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

Ton years ago Churchst had teeming population No"
NOT balf dozen dwelling houses can be discovered III
from yesey.st TO Canal. Again. the additions 10 'ho %
Of brown.stone palaces which SKIRT FithaVe' anu 'n
streets which At, are often pre-
nv the destruction OF groups OF o 80
90 uat n block which is completely ou' ny
aud bemmed in on every side with lofty houses l'"s
tor tbopsapds of dollars year. affords she'oI ioi
rnl,tlop no larger than that which formerly d"o' -
bovels upon It's surface Moreover, 1t Is not ~
ola citizens of New York that dwelling houseS
come so near to utter destruction by nrc 'na '"o'
20 he entirely rebuilt. Doubtless numerous n''"" "
this kind have occurred since 1867 bu'' '"As "o az
count OF fires and shantes, we nave AZ 'he o'Su OS
new dwellings to accommodate seven years siV"'" -
M ronrotinn OF these 6e0 at least 1900 were INTENDED
IA accommodates and do actually contain but one iaihS
each The average size OF family Is not more ma"
FIVE pprsons and the average number OF servants w.
,,ot oroood two or two and half On FifthaVe' 'no
number OF servants is greater but the lauineo a'
snol1er Here we have 10000 persons comfortably anu
bcaltlfully accommodated and 1000 tenehen.
left in which TO find sleeping rooms for the resi- OF Tue m
crease II that increase be estimated at 2OVV' INC '
entity becomes formidable. Putting 25oOOO men, Wo'ou
and children into 1000 new tenements Vi ua
them I'm 10 900 old habitatiOns already hlIeu ~
ing we conceive to he a measure hihH' 49,
to any Improvement in the sanitary aon
ot the city Superintendent MacGregor Is as ooh
the Roard OF Health are OF the accuracy OF lhetS "o
having no doubt of the truth OF either VIII ehdeaVor "
reconcile Mr. MacGregor's tables with tho Registrar
tables but we shall DO compelled TO sacrce Ihe Ncsi'
estimates of the population and speculatlohs i'll resa "
the death.rate The overcoming OF tenement nou'o
was already frightful evil in 1851 The oea'hI"o "
the CITY had been swollen by it to mean OF "a LOT tno
d n, n years from 1sl9 to 1861 The difficulty when
tho Roard Of Health and all others who estimate inc
popplation of NewYOrk at from 100000 to 100000 arc
called npon to meet. is to reconcile an addition OF o
100 400 70 100000 to the tenenenthOuse pOpuatoh' ac
COMMANDED by no corresponding increase in the humoer
of tenemeuts with such vast such an unhearu OIL sum
an incredible improvement in the death-rate
Perhaps we may be met with the statement that great
many dwellings haveI been altered into tenemens, had
additional stories put on or under them or have other
wise been stretched to accommodate the pOpula'oh
which was 10 be forced into them This, though IL may
20 little toward meeting our objections TO the supposcu
immense increase OF population makes utterly iinpoS
sbe to explain the improvement IL the deathate py inc
ordinary operation Of the laws Of health HOW nsun-
oiently 1t meets the first difficulty will be apparent when
we state that the whole number Of alterations OF every
kind on all sorts of buildings made during the seven
years from 1862 1885, is stated in Mr.
TO be 1855 What proportion OF these we're intended 10
increase the capacity Of tenement houses we nave no
means Of knowing, but certainly not One'tmrd'
Allowing twenty persons to each tenement, for
that surely Ia as many an average
sized tenementhouse comfortably accommodate the
1000 new tenementhOuses would hold 10000 persons TO
this number add the 10000 for the new singleiamhy
dwell,ncs and we have 10000 the extreme number
which the dwellings Of NewYOrk existing In 1869 VIII
accommodate over those which were so unhealthfuny
crowded in 1862 Any increase which may have taken
place beyond 10000 must have been accomplished al
great additional peril the public health 1t may very
easily be seen that the bulk of the increase which has
undoubtedly taken place in the population OF NewforS
CITY sipce 1855 must be ascrbed to the years subsequent
TO 1852 This is shown by the number Of deaths, which
have been very accurately and faithfully recorded by the
Registrars We commend the following table OF them tC
the careful attention of the reader;
TABLE VII