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Show ModTKn off ice building,' mt "A WOULD IN ITSELF"-' JN the Great Skyscrapers, Housing Thousands of Persons, Can Be Found all the Necessities of Life, Not Overlooking Man's Spiritual Welfare Perfection of Community Organization i Kill ir' yMMKiiktM I K i " lofty nlr to sacrifice the first, Inrlslblc down at a ruinous cost of twenty cents, when they could achieve the same result elsewhere for a dime. It Is a matter of honor tbat the building barber be given tbtlr custom. Adjoining, In order, nre a shoe shop, a halordasher, a cigar store and a tailor. The investigator will observe ob-serve that with the exception of the candy store, and possibly the bank, there Is nothing here to attract the patronage of the fair sex. Hut thin Is the lobby, where everything is rush and burlyburly. Women do not do their shopping on a lauding stage, and It is moreover more-over a fact thnt oltlce buildings have little to offer to feminine trade, In spite of the stenogni pliers. Over on the opposite side, behind the elevators. Is a side door. Not Just nny side door, but the side door, the naughty kind that, everybody hears about during a reform campaign. The shrinking Investigator does not enter, but he can sec the long, shiny bar and the glittering glasses anil Ls thereby wiser. At the back of the lobby is a large restaurant, where there Is mnslc during the luncheon hours, covering the twin points of gastronomic and aesthetic Joy for the office . bnlldlng occupant. A passage leads to n drug store and n clothing establishment at the other corner of the structure. Clinging like fungi nliout the pillars or in comers of the wall Ls a growth of minor enterprises, booths and stands, whereat newspapers, magazines, flowers, fruits and the like trivialities of commerce blossom forth. One place of vantage ls taken up by a public telephone exchange and a row of sentry boxes, another an-other lias the blue and white sign that announces telegraph nud cable service. Through and between and among these the crowd hurries, pauses and hurries hur-ries again ceaselessly from early until late. The first floor presents a very different set of attractions. at-tractions. Here Is a luxurious billiard parlor just tiff the elevators, where the o-cupant passes an Idle hour or nails his clerk, w ho has some such Intention himself. Spile of the high tension and fast pace nr. which business Ls driven in an olhVe building there are always tht? wiser ones who manage to salt In a WmM telnillTOM;l'f 1 -ti 9MQ wi t wmm Urn 1 Id 1 1(1 lift noiL'llsili i Hi 1 1 W mm if fSlS It and exercisers. From there ho had passed to the office of the foundry company in which be has an interest, called to see his lawyer about a pending suit, paid bis subscriptions to two trade Journals, visited an underwriting under-writing firm, purchased a Persian rug and opened negotiations with a dLimond importer. Finding himself him-self with some minutes to spare be walks Into the room of a stock brokerage concern and wulcbes the blackboard. black-board. He Is excited on noting thnt X. Y. Z. had fallen off ten points. Horrors! Overcome by the shock he staggers. To n friend who catches him he gasps "Hoe tor." The friend, fearing an apoplectic stroke, support him out Into the hall and helps bim to a door on which n physician's name appears The sick man still has strength to shake his head vehemently. The friend understands that an allopathlst is not wanted and stumbles on further to where a homocopathLst's sign Is seen. Agalu the man holds back. The friend struggles strug-gles on until he sights the dour of a Christian Scientist and tries to prop the patient against it Another refusal. In despnir the friend resumes the Journey and tries two more varieties, finally landing with an osteopath, where the man consents to remain. Restored later, when he learns that X. Y Z. has recovered re-covered the lost ground bo celebrates by ordering some fine gloves made for his wife, then continues his round. He stops to see how the new colored glass w indow for his church is coming on, chats with an acquaintance ac-quaintance who Is runulug a little bundle of gold and sliver mines, hears tbat tho theosophlst on the sixth floor Is drawing many followers, leaves a specimen sent him from Arizona with a firm of assayers, calls at a realty office to learn the latest figure placed on that lot, places an advertisement for Chicago and St. Louis papers with an agent, notices