New-York tribune., 1866-12-03
THE STEWART TENEMENT HOUSES.
FHE IDEAS TO BE CARRIED OUT IN THEIR coz
sTRCCTION.

m specially enforced in such CON ucon were submitted
NJ Stewart and adopted by that gentleman as the ideas
% he carried ID n houses which he proposes to build III
tal, city for the cr accommodation OF the nbOrng and
Ioo- classes They prepared ly Mr. T. T. Potter aFc
tct Of Wast WHO has mode the requirements OF this class
a. eIGcCs special study. The recommendations arc D's'1
u-on the following principles
First Any plan proposed for an improved tenom0t house
mus. to be Of any benefit be that pays 0tht"ls. u VIZ
uc he followed tenement house, with whatever improve
upnts if IL docs not pav Hs an investment is Simply 'aEt
r-ioicyts Of charity IT, however tenement house
pay, a aa investment The landlord would as willingly mlu
m "a roo uan a. bud ouc-Nuy, DE would prefer me good
plan as certain 10 secure tenants OF better class than
d. To uic ono tenement house pay well another
o. tc same size 10 must accommodate the same number OF
rn, nj il be urged tlui the great ru of the present system
y c owtnr toecr Of 80 moiy people the answer E that
tl cIOwdug result, from the shape and limited width oi Tue
island which York is but and The natural desire Of
these whose work n the City 20 live near their work as
ossbc The cruwdug is not due 70 tho Way in which tc
houses built 10 the IapaclE Of lndlou,J rs iue result
circumstances which outside Of either and which VIC can
Ihr5 Though cgowing cannot perhaps J" prevented Tie
evils OF crowdug ray be- Many of our fashionable watering
place during the hight o c season. more crowded
are mutudcs Of on our inland waters aud O" the
ocean What thea arc the special evils o! cio"du5 an ''he
Ih The evil, Of crowding in tenement houses Want
o. air. want of sunlight want Of dcccnCy AND want o comfort
The irsnamed cI the greatest So much has been sud
nnd vs. tcn lately on this subject that there need
large ON here Good ventilation is necessary TO health Lack
of ventilation Of the dwellings particularly Of the sleeping
rooms of tic poor is az The bottom OF a & diseases which
the poor sulcc-Cuscs which generated in the unvcu
The ,ccpugroous in NeW-Y York tenement house only
Stcp above the SLACK Hole Of Calcutta Now as windows
40 admit gh and air can only be- had front and rear from the
street or from the yard evident that the bedrooms not
thu, exposed mus be dark and unyenuiaeL The only light
a1d ar they haycis gotten through openings m ihc sitting
rooms themselves u crowded ana close rooms
And a the front and back bedrooms belong % different ian
lies and have therefore no ITO va! Z
such air is 20 lc found IN the bedrooms To pass ON except
pssiro Of alb however foul houses the bedrooms
adjoining hail have large windows opening nio but the
.Lf roff The
ted possible that something might bi done 10 DcF tuc
air OF these vreclcd sleeping places M means 0 hu,s ln the
Iut even The difficulty Of making such system OF tucs work
and II could be made simple ana cheap instead
OF complicated and qcsiyc yet it is almost certain ha the
Spdd and estimate the importance of keclsng them
ornte mani would do neither Ii IL be sai that Tie
should be gd that they could NOT De shut Il" stopped
Up IL replied that iS would be impossible an ingenuity s
great that which Invented such nue. Would hnd way 10
stop up and close H. Indeed the tenant Nod % gNuhol
Uniu-y that he bad the rlght 10 ma. e n'u' % sll'
The ventilation when he thought be-. TO do So y Nll on
Of cold alr which fo5" Ho' No W V,t" VIttD" O' UJ ooc me
which the tenant would regard muc worse Nothing then
remains but the bedrooms with windows opening d
Iccty to the outer air We"sh 70 S.e mem n'al' !'
