National Republican., 1873-06-05
THROUGH THE SLUMS.
SOME ALLEYS IN SOUTH WASHINGTON,


Ceniinued Inspection hy the Health omeer
-Crewdcd state Of tho wretohed Teue-
Honts-Di.osse, sasaIsr and Poverty
Twenty-one ReInas In Three Roems.
10 the central and growing sections Of the
city the main streets with the newly laid pave
ments, parks and sidewalks, and the handsome
edlnces convey TO the stranger AZ well as the
resident an idea Of perfect health and cleanii-
ness, and as they pass on admlrlng the beautiful
sight they little think that in the Immediate
vicinity, laid behind the shelter Of these same
houses, In dirty and undralned alleys, occupying
hovels Of the worse description, live Thousands
Of the poor residents Of washington-rnen,
women and children huddled together In one
mass, and bound by the tie Of their common
poverty.
A report Of one Of the tours and brief 40
count OF some OF the narrowing sights Witnessed
was given In the Rxrurticls few days ago, and
people made somewhat acquainted with the
wretchedness existing, and yesterfny, BY invita-
tlon, one OF our reporters accompanied Dr. Dnas,
the health oficor, on q tour Of Inspection throaah
the alleys OF South washington. Equipped with
note hook and pencil, and fortined with couple
of good clgArA he started, and was soon with
the Doctor and Mr.. Hunter, one OF the lnspec-
tora, In an alley between Sixth and Seventh and
and streets, OF which complaint had been
Ia this alley there were no shanties, but the
i rear buildings from both y and q streets opened
into u, and tue residents had used u as reccp-
| tacle for the slops from their houses until that
In connection with the usual refuse, mad rem
/ dered II q most thurough nulaauce. Great COM
plants had been made Of want Of drainage,
i but this defeft has been supplied by the Board
Of Public w6tks, who caused sewer to be con
| ufucted through II, and the alley was Al the
time nlied with laborvrs clearing away the debris
was @ % maas OF of s.vePsi iIi.sIslneS premises, and
to-day the owners will be notified that they must
connect with the sewer at once:
visited was In the square bounded by sixth and
seventh and q and II streets. Entering from
street. q ANAL one-stoty shanty, divided into
was seated middle aged colored woman, and a
her feet piaying were three Or four chill
dren, who, with her husband, constituted the
hiTh and ten bJ isu n width and breadth, ioi
kiLee, s per month in advance: Ths neIl
then asoertained that four days ago . mother
and daughter had died there with the smallpox
and tue husband had moved away.
officials was met, and the truth Of the story
vouched for, with the additional Information thai
the building had been thoroughly dislnfected
ton Of lime and carbollc acid. and other neces
aary precautions taken 10 prevent the furthei
spread OF the disease. Satisfied with the inspec
only only to see sisrine then them IN tiie face the yellow
s'RuAl OF the board proclaimlng the presence Of
the terrible pestilenoe, and strange 10 say be
ored children ware playing AZ, uneopcernedly Al
they would IN ono of the publlc streets.
Probably the long aoqualntance Of their pa
made them fearless Of It's presence, but certain
Il In they showed no inclination to avoid II. A
bend In the alley brought 70 view row Of thrc,
16isekened with smoke - were % not more thai
seven feet high. To save expense the owne
[name unknownl had not plastered them, bu
y Ms ps %Oaso
sheds, under the noors OF which were stagnan
pools OF water, These are the property OF Mr.
in one sss psns sa. 'Us wore % sisres ~ % bare
purpose Of pr proteCtion, the tenant hAd psp spered I
anew &. bss AesF e nm noun. n Ss P'S"a Se.
fumlgated on account OF the removal of . small
pox patient, and with utter dlagust they pro
Sseded TO the next POM o. lnspeotiOn: the alleJ
ton OF the sights Of the two proceedinG squares
squallied poverty -A-hogel In whlch were middle,
human bsings, yhleh were IN reality unnt 70
manded, often too by men known and recognizes
10 the community a. Christians, but who do no
sT0es g 'sIs 9Pea the ne
rRH COW BusINEss
was the next point Of observation, aud tn
stables IN the vicinity used for that purpose wer
visited. The law provides that there shall no
be kept within the city limits more than one COW
but several Of these stables contained three an
four. The health otficer promptly informed th
proprtetors OF the law, and notified them tina
/ complianue with it would he required. To this
Of course, there was demurrer, Hnd a. the IN
/ specting party left there was congress- OF IA
visit and its probable effects on their future bu
h the parting shot given by the energetic Docto
! settled tee matter; That's the law. and it sna
OBJECTIVE DRARtAdz
N A little farther cast OF this point We halted %
r the purpose Of viewing some Of The lots 9
= tue very necessity Of things, have become, as
: were, stysian pools-oreetiers OF disease an
Il death. Some OF these are four feet below grad
VIII which % q mos, Offensive odor Is emitted < III b
for the suppression OF nulsances OF this Kind, n
: quiring the owners to nli all lots to the grade,
= now pending In the Legislature, and shoui
pass, as In many sections they are but the sui
J. and mighty cause Of untold pestilence.
| = Immeiiatsly In this section is q low square
! ground owned by one Mr.. X Z. Clark, and CO.
!, cred with probably one hundred wretched hoyel
y most OF which were recently condelnned on .
y y countef their dampnss., but which ne Is
= tempting 70 render hAbitable Technically
. raising some Two feet above their origin
. foundation, and for which with true phllanthroI
q he has added dollar 70 the monthly rental
y caught the eye Of the party, and on inquiry IN,
y ascertAlned that an old lady had purchased the
" for one hundred dollars cash and was paying
rent 1850 per Annum for the ground, a space
Y the centre OF square about i5xbO feet
y Dimensions. ...#
n Down second street there arc row after ro
Of fwretohed shanties, all Inhabited by wretch,
people, until slck a. near we, whom duty do
n not compel, beg to be excused from fuTth
aight-seeing, anu shortly after are en- route Z
up town; BY way Of change Willow Tree Al
Louise aney are driven Through, an inspectlt
made, then, stlll not satisfied, Bates alley, b
:, tween sixth and seventh and @ and II stree
N northwest, gone for. This Ia certainly not In Il
v best condition, but u might We worse. For !
=, stance. here In one shany Is man lying on u
" Moor sick, then three small children lcoldl kee
re Ing house while the mother In out making q II
I'd Ing. Then house, with i've rooms, owned by
Mr. Lewis, which, although entirely out OF I
of % ~ human ssnSs TSs me nss
last feather which broke the camels back, al
we were soon on the smooth streets seeking 4
more congenlal ciimes. .
that all Of the alleys In Washington are built
% | with hoyels, In which are hlddled thousands
+ human belngs-lhat they are completely at d
4 mercy o. disease and death on account OF la
. which goes 70 make up q healthy place Of abod
and, above all, "A unIversal thing, the premls
IL are In most terrible condition. .H0
Tss ss:,S @ sss D was ,se se,sr%Ia
Of these excuses for houses, and q notincatit
=. TO At least two hundred 70 a. once Pot IN,
y premises In proper condition. Thus endel q
= visit, aud with thankfulness the bright side
!. the city was again reached and a prayer len b
"a hind for the unfortunate, .
y In some parts OF the city groand In large qua
" public spirited citizens do not purchase some
N lt and erect nmall cheap and substantial bu
4 ings, which eau be let AZ moderate prices sui
Y Die for the people whose habitatlons are
II " Ltgn -