Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1859-06-11
AasbbiIIs anien aaA Smtritan.
Dallr IS rrl-weeklY s.; weekly g..
I.lro new Yorl1-.rhe poor.


7 late report Of the "San'tiry Association OF
the City Of New York. makes soHs as.oundiag dis
closures 10 reference TO tAe habits Of living among
the Pcor Of thai city We suhj1ia an extract, sud
can bat remark, how much preferable slavery, at
the South, IN Is 'gOyst form, is to tie condition,
habits and morality Of these people ~ 81
"Dr Gracou, from the committee to eEam.na
4 aud report upon teatmsnt housee, asked that The
coGmlt was allowed . real few remarks upon
the subject Of tenement houses lie produced the
folloHing startling At lteueat Of facts:
Three years since the whole number Of brild-
ings Of ell descriptions 10 this city 5S, 600
| The CITY is DIVIDED iato twenty-five Wards Ia
1856, ninetesn Of these Wards contained IOp1la-
tiOn of 53s,027 inhabitsnts, divided iaIo ,833
families, averaging little less than five sO1ls in
/ each family. For the accommodation OF these
l9 sS3 families residing in nineteen Wards there
wee 36,0o5 dwellings, averaging about three AMI
Oneh sf families occupying an entire house. There
bat II III Of these families occupying entire
house. las Of these dweliings con,ain fam lies,
600 contain each three families. Thas, while
"a 465 Of these selliag she but SO 2l3 families,
the reaaining l3 623 houses have to cover $500
families averagiog nearly six families in each house.
Showing that about tiree-fourths Of the whole pop
ulalion Of New York live averaging but fraction
less than six families in hOuse while oaly about
one family ia ten occupy WhO'e house.
There are many single blocks of dwellings coz
tsining twice the number of families residing the
whole of Fifth Avenue or thaa GoniinuOus row
of dwellings simla- t1 those on the Fifth Avenue
three or fur miles in lsDgt5. There is a multitude
of these squares any tsa Of which contain larger
population than the whole city Ct Hartford, whieh
covers Of several miles. Ia 1850 the entire
population of the city was 5l5,S94 Number Of
families 90 COS. Whole nImbsr of dEe.lngs 81 647
HtPhiledephia. in 1850 contained DO ulatfon Of
Al info - 201 To,
MEDIATE these families there 81 ,278 dwellngs.
With a population Of l07 600 smaller thau New
York. Philadelphia had % Col more dwellings than
New York.
.a' Baltimore, in 1850, with population of 2IO
GAG divided pt1 1928 families, had S0,065 dEsl-
lDgs. --....
= Boston, in 1850. had population Of las sSl.
Chelsea, q suburb of Bjston, had population Of
I $50. Boston and Chelsea included had rs, AIS
families and II, 557 dWellings." H
The Commerci1L AdVertiser slys: rtt.t
The tenement house system is the result Of the
high value of land, and the rents enormous. Ia
one case where the establishment is arranged for
the accommodation of 11G families, the rates eharg
ed, if the tenemenls were all occupied, would not
be less than % or 30 per cent the first cost, so
that some five years would suffice t. pay principal
aEd interest. The building stands On plot Of
ground perhaps 50x250 feet. There is an alley on
each side running the whole derth. and being some
most Invariably so constructed as TO make even
tolerabe ventilation entirely out Of the question.
current Of fresh air never be passed through
them after they are finished. Each tenement very
generally consists of room an bed room. The
buildings three to six stories high with two or more
families on each Hoor or story. In this one room
the families sit, do all their work, cook, wash and
eat. eFr
Among families thus huddled together, the deyel-
opment Of disease aud Of wickednsss is not sur
prisiug. Mr. Halliday gsve 3 detailed account Of
the arrangement of the building referred TO, in
regard to sewerage and closet cOnvenielces The
foul matter of the entire estab hment exhaies ITS
psrous stencil directly in the Of the tenant.
There is no more 'Tetirscy than upon publie oom-
! mon" lie asks where there are such bssstly ar
rar gements as these, bow can they develop other
/ than q beast'y morality? Nor need it be q wonder
/ that more people die in New York than In almost
apy other city on the face Of the globe Our ieue-
ments for the masses are 50 Constructed ID shut
! out the light and make yentilstion an impOssi-
/ bilitv while the surroundings without are made to
combine the very clements of death The Windows,
! cue from each room, aud they have bu; two win
doWa for light and air. and only one 10 each room;
these look ont against solid brick wall, eight feet
! from them aud urOn this slley-Hsy, oioTs arising
from the horrd vault beneath mingle with every ex-
baatou these poor creatures make Let tAis st1te
| Of things xist in New Orleans or in London, and
! the population would be decimstsd.