light necessary health air Miss Florence NigAin
G pety Of INN to health and Saws that sc has observed
that sick men in hospitals turn like plants to the light and
SUNLIGHT is necessary 70 perfect health Tie statistics OF hos
pal Paris have shown that the proportion of deaths was
,i IN tbe n,pyipr of bopitalS and his time il wccaso
eIAuon Al w PaHns ~ t r. e VOW, rfcu,,,c tb,f I'M
York the which most Of the tenement houses are
une run east and west that oncalf the dwelers in them
have never any sunshine their dwellings from years end
20 another WHAT wonder then az the diseases which abound
cherries abOes Want Of dccency follows on want
of light and OF air When remember that for house
containing from 10 TO ~ families where not only one oyny
family ~ ten, bst one unclcah person ono slcA % uleeN
child outrage the deceney and destroy ne comfort o
decent but that the majority are as decent as th are
The management Of the priyps in connection with most cne
In sumner when the windows must Open this nuisance is
sometimes almost unbeaabe While the families az the back
lave little better from the garbage boxes and barrels on The
sidewalk and the reeking gutters ocayed IegeiaD. SUB
scpngs plates empted into these barrels which stand
on IKE Sidewalk there to remain the discretion Of the gar
b9ve collectors often until the barrels boxes overflow. All
the dirty water Of al the families IN te house emfed into
tse gutter their doors. There u stands or runs down
the et past the other houses The stencil from these gucr
in hot weather is even worse than that OF mo eginagebA
Of the nuisanccs wmc conflict with dccncy m
present system Of building tenement houses Where there
neither air sunlight nor descent aIeenen' oT ng & laere
and rest day Of toll there is tie barroom and
dust its bar challenging adminton with its elerng and
tempting array and where the open door secure constant
s4fE r as " We 1M have elI just described to Be-
The foregoing details been written to very little pr-
nose II they have made il clear not only that the present
system Of building tenement houses has great evils To- thar
admitted on all hands the chief OF these evils tie want
Of sunlight and air ara decent OF meeting the nccc
te those who live in them That an inadequate remedy
which does not meet each Of these three wants ~ IN addition
10 improved privy accommodations we could build houes not
deep and let the bedrooms through and have windows
only garbage box nuisance remaining But as snch house
ordinary plan it wo1ld however good as cAalI be very uu
satisfactory investment
pay unless added similar house in the rear oi the ot IN
other words might have light bedrooms hy cutting the
lance from the other houses in re would not
bring good when placed according "a The present
out the whole block similarly arranged The rows being sur
rounded by buildings would BE- mere Welsns Tor cD0Mc
acid gas without any draft Of mir good ventilation The
SUM- too would be shut by them, except al midday with
out pointing all the notifications which such plan by
N B enough 10 state generally that what s needed U.s. that H
,be TyiS@ and slccninc' rooms Of dwelling should
lave windows the open air, and That The AR
spaces thas required should be open % the ends 70
as 70 secure thorough draft Now, n the mir passage
nr on street at both ends run and the length
of Whole block some space will BE- needed for IL and both the
epace and the capital required for building such scale
would be wanting But in the upper part Of the civ there are
many lots running through from street 70 street though
10 street is only 200 feet Without securing whole
block it would not be difficult to secure such "a
portion Of one os woud allow OF running sloi'
streets for air passages from street 70 street These pas
sages being open ends would draft OF air
through them, and they would run norm ana soh y
would have the in them al day. They would take the place
& , b needed for the priyic could be better placed else.
where cothedng fiat 30 feet by 2D feet would De
These fats II surrounded with high railing would
also afford good playing ground for the children
bev would be 20 them what their bydees are 10 the Ia
ians But thought better the plan could BE- 20 arranged that
for tay grounds for the children BY this arrangement the
summer evening breeze would have il course directly
Of the prevailing high winds woud h. broken by the
lqiding To secure thorough IentiasioI ao I li pos
each tenement may have windows 'front.' nnd rear Ana to
eeonomise space me ar passass sou,a ~ n m & ~ Jun az t MANI @
fcugrlv every window at hour OF the day y some
such system Of shallow blocks with free currents OF air all
around them 1t proposed 10 erect these tenement houses
In accordance with these general views M Potter has sub
rnitted TO Mr. Sewar plans each having ts peculiar
advantages simplest plan and that adopted that IN
which tnSSeparate tenements are entered b stars ana gale
res the open air The sun and wind and rain would ake
care OF them the most part although from being IN plain