Side of New York to the heart
of the slums. . V ; J
Various plausible reasons are given for
-Mrs. Vanderbilt's move, but the one fact
that will excite the curiosity of everybody
Is that Mrs! Vanderbilt has ..undoubtedly
gone tthe slums. She may have found her
fortune reduced, she may think the East
. Bide is romantic and she may have a deep
love for the poor, but it Is still very re
markable that one who has always lived in
the greatest luxury should move to a tene
ment district.
The tyonse which Mrs. Vanderbilt has
taken 1st No. 1 Sutton place, an old thor
oughfare forming a 'continuation of Avenue
A and running north from East Fifty-seventh
street. A generation or two ago Sut
ton Place '-.was - a highly refined neighbor-
hood, but to-day lt is entirely surrounded i house the other day no less than fourteen
by crowded tenements, factories, smoke- of the coal ; company's barges were an
stacks, dirt, evil odors and all the un-, chored In ttte East River,
pleasant features of East Side life. On the southwest corner of Fifty-seventh
Mrs. Vanderbilt's house, an old-fashioned "street, diagonally across from No. 1 Sutton
four-story and basement brownstone dwell- Place, is an empty lot used as s storage
tag. stands on the corner of Fifty-seventh: yard by the coal company. One the same
street, a few feet away from the East block Is visible the factory o a coach man
River. On. the river end of the street there ufacturing concern. Across the empty lot
Is a great dump of coal dust and refuse Mrs. Vanderbilt can catch a glimpse of a
thrown out by Burns Brothers Coal Com- particularly dingy five-story, tenement. A
pany, which has a depot there. little farther away she can see a big brew-
From the back of Mrs, Vanderbilt's ery' on Fifty-fifth street, discharging thick
Indignant outcries arise from the home
below.
In Summer the fire escapes will be
crowded with crying children and grown
up people gasping for a little air. There
will be many distressing noises and even
horrjble scenes, such as have led poets to
describe tie tenement district in Summer
as The City of Dreadful Night." Children
will howl, and many of them will die from
Summer trouble, and some will fall from
windows and fire-escapes. But probably v, wafted - across " the
Mrs. Vanderbilt has not yet decided . to Eat River to the
spend tne summer m the slums.
One social commentator has remarked
eolemnly that the block chosen by Mrs.
Vanderbilt can never be changed into a
centre of fashion. "Surrounded as it is by
elums on every side except' the river, it Is
too difficult and unpleasant of access."
This observer remarks that the streets
by which it Is approached, are neither In
viting nor fragrant, apd If Mrs. Vanderbilt's
guests attempt to stroll homeward oa foot
they will be in danger of unwelcome en-
New York side whea
the East wind blows.
; Having said so)
much about the un
pleasant surround
ings of Mrs. Vander
bilt's house, it is only )
proper to say that it
will form part of a
colony made over In
a most artistic man
ner by a distinguish- '
ed architect and en-
r
( .:: yb',i l, .1 -
i i 1" ?'!
f
A Group of Mrs. Vanderbilt's Little Tenement
House Neighbors, Who Are Hugely Interested in
the Fashionable and Wealthy People Who Are
Moving Into the District. C
bouse there is a fine view of the East
River, which et this point Is partly cou-:
pled by Blackwell's Island, the city's place
of hospitality for minor criminals, tramps,
alcoholics and other "unfortunates. It will
be possible for Mrs. Vanderbilt from her
windqw to watch the poor wretches at
. their dally tasks and exercises and per
haps even to catch the expression on their
faces. ..
Two blocks north of the Vanderbilt
bouse Is the Queensboro, or Blackwell's
Island Bridge, but before coming to that
there Is an Immense electric ; power sta
tion with two great smokestacks which
. Tise up into the sky, looking almost as If :
they were above the house because they
are so high, i They contribute to t the
variety of smoke and smells given forth
by the factories and other features of the
neighborhood. v - j
From her front windows Mrs. Vanderbilt
'can see over a fence on the opposite side -"of
Sutton Place. This fence reveals a rear
view of some tenements . with their wash
and other decorations. At the back of her
smoke and manufacturing its sad product.
