The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1873-06-07
The Sunless and Airless Tsnements Of
New York.

That the suns rays are necessary for the
growth and development of the human
system and for the preservation cf health
has, through ignorance or wanton careless
ness, been almost ignored in the construc
ton Of large portion of the dwellings.
Nearly five hundred thousand human
beings in the city Of New York sleep in
rooms in which the purifying and vivifying
influence of the suns direct rays has never
been felt since the day Of their construc-
ton. Yet, in the face OF this well-known
fact, many of the intelligent citizens, as
they ride up and down the broad and we'll
paved avenues, lined with handsome five
and six story houses, crowded with their
tens of Thousands Of men, women and chill
drsn, feel quite pride in supPosing that
we are a. far in advance of all the rest of
the world in providing healthy homes for
our citizens ~ We are in our commercial
and business arrangements or in the gath
ering up and distributing of social, pOliti-
cal, scientific and general news What
fatal error Not merely . sentimental err
Tor that may fern . slender excuse for q
scientific Discussion among the doctors Of
the theory Of light and ventilation, but a
practical and material error that costs the
citizens Of New York more lives and en-
tails more more sickness and suffering an
nually, than did the terrible war Of those
memorial years of 1862, 1863 and 1864,
and shall we not say costs us more dollars
and cents also
We are very confident that no other city
in the civilized y world can show such
large proportion Of its dwellings built, dur
ing the nineteenth century with such
reckless disregard of those great sanitary
agents, sunlight and pure air. The num-
Der Of blind and partially blind found
cropping about the dark passages of the
tenement house is heartsickening, and the
number Of sick and dying in these dark
and sitting dens, mis-caled bedrooms, is
truly saddening According to the record
Of the Board Of Health, they had reported
the removal Of twenty-four dead human
bodies from one of the houses, front and
rear, IN nine months. There are probably
about twenty families, which, At hve per
sons each, would give three hundred and
nifty human beings of all ages crowded into
this building. This would give an annual
death rate Of eighty five to the thousand.
Now the average death rate for the whole
81 the United States is fifteen to the thou
sand, and for the most healthy rural dis
tricts of England is eleven to the Thousand,
and there are whole sections Of the city of
New York where the death rate is no great
er than this; and it has been fully proven
that the death rate of eleven To the thou
sand is as high as it ought to be in any To-
cality with good sanitary care, Now, what
does this show us : Eleven from eighty
five leaves seventy -four 70 the thousand as
the excessive death rate; or, to speak more
correctly, of persons that have been muir
dsred by ignorance OF AVArice And this,
too, in season generally regarded As IA
vorable to health. And yet these facts eX
cite no comment whAtever, simply because
they are general that We take them As
matter of course-in short, - a necessary
evil. We can find no such mortality even
amongst the poorest and most degraded
classes living in the open air, with ether
circumstances as favorable as those sur
rounding 'i-osv people.
One of the worst features Of these sun
less buildings is the rspidlty with which
they become more and more foul. Every
living being is constantly exhaling from
| the lungs and skin large quantities of etfste
animal matter and foul gasses, which,
when confined in dark room soon become
very offensive and dangerous TO health.
This exhaled breath with its moisture soon
saturates the wall, ceiling and floors Of the
room, as well as the carpets, bedding and
other porus substances in it. The suns
rays are great dispenser Of these Poisons
They are the great moving and groi ing
power of all animal and vegetable life
They cause the growing vegetation 10 alb
sorb what animals eXhale The suns rays
may there fore be considered the most pow
erful dlsInfectlng agent-the great purifier
But the walls Of q room occupied by q hv-
ing person may be saturated with the poi
sonOus breath, and if the sun does not
shine into it poisonous mould soon COW
ers everything, and sometimes become so
rank that 1t can be seen with the naked
eye. The exhalations from any healthy
person are very injurious, but it can be
readily imagined how dangerous it becomes
to occupy such sunless rooms after persons
have sickened and died in them from any
contagious disease As an illustration of
this the fact may be mentioned that a
number Of workmen who assisted in tear
ing down one Of the fever wards at the
New York hospital were taken sick and
died. These wards had long been aban-
doned, but the walls still retained the vir-
ulent poison. -Ns0 York paper