The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-11-08

returning any portion of the fund.- Thesame
remark applies to almshouses and dwellings
for the reception and support of the abso-
lutely destitute, whose subsistence would ne
cessarily bs.a perpetual charge, without pre-
senting the slightest. element of self-support;
and attention was thus forcibly directed to
the object dictated by Mr.. Peabody himself,
of erecting dwellings, for the laboring poor on
such improved principles as to conduce at
once to economy, salubrity, and social enjoy
ment. This mode of employing the fund has
also the recommendation that the low rents
at which this healthful accommodation could
be given would annually supplement the ORR
ginal fund, and thus create a source whence
similar advantages might continue to be de-
rived for an almost indefinite period
''In postpening other projects, such as
those above already alluded to, it is not to be
supposed that the trustees ignore their value
or question their importance; but concur
renee of circumstances, at the moment COM
bined to give pre-eminence to the one. just
referred to. "In the poorer districts Of Lon
don, the dwellings of the poorer classes had
been suddenly disturbed by the long-pent-up
invasion of metropolitan railroads, whose in
cursions were overthrowing whole streets in
habited by humble and industrious laborers
and artisans. The dispossessed population, un-
provided with adequate accommodation else
where, were thus driven away into alleys and
courts, already inconveniently crowded by
their previous inmates; and discomfort
and disease were in many instances
added to loss of employment and
expense Even in our crowded and deplora-
BILE DISTRICTS says gentleman, writing in
1866, 'such as the streets and alleys running
out of Dlury Lane, and in the region of the
Seven Dials, apartments are not to be had;
and the rents in some neighborhoods have
been raised fifty per cent Small tenements
were not regarded as an eligible property, and
the construction of them did not invite the
enterprise of ordinary capitalists. The CON
sequence was that poverty apart, q workman
had great difficulty in obtaining decent lodg
lngs, even with the means of paying for them
in his pocket. How extreme was the distress
may be inferred from the fact that, besides
Mr.. Peabodys scheme, some seven or eight
large organizations differing from the former,
however, in being purely commercial transac-
tions) bave been devised, and are now in
operation for building improved dwellings for
the working classes.
Taking those peculiar circumstances into
account, few will hesitate TO admit that Mr.
Peabody's trustees reasoned wisely when they
came to the resolution, ''without precluding
the consideration of other subjects hereafter,
to confne their operations for the present to
the object specially recommended to their
notice by Mr.. Peabody, viz, the improve
ment of dwellings for the poor of the me-
tropolis."
Enabled by this decision to proceed
promptly with the business of the trust, the
next inquiries of the trustees were directed
to the system and style of buildings most
conducive to the objects in view, and to the
acquisition of sites in districts of the citv
most suitable for their erection; these sites to
be distributed throughout the various quar-
ters of London in order to diffuse the bene-
fits of Mr.. Peabodys gift over the largest
possible area.
"The first site chosen was in Commercial
street, Spitalfelds, near the terminus of the
Eastern Counties Railway, where q space
equal to Is, GS2 square feet was obtained from
the Commissioners of Public Works for
G3300. For further expenditure, something
under G24, 600 for buildings, accommodation
was obtained for upward of 200 persons in
tenements of one, two, or three apartments
each, according to the requirements of the
several occupants. The latter sum included
also the cost of erecting nine shops on the
ground floor, the rents of which, amounting
to nearly $500 per annum, go to increase the
general fund, and thus contribute to the re-
productive character which it is the desire of
the trustees to impart to it.
''3efore the dwellings at Spitalfelds were
completed, the trustees were enabled to pos
sess themselves of other sites in districts
similarly claiming attention. At Chelsea
plot, containing 1866 square feet, was OBJ
tanned for e4G16 1Ss Cd; for another, at
Bermondsey, with an area of 1850 square
feet, they gave G4S70 rs. 3D.. fourth at
Islington, measuring AZ, S63 square feet, cost
eS646 5s 3D.. and for e43O0 fifth was ac-
quired at Shadwell, the extent of which is
over 73, 500 square feet"
While the houses at Commercial street were
still in progress, the trustees commenced, on
their premises at Islington, the erection of
four blocks of buildings, to comprise in all
100 tenements, containing, as at Spitalfelds,
one, two or three rooms each, and furnishing
ample accommodation for upwards of $50
persons. The whole cost of these buildings,
inclusive of the sum paid for the land,
amounted to G40, 397 2s. Id.
Before the square at Islington was finished,
the trustees entered into contract for the
sum of f37, ,953 to build on similar scale on
their property at Shadwell
On the 29th of February, 1864, the first pile
of buildings erected in Commercial street,
Spitalfelds, was thrown open to receive its
inmates, and the number of applicants was,
and continues to be, considerably in excess of
the accommodation available. The number
of persons who took possession of their new
homes was upward of two hundred.
We give an illustration of the buildings at
lslington, which were opened in September,
1865. They have been erected on the site Of
pile of buildings known as Wards place,
Essex road, formerly inhabited by a dense
population of the worst character in the
metropolis, who herded together with little
or no attention TO morality or decency. What
a contrast to the healthy, tidy, respectable,
and industrious people who now, through Mr.
IPI'easodys bounty, inhabit the same spot