a pretty girl who ls entering the office of a theatrical company and another an-other closing the door of a vocal Instructor, and winds up at the nvonis of a business club, ne decides that a five months trip around the world Is what be needs and leaves an order with Somebody's Tours to mako him up two hooks of tickets so he won't have to bother about transportation while he Is away. Finally, Final-ly, having worked late that night, he Is unable to get home nud goes up to the little bachelor hotel department depart-ment on the lop floor, where he gets room and bath The office building, which stands for all this and so so much more besides that the recounting would be wearisome, is itself a machine that rcrjulre-s expert guidance, It Is a public character and as such has a reputation to lose. It Is capital and as such must be watched and nursed. It Is a community and as such must be governed. A recent Incident which took place In n downtown olllce building ls of Interest. The chips were clicking merrily and the cards were flirting from the dealer's hand with a precision that spoke eloquently of that gentleman's long practice. ''Nnw," said tho dealer. "Once you get by the superintendent you're all right." The solemn faced man glanced at his cards, tossed them aside with n yawn and rose. "I'm going after a cigar down stairs," he announced, and started for the door Jnto the hall. "Hey, not that way," tho dealer called after him. "We've plugged that up. Go the way you came, through the outer office.'' But the other seemed not to have heard. ITc crossed to the door and laid hold of the knob. "It's locked," called the dealer again. But nppar- V ently he was misinformed. The knob turned, a smart pull brought tho door open and shook out the cotton crack stuffings. There was a shuffle of feet, a flashing flash-ing of brass buttons and the dealer started up with n frightened yell that brought his clients white and trembllug from their chairs. Too late. In the doorway door-way stood a lieutenant of police with a squad of men behind him. Some few of the players rondo ill advised ad-vised efforts to slip away through the adjacent offices, of-fices, but were quickly corralled. The calmest figure durlug the brief hubbub was the solemn faced individual who had opened the door. He stood among the policemen while ilie lieutenant wus arranging the transfer of the prLsoners to the patrol wagon. The denier noticed him and thrust up close, snarling, "So It was you who gave us away, eh? YVIw the devil arc you, anyway T" "Me?" said the solemn faced man. Innocently. "Oh, I'm the superintendent of the building." Thus, in traditional dramatic style, enter the bellied be-llied hero of this yarn. And ho deserves n curtain cull before he gets any further If for no other reason than because, though one of the most important persons per-sons in metropolitan life, he has hitherto passed unnoted un-noted and unsung. The Janitor Is famed in "but-terlck," "but-terlck," story and evil Jest- This man is more powerful pow-erful and a lot more rcspectablo than nny hundred janitors and many times more Interesting. An office building, bearing out Its analogy with a city In Itself, has Its own officials and departments A large building has sometimes as many ns two hundred employes engineers to ruu the huge heating, heat-ing, lightlug ami pumping plants, firemen, special policemen, elevator force, hal! cleaners, vacuum plant operators, window washers, carpenters, painters, paint-ers, lettercrs, electricians, experts of various kinds and degrees. Above thra looms the superintendent. He Can't Be Lured. The superintendent of a modern office building is a kind of sublimated Ccrebus. Ho Lies in wait ut the portal of the premises he ls hired to guard and he Is not to be lured to sleep with cakes of honey or cakes of anything else. He Ls a combination watch dog, renting agent, detective, walking gentleman, financial expert, censor, committee of public safety, Nemoslfl and tyrant. To live in his community the applicant must show himself ns commercially spotless as tho Himalayan snows; to remain he must prove himself as solid and upright ns the Bank of England. At least such Is tho guiding theory. . , . . A stranger appears at the oflice of the superintendent and demands to know whether there Is available room for rent 'Yhat firm or who for?" asks the superintendent, dispassionately. "Chicken Feather Extract Company," &ays the other. "NVhat references?" "This and 