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No rember 17, 1883 The Record and Guide. 903 Concerning Men and Things. *** The theatrical season is in full blast, hut there ia great complaint among managers over the sll a audiences, Irving and Miss Terry draw full bouses at ilouble prices, aod the money paid to see them i^ well laid out, Tbe pi«cei are put on tbe stage in a most admirable manner, and tbe sup¬ port is excellent. Miss Terry is a delightful, if not a great artist, and Mr. Irvine Is a surprisingly interesting actor, though his mannerisms provoke a great deal of natural criticism on the part of his American audience.s. He is wise not to appear as yet in Hamlet, It would be looked oc as gro¬ tesque by audiences whoie ideal of the Prince of Denmark is modelled upon the personations of Edwin Booth, *** Several new theatres are under way in New York. The Bijou, nearly opposite Wallack's, is being rebuilt; then the Kiralfy Brothers are to have ft hou^e for spectacles and billets on Fourth avenue, Mr. Palmer, late of tbe Union Square, will neit spring commence the cou'truction of a new theatre, somewhere, it is believed, on the line of Broadway, Haverly, also, is to construct an immense edifice modelled after the London Albambra, That tbe floating population of New York steadily incrfasee is shown by the great number cf places of amusement in every part of the city. The running of night trains to points within thirty miles of New York furnishfas a large addition to the audiences at our theatres nightly. *'^« John Stetson is having a bard time of it with tbe Fifth Avenue Theatre. It haa always been sn unlucky bouse, though why it is .difficulty to say. The manager has been trying to run his house without stars. He pays Cbarles Coghlan tlOO a week, but (his actor seems to have lost his attractive¬ ness, He is a flne artist in plays adapted from the modern French drama, but be made a failure at Wallack's aome eeasons ago in the standard English comedies. Stetson ia now trying to get rid of bim by abusing him to th • Interviewers. He says publicly that he wants Coghlan to break his contract. Stetson commenced his career hy publishing an extremely dia- reputable paper In Boston, a publication far worae of iis kind than the Police Gazette of tbia (ity, yet he subsequently made money in that moral city as a theatrical fpeculator. Hia New York venlures in the same lint have not proved so prcfltable. It is a curious fact that for several seasons be had in bis company Mr. Mantel, the actor, who has made so great a hit in i^'cdoi-tt, and wbo all the critics think will rank hrgher than tbe late Charies Ti.orne, Stetson, after engaging him, pronounced bim a "duffer," and sent him out on the road, but the rejected artist has proved far more attractive than the high-salaried Charles CoghlarL *** Miss Fanny Davenport, by tbe w-ay, has made th-i hit of her life in gar¬ den's latest and floest plaj', Fedora, tehe is an actress of great intelligence, and in her extreme youih was famed for ber sumptuoua beauty. She waa growing over-fleshy for youthful parts when she began a system o' dieting and exercise which haa wonderfully reduced ber former ample pro¬ portion, and she cen now boast of quite an elegant figure. But nbat a struggle it must have been for a full blooJed and presumably indulgent person to starve and slint herself so aa to get rid of some fl[ty pounds of flsth. But Fanny Davenport has accomplished this feat, whicb shows she is possessed o an indonii able will and a high ambition. Her acting, alao poBsessea a subtlety not objervable in former years. The Success of the Apartment House. Public interest io the great apartment house question is increasing from day to day. Schemes are spoken of for the erection of even larger and coatlier structures than the "Navarro," or the new Piaza buildings. Hitherto the organizers have been limited in number, and Mr. Charles A, Gerlach, the promoter of tha "Gramercy," on the corner of Gramercy Park and Twentieth street, recently gave the result of his knowledge and experience to a representative of The Record and Guide, which is not only interesting as an evidence of the financial success of the apartment bouse, but may also serve as a guidd to tbe promoters of other structures of tbe kind. "Mr, Gerlach," said the writer, *'I hear yonr apartment house quoted as one of the most successful and profitable investments for the stockhold¬ ers among tbe various home clubs in the city. In what features does your plan differ from the others now in existence V' " Well," was tbe r.3ply, " we have taken advantage of tba experience of all tbe other clubs, and have added to ita fuiv ideas of our own. The secret of our success consists iu the manner in which the apartments are apportioned off, and by the arrangement that certain apartments in the building shall be reserved for renting, so as to bring in an income for the beueflt of tbe stockholders or owners. Let me naake tbe matter clear to you. There are tea stories to