New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-08-05
TENEMRNT HOUSES.

The nero circumstance Of so many hundred people
living an acre ground ofneriOr importance
pared with the In which they are housed The
death rate of st. Jamess Westminster 22O while that
ofS Georges in the East 2S79 The number Of nhabi-
tans the is DIS in the former district and 2O In
the latter St. Jamess is place OF residence for the
most wealthy OF the population Of London St. Georges
IS the home Of the poorest But it is wellestabshed
fact that the tenement houses Of NewYOrk far
unhealthy compared with the houses Of ST. Georges in
the East. than those very dwellings Of St. Georges
jn comparison with the hotels and residences Of St.
James's, Westminster. st. James, Westminster num-
bered in 1883 houses being for each nhab-
itants st. GeOrgein heEast numbered 6,l69 houses
one for each inhabitants But how immense the differ.
ence between the hotels Of ST. Jamess and the novels If
you choose to call them So Of St. Georges and the
ent houses Of the eastern and lower wards Of New
York; According the of 1885, the Seventh Ward
OF NewYork had only 2124 dwellings for 1907 inhab-
itants to every II PERSONS the Sixth Ward o3s
for 1874 inhabitants for every q the Eleventh
Ward 2.4S9 for 6s959 inhabitants, for every a.
These numbers It must be remembered averages for
whole wards The number Of inmates to tenement
houses taken alone, frequently as high 30 for
entire blocks Of buildings. AS many 50 persons have
often been found living in threetOry house Of feet
front The average deahrate among the tenement house
population Of NewYork is st matter Of conjecture It
is pretty well established however that exceeds 30 to
each 1000. In s5S2 tenement houses in New-York City
there died from February October 1865 l persons
during the period there died in the public instu
JOns 3439 persons 1900 Of whom are supposed to have
been taken from the tenement houses making the total
mortality for this class OF dwellings for only three
fourths Of year For the time the deaths in all the
other dwellings including shanties bOardiug houses and
hotels all about number were only TO which
700 should perhaps be added from the hospital deaths
Giving average Of % Inhabitants TO each tenement
house. and to each Of the other dwellings the death
rate Of the tenement house inmates would be about
double that OF the remainder Of the population 1t be-
ing impossible TO arrive at any accurate determine
ton Of the tenement house deathae in the absence Of
precise data than the figures above presented we
cannot do better than quote the following paragraph
from Mr. Nortons paper tenement house mortality
contained in the last Annual Report Of the Board Of
Health
1t has become an axiom in sanitary science that the
crowded proximity OF dwellings In towns and cities pro-
drees morbid mental, and physical conditions Ia the in.
haonants But these conditions multiply IN rapid geo
SroWSe9 upon every available foot Of the surface area
e a9es nBd eers are 80 arranged as to com
closest conpanionshp consistent with social and domestic
yielded TO the pressure Of population and In some
OyercrOwdng has been permitted TO such an extent that
privacy Is impossible and the grossest offices OF nature
often performed IN full view OF tie young and Ola ~
several neighbOrDg families" ~
HE PROPORTION OF The TENEMENT HOUSE POPULATION
INCREASING.
The vOuminous reports OF the Superintendent OF Bpd
ings give us the number Of houses which have been
erected IN the city since the organization of his depart
nent May 1884, From that time up to January / 1902
there had been completed s6Ss structures varying in i'm
portance aud dimensions from dry goods palace 10
wood she'd OF these seSs edhces only about 500 IA
near as we can estimate from an incomplete ale OF
the superintendsnt's Annual reports, were dwelling
houses. How many dwelling houses were taken down
TO make room for the I'VE or six hundred stores
when nave been erected in various portions Of
the city since 1862, we have no means Of knowing
but certainly 400 would be a low estimate. The
reader can easily ascertain that the demoltions for
Suohstores as that Of Arnold Constable at the corner
OF Broadway and Hineteenthst or that now going mo
"a the corner OF Broadway and Twentleth.st, leave
NiEs hu'AsrA al families 70 ssak quarters elsewhere,