The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1878-09-28
san Francisco chronicle.I

authorities. The assistance of officers
Bethel, Hogue andAvon was procured, land
under their pilotage some of the worst
places in Chinatown were visited. Rev
/ Otis Cfibson's house, No. 6l3 Jackson
street, was first inspected. The court
yard of this principal Chinese burrow
was filed with heaps of garbage and
filth, thrown there by the many Mon
/ golian residents. The lodging-rooms in
the basement were filled with occupants,
and the stencil and foul odors that
j greeted the official nostrils when the
doors were opened caused many of the
inspectors 10 look pale with nausea.
This place was found to be in the foulest
condition, aud loud were the various re-
marks made against the reverend owner
/ Tor tolerating such pestilential spot.
From this the party crossed TO Cooper
| alley, on the south side of Jackson
street, and the almost iunumerable lodg-
! ing places of thieves and ragpickers
who inhabit it ereinspected. twas in
this alley that the police officers some
time ago found the jewelry stolen from
the residence of II. l.. Davis. Two of the
houses iii the alley were condemned by
DIR. Meares ON Monday IS unfit for habi-
tation. Bartlett-alley was then visited.
Two houses were partially examined
the foul and sickening smells found
therein precluding a more thorough in
spection.
From here to Bull Run alley the
officers led the way. Arrived there, con-
siderable difficulty was experienced in
gaining admission to the houses, which
were found closed and barred. The
tumble-down rookery in which live three
Celestial lepers was broken into by the
officers, and the loathsome and repul-
sive occupants were exhibited in all their
responsiveness. The room in which the
lepers live is about twelve feet by four
teen, and some seven feet in height.
The whole party, which by this time
had increased TO eighteen persons,
crowded into the small space, and ex-
amined at considerable length one of
the lepers who acted on this occasion as
the piece de resistance. He was ordered
to take off his clothes, which done,
more revolving sight was never seen in
San Francisco. The entire flesh cover
ing stood out prominently in Jumps and
ridges with scarcely human feature
officers that the Chinaman is engaged in
the manufacture of cigars which he sells
from the various corners in Chinatown
A curiosity amid this scene of filth
and slime was shown, it being grape
vine loaded down with ripe and luscious
fruit. II was found growing in nook
in the deepest recesses of the alley, I'M
der the fostering care of an aged French
man, who has charge of the various
tumble-down shanties in the vicinity.
Sullivan's and Ross's alleys were then
gone through, but little was found to at
tract the official gaze. Oneida place
was then examined. The officers, fol-
lowed by the entire party, penetrated
far below the surface in the street,
finding dark and vilely-smelling rooms,
each containing six to eight occupants
more than their actual capacity. This
alley is burrowed in every direction far
into the bowels of the earth, and wher-
ever space was found sufficient for a
Mongol to stretch his proportions it was
inhabited. Considerable attention was
given to this locality, as, like the rest
of the district, of which it is but a small
part, the facilities for the commence
ment of conhagration, which, when
once started, would destroy not only
human life, but sweep over large dis
trict, were found TO be abundant.
The building on the east side of Du-
pont-street, about fifty feet from the
corner, was next entered. The party
were led down, down, deep into the
bowels of the earth, and when halt
was made they were informed that they
were two stories below the surface of the
street. Each story was built up in
rooms, about five feet by eight, and con-
tanning from two 10 six occupants each.
Many of them were locked at the time
of the visit, the sight-seers being told
that the occupants were away This
was found to be Celestial falsehood as
an inspection discovered that the keys
were on the inside. With great difficulty
the doors were forced and the occupants
brought out. In one of the closets was
found new case of leprosy. The re-
pulsive object caused many of the party
to beat a hasty retreat. The stencil of
this underground habitation was over
towering in the extreme, and when the
official examiners were once more
piloted out into the fresh air it seemed
impossible for them to take in salts
factory quantity of the life-giving oxy-
gen. The party by this time had become
SO surcharged with the foul odors inhaled
during the examination that they re-
fused to continue their investigation
further. A portion of them, however,
were prevailed upon to visit one more
place. Again they were led down flight
after fight of rickety steps, far below
the surface and into places, that were it
not for the guiding hands of the officers
it would be impossible to emerge from
again. The examination was necessarily
brief, because the foul sights and ex-
ecrable smells that greeted the senses at
every turn caused a rapid and hasty
exit to be made to the comparatively
pure air above. This sbominable hole,
in the rear and below the buildings in
the center of Sacramento-street on the
south side, and between Kearny and
Dupont. was the worst of any of the
places visited during the evening. The
officers present expressed themselves as
satisfied with the little they had seen,
and said the repulsive scenes they had
been eye-witnesses of would linger with
them for sometime to come, and make
them think that the liberation of such a
plague-spot in the heart of the city is a
disgrace to the State and nation at
large. They also said that with the
power given them by the law they would
exert themselves to eradicate it if pos
sible; if not, at least to remove many of
the greatest instances.