th? building, and of these six were sold to the present stockholders, leaving four stories—two upper and two lower— which are never to be soli, but are rented for the benefit of those owning ths other six stories, Thia guarantees to each stockholder an income euf- floient to pay all running expenses, as well as a small cash dividend." " Tben do I understand," asked the writer, " that the owner of an apart¬ ment, if he occupies it, gets his rent free, and ia addition a small cash return at the end of the year V " That is just what I mean," replied Mr, Gerlach, "provided we obtain the rents oC our original schedule. And I think we are safe on that score, as tha annual rents we have obtained so far are from $1,000 to J3,OUO a floor higher than our estimated prices." "Well, it aeems to me that makes a vary profitable inveatment for parties wbo buy to rent, for I underslaud tbat all a stockholder obtains from leasing his apartments belongs to him, just as though it were hia own hdiise " " Yes, there are some apartments owned in that way, and their ownera ara receiving from 30 to 40 per cent, a year on their investment. Apart- auiU ta tha " Qrameroy " that sold thia last August for |13,000 bare Blnoe been Bold for $15,000 cash. The capitalist making this investment does it on sound businesa principles, fur the apartment ia question is rented for |1,.W0 per year for a term of years, and 1 would gladly buy every apartm ment now in the house at 25 per cent, above tbe prices paid by the present owners," "Do yonr prices differ according to the different floors?" queried tho writer. "No, sir," wa'j the reply, "nor would I care to have anything to do with an apartment house that made such a distinction." " Why do you apeak bo emphatically on this matter ?" " Because it ia a very important point. Tbe moment you charge a differ¬ ent price for each floor you at once change tbe caste of your whole house, and divide it into claases. The family that lives on the ninth fl wr of tha "Gramercy " feels just as happy and satiafled as the one on the flrst, and also quite equal, becauae the purchasers all pay the same for their apart* ments. and the tenanta the same rents," " These facts somewhat explain the reason for building high houses." "Yes, and witb tbe modern conveniences for reaching tbe upper stiriea, I think makes them very desirable ina crowded city. The huilding of theae co-operative palaces is, in my opinion, in it* infancy, as a four-sCory house on a flfty to a hundred thousand dollar lot is hardly a paying invest" ment, when one apartment costingfrom 120,000 lo t:iO,O0O will rent for the Same money.' "I see." said the writer, "that Messrs, Phyfe & Campbell are pushing the construction of their immense building on the Plaza property, on Fifth avenue and Fifty-ninth street. Will they adopt tbe same plan there aa they did In the " Gramercy ?" "The same features will no doubt be adopted by them, to which will be added some new ideas of tbeir own, which will be of interest to the public, and which they will make known as saoa aa the plans of tbe archi¬ tect, Mr, Carl Pfeiffer, aro completed." Staten Island Improvements. II. In the last number of The Record and Guide we gave a report on the present status of the newly projected railroads on Staten Island, the Rapid Transit Railway, an extension of the Ti,ttensville & Clifton road, to the ferry connections at Tompkinsville, and thence along the north shore to Elm Park, and the Terminal Railroad, extending from a point nearly opposite Woodbury in New Jersey to the water front at Stapleton. The objective points of both these roads are, of course, on tbe western side of Staten Island Bound. It may be tbought that these plans are made without a due considera¬ iion of the obstacles that interfere between Staten Island and the main land which lies still under the control of New Jersey. But there is not now much cau=e for uneasiness. New Jersey is beginninj to learn that heneflta are reciprocal; that you cannot enhance the valui oC your own farm by keeping that of your neighbor in an nncidtivated, unkempt condi¬ tion, and the momentum tbat will carry the railroads to the Sound will carry them over or under the Sound without much delay. Until now the oeople of Staten Island have never seemed to care for their commercial future. There ara a few factories in the island, an unexpectedly large number, indeed, as the recent hi centennial procession Indicated; hut tbat Richmond County was ever destined to play an important role m iha com merce of tbe por of Kew York does not seem to havo been foreseen. It IS not alone in planning and constructing new railroads, however, that the island shows signs of increasing activitv. Were tbis tbe only in¬ dication of improvement there might he yet occasion to dread a collnpse; but it is only one among other and atill more favorable symptom'. Real esiate dealers, without exception, report an entire change in the methods of handling property and an activity never before equalled. Men are be-