'Totber banks." The superintendent takes many notes the nature of the business, machinery If any, noises if any. previous pre-vious location, space wanted, what goods to be on premises, names of company officers and still moro references. "YVe will let you know." he says. Within the next few days ho makes or directs an investigation. Either personally or through an assistant as-sistant he looks up the applicant from all possible angles. No enterprise with a questionable standing or a questionable purpose is considered. The office building must be kept ns free from financial as from social reproach. This governor Is ou the ground to see that the "lid" Ls nailed fast. If the applying firm comes through every test It is Invited to step up and sign a steel rlbled, rock bottomed. bot-tomed. Iron clamped lease which leaves it neatly In the narrow path of rectitude, with the promise of bLnt thrown out for cause. But surveillance does not end here. The superintendent superin-tendent of a high d iss olllce building holds "lis position posi-tion through his ability to keep the good name of the place unsmirehed. If there Ls anything suspicious (Cwnctitrl3IO.y)jN?w ork Derail Co. J1 rlshl rwrrrd.) JAMES, I'm going out for half an hour r 60." "Out, sir?" queries James, the new clerk, fresh from father's store. He observes that his employer is without hat or overcoat and he is surprised, "Not outside, but around the building. I've got eomo shopping and general business to attend to." To go "out Ls on expressive term. It suggests that d man is placing himself in touch with the world at large. To go "out" in a modern oflice building is to venture from one of the countless body cells that go to make up Its Tast organism and circulate Ihronsli ethers of hLs cells. The ouly difference in an office building Is that he is plnclng himself In touch with a perfect, compact chunk out of the world at large. Fosslbly you pass your working day in an office building. Probably you think you are perfectly familiar fa-miliar with that Institution. Of course. But are you? It Is a compendium of business, an epitome of commercial com-mercial and professional enterprise. It is complete. Including within its walls every essential and many non-essentials of modern existence. An occupant of an office building can call the turn on the residents of high Olympus. YYlthout leaving the four wails he can find, first, every facility offered by any first class hotel, and then opportunity to cultivate culti-vate or patronLzo literature, Investments, rcliglou. "Isms," nrt, recreation. Inventions, medicine, law, banking, speculation, psychics, health, decoration, science, sci-ence, general Information and all branches of commerce, com-merce, wholesale or retail. At one elbow a teleplionc links blm with home friends and immediate Interests. At the other a pad of cable blanks represents jotcntlar hold upon Hong Kong and Finland- He can bay the contents of a house or a pair of socks, squander a fortune for-tune or make it, attain wisdom or lose a tooth, all In person and without putting bis nose out of doors. An office building Is a hive, but ft hive where the lees gather and btorc their treasures and carry mi their occupations without leaving the common shelter cif the roof. To begin atthe root, down In the underground chambers cham-bers where the office building baa its respiratory system sys-tem of pumps and engines and its circulatory system of boilers and pipes, Uiere ls a Turkish balh establishment, establish-ment, flaring started thus with opened pores and freshened eye the investigator is ready to work up. He Hseonils to the natural level and ls in the lobby. The lobby Ls part baz-uir, port arcade and part railway station. This being a typical office building, there are some dozen of elevators hlldlng to and from Its surface, sur-face, running on regular schedules of express and local and bearing the busy thousnuds of outside bees that have affairs on hand with the lees of the hive. Toward tho front ls the side entrance In ft bank. The bank occupies the cornerstone position, which is eminently just and proper iu a commercial and business busi-ness community. Almost every occupant of the building build-ing mnst have lutimate relations with the bank ami here it Is In the same house with Its depositors. Along WMm fit -, mm w Ipfpli w MMmMWA mUMmm ummmkm ImwtWi mmmk mSBsmm -1 lr ItMM m$m qw! I m I'll mmMilmkiM. ttfifflrillMffll feJ iiiiiiwmiinniiTrmm yjili- " I ' IX - - . i )JijH'! , Irak i fie Bide, adjoining the bank, is a row of thops front-big front-big on tho utreet as a concession to the larger public, but doing most of their trade through Lhelr lobby entrancesi. Trunks and leather goods are next to the bank, euUblluhlug a suggest ivo conuecllou of Ideas. Hero Is the place to get money and here the place to get some-thing to carry It uway in. The Wiles of the Candy Man. 8houldTlug the trunk Ntoro is a enndy whop. The thought of this wiry merchant ls obvious. If one Is going a-Jixirneylng ono may us well puck a box of sweets lu the vallac. For another thlug, the candy Ktore is always just opposite the elevator, where the ; homeward burryiug throng may not,, nnd le re minded of certain small but hungry cun.ly eaters. To walk straight out of the elevators Ls to walk straight into the temptation of sweats. Next in the nw ls a barber "jiarlur." Usually It I is a matter of pride, or loyalty with the occupants of j an tlleo building to have their chins scraped and I their locks trimmed by tho operator on the premises. It is a bad barber who cannot command bLs own local trade. Even the otiu-o Ik..vk wander n wild i session with the Ivories for the good of eye and health. Across the hall Is the entrance to a furniture firm with a display room that covers something like half an n-re or thereabout-:. A large part of Its trade, as In the ease of many other occupants, Is drawn from the building. It supplies office furniture of every conceivable kind, but stands ready to meet orders for the lioinc1 or club. On the second Ihtor the dignitaries of the place arc usually assembled. Hen; Is one of the large branch office of a big life Insurance comp iny, the headquarters headquar-ters of a lire Insurance company, a gas company and a title guarantee company. Swarms of clerks and ate-nographers ate-nographers centre lu re betimes In the morning and along about noon the elevator stops at the second floor to let off sleek, pursy gentlemen of important uud frowning aspect. Toward the Roof. Above this point precedence censes, if It can be said to exist below, and the great, bewildering variety of the oilice building runs cm without rhyme or reason from floor to floor ami corridor to corridor. Lawyers do not herd with lawyers nor publishers with publishers. pub-lishers. To p.i nloi.? p.fiv ball pf rnndcin In-'-fW going on he is going to know it, if he has to "gum shoe" himself. Like any other community, the office building Is tempting to vice in many forms. Swindlers and gamblers gam-blers arc the enemies that the superintendent is ever on the w-atch for. A faro game may be In surreptitious operation behind an investment company, or a pool room behind a snburbau development linn. He frequently fre-quently finds It difficult to know where to draw the line with companies thnt use tho malls exclusively. But ho ls alert to throw them out a step ahead of tho post office authorities. Au office building presents a rich field. Men employed em-ployed within It nre usually well to do, it lies In a prosperous district nud its miles of corridors hold promise of safe retreats where the bard working ' sharper may ply his trade in peace. Theu there are the dignity and the stiff front to whkh n large and busy structure contributes. If it were left to tho ulmble wilted gentry to choose their quarters they would flock to the big office buildings by thousands They Ket iu even now, and It is oulv nt'the expenso of ceaseless vigilance that their swarms are headed the glided lettering on the frosted doors Is to drop from mortgages to brewing assoclutlou and to climb from corsets to ethical culture. Many slrangu mid commonly uiiKUscctcd ways In which some persons eurn lhelr livelihoods are revealed to the Investlgntor In roaming the office building. And there Is available something or wmiebodv to minister to etery legitimate freak or fancy of human conception. The employer of Jumcs, we will suppose, has dropped into the little gymnasium of a weight reducer i.' ' ,, i ... . i. The third man to I ho left, with a long, solemu face and keen eyes, glanced around tho room approvingly. Three other tables held their quota of seukers after truth ns exemplified by the royal flush. The Superintendent. "Neat scheme of yours, this," he observed, "with tho gold mining company as a blind" The dealer nodded. "Smooth friend got the place for me. Always some way of putting It over," he said. "They watch office biifldlnts pretty close, don't |