on the cars. Again, the rivers will be so full of floating ice as to
render it very dangerous, if not impossible, for the ferry boats to
cross. At such times the railroad depots and ferry houses are crowded
with persons anxiously awaiting transportation to their homes. The
detention in New York, however, is not the greatest inconvenience
caused by such mishaps. Many persons are frequently unable to reach the
city, and thus lose several days from their business, at times when
they can ill afford it.

We have already referred to the scarcity of houses. The population of
the city increases so rapidly that house-room cannot be provided for
all. House rent is very high in New York. A house for a family of six
persons, in a moderately respectable neighborhood, will rent for from
sixteen hundred to twenty-five hundred dollars, the rate increasing as
the neighborhood improves. On the fashionable streets, houses rent for
from six thousand to fifteen thousand dollars per annum. These, it must
be remembered, are palatial. Many persons owning these houses, live in
Europe, or in other parts of the country, and pay all their expenses
with the rent thus secured.

In consequence of this scarcity of dwellings, and the enormous rents
asked for them, few families have residences of their own. People of
moderate means generally rent a house, and sub-let a part of it to
another family, take boarders, or rent furnished or unfurnished rooms
to lodgers.

Furniture is expensive, and many persons prefer to rent furnished
houses. These are always in demand, and in good localities command
enormous prices. Heavy security has to be given by the lessee in such
cases, as, without this, the tenant might make away with the furniture.