The adjoining blocks are mainly and In
some cases entirely occupied by tenement
houses of the poorest kind. Here festoons
of simple, old-fashioned underclothing hang
out of the windows every day and all day
long. The exquisite Mrs. Vanderbilt , can
catch a glimpse of them amid the varie
gated sights that will meet her eye on
every side in this picturesque region.
The fire escapes of the tenement block
across the way from Mrs. Vanderbilt will
be a never-ending Eource of interest to a
philanthropist and sociologist, put there
in Winter most of the family provisions
are placed, to avoid the cost of ice and
economize valuable space. Sometimes a
hunk, of sausage falls from one fire escape
to another below. A deft hand shoots out
and grabs the precious piece of meat. Then -there
are Indignant demands from above
for: its return and a free fight Involving
the whole house. At another time a heavy -object,
like a milk bottle or a flat iron,
falls from the home above, .and then the
ICy 133U laUrulloaal Futon 8rrlf. la.
but more probably Just little attentions
from rude boys, who would be apt to make
fun of well-dressed persons.
Then there Is the peculiarly Isolated
position of the place in the heart of tht
Mrs. Vanderbilt's house will be rebuilt
by Eliot Cross, wteo has a growing reputa
tion as an architect, belongs to a well
known banking family and occupies one of
the houses himself. Others who have pur-
counters possibly attacks, by footpads, tirely occupied by persons of refinement, received the largest phare o? Ms fortune
wnne ms omer. children, the Duchess of
Marlborough and Harold Vanderbilt, re
ceived liberal shares, which made only a
modest provision for the widow possible.
The enormous taxes of recent years also
had a great effect in making it impossible
to keep up the former scale of living. '-
Mrs. Vanderbilt - was compelled, to sell
the tremendous white mtone bouse at Fifty
second street and Fifth avenue, built on
the French chateau .style and often de
scribed by architects as the most beautiful
bouse in New York; -
She also thought it advisable" to sell her
beautiful country estate,. Stepping Stones,
near Jericho, LUaaa matter of economy.
Mrs. Vanderbilt is perhaps the most
noted figure In New York social life. She
was originally Ann Harriman, of the well
known family of that name. She was mar
ried first to S. S. Sands, then to Lewis
Morris Rutherfurd, and -last to William K.
Vanderbilt. . . ' -. - ., ... .
After the -death of Mrs. Astor Mrs. Van
derbilt became the most Influential leader
of New York fashionable society. Her re
moval to the East Side tenement district
indicates that she no longer lias any desira
to hold this position, " , -usiG,
East ide. If there were a serious riot, chased houses in Sutton Place are Mrs.
which does not appear probable but Js. of Vanderbilt's sister, Mrs. Stephen H. Olin;
course, possible. Sutton Place would be W. Seward Webb, Jr.; Robert C. Knapp,
somewhat cut off from help by the police Mrs. Lorillard Cammann, Miss Elisabeth
and other authorities. Marbury, Dr. Edgar Stillman and Professor
Another social chronicler has been driven J. P. Chamberlain, of Columbia University,
to poetry by Mrs. Vanderbilt's move. One Mrs. Vanderbilt, it is stated, paid $50,000
of his entertaining verses runs as follows: for her house and Its remodelling will cost
- ure SVZAwT'SSR
To the Ud of societVs drums. . ' ?.f..?5tf fntton Place it la ttoated.
TVhft o A? WU1 COSl UUU.UUW.
dance
v Or a Bachelors one in the slums,
A formal reception or debut or tea
In Finnegan's former cafe, :
Or an automobile In the place of a wheel
Of an ash cart on Avenue A?" .
The location of the colony does not ap-
Reductlon of fortune,- a desire for a sim
ple but picturesque dwelling and Interest
in the poor have all been motives in Induc
ing Mrs. Vanderbilt to make her surpris
ing change. '-; :: - . - . .
Although her husband, who died last
year, possessed the largest fortune of any
Individual In the Vanderbilt family, he did
pear to have any natural advantage except cot leave her, sufficient to maintain the
its view of the East-River, and this is not magnificent scale of living to which she
one of pure delight. Not only Is there the . had been accustomed for several years.
outlook , on Blackwell's Island, with its ' His oldest son, William K., Vanderbilt, Jr
Onit Britain Bljbts
i V
1