Southern sentinel. [volume] (Plaquemine, Parish of Iberville [La.]) 1848-1858, 1852-05-29
Misery in our Large Cities.

Misery in our Large Cities.
| Among the many evils whose reform is alb
solutely necessary to the virtue, peace and qui
ct of society, there can be no question that the
| one produced by the miserable lodgings of the
| destitute masses of our own and other coun
tries is q conspicuous and very important one
| There are facts brought to view by the mum
| cipal reports of large cities, which are heart
sickening. The North American Review says
| In March, 1850, a census of the inhabited
| cellars in the city of New York was made BY
| the chief of police; 8,l41 cellars were found tc
! be occupied by 1886 persons who had no 9th
er rooms. One-twentieth of the population
of the city lived underground. The proper
ton is probably nearly the same in Boston,
| From the account of the census published in
the New York Tribune, June 3Oth, 1850, we
quote the following passages: "Ihe bed
rooms are still worse places. They are al
ways in the rear, and very few of them have
any opening, except into the main room. With.
out air, without light, filled with damp vapor
from the widowed walls, and with vermin.
they are the most rcpulsive holes that ever q
human being was forced to sleep in" "There
are cellars devoted entirely to lodging, where
straw at two cents and bare floor at one cent q
night, can be had. Black and white men, wo-
men and children, are mixed in one dirty mass.
Scenes of deprayity the most horrible are of
constant occurrence"
In the city of Boston the state of things in
this respect is no better. The report of the
committee of health made to the city govern.
ment of Boston, in ls49, says of the dwelling
houses occupied by a large portion Of the pop
%ulation:
Their houses, for the most part, are not oc-
cupied by q single family, or even by two or
three families; but each room, from garrett to
cellar, is filled with a family consisting of sew
eral persons, and sometimes with two or more
families. The consequence is an excessive po-
puIation wholly disproportioned to the space
or the accommodations. There can be no
cleanliness, privacy, or proper ventilation.
During our visits on Broad street and all the
surrounding neighborhood last summer, YOUR
committee were witnesses of scenes too pain
full to be forgotten and too disgusting to be re-
lated. It is sufficient to say that the whole
district is a perfect hive of human beings, with
out comfort and mostly without necessaries.-
The city physicians report, accompanying that
of the committee, says the plan which is given
of a triple cellar would scarcely be believed to
represent a reality by those unacquainted with
some of these localities: 1.-THE third, a dun
geon, six feet square, and the sam in height,
with no aperture for the admission of air save
the narrow door, which is closed at night, serv-
ed 10 accommodate boarders. The landlord
said the tide came through the floor of his
rooms but rarely" "One cellar was reported
by the police to be occupied nightly as a sleep
ing apartment by thirty nine persons. In ano-
the tide had risen so high that it was ne
cessary to visit the bedside of a patient by
means of a plank which was laid from one
stool to another, while the dead body of an
infant was actually sailing about the room in
its coffin"
These are horrible details, but they are only
small specimen, to show the character and
extent of the misery found in our. most -four
cities. Compared to the wretched thou
sands living in the garrets and cellars of New
York, Boston and other cities, our slaves are
ike princes and mobiles! Gladly would they |
Exchange their confined, over-crowded, filthy |
md p~estilent abodes, for the comparatively |
arge, airy and comfortable cabins on our PLAN |
ations. |
There ought to be a reform in this matter.
fen of capital will find the investment of their
money in decent dwellings for those who can
'ay but q moderate rent, more profitable than
n building large and expensive houses for the
This has been tried and is no longer
oubtful. We are glad to see that building
are being formed in various parts
+ the country, in which the poor laboring man
lay invest his spare earnings, and in time Sc
ure for himself a permanent home of his own,
r by rents obtain an annual return of his in
The erection of public buildings
'r the poor, especially in the neighborhood of
rye cities, is receiving more and more atten-
on, and we hope will be SO fully carried out
lat the wretchedness depicted in the foregoing
ktracts may no longer be known.