New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-01-08
HOMES OF POOR PEOPLE.

l.
ACTUAL TENEAENT-HoUsE IIFE-pANGERs II
CASE or SANITARY REGULATIONS rRAC-
uCNIY DIsRFGARDED.
LIGHT and ventilation are the two things
now made essential ~ tenement houses said an oc"
Of the Health Board recently 10 TRIBUNE Reporter
"Suce the passage OF he aCt " 1879 no tenement hoSo
has been BULL In which any room has not hao III '''-
one window looking out upon the open ar OF INV"
court containing az least twelve square Feet. FROM
Jnne Is 1870 10 october H. 1850 lO47 plans of toue
mont houses were submitted TO this bureau, and r'n
October 1850 20 October - ISL from 10000 l-"'
more These .O47 dwellings were estimated to iurh''h
homes for 1855 families at four C. family "i'"V"
persons every OF whom have been oenehted o! 'c
law giving the Board OF Health Jurisdiction over tene
meuts."
These buildings are called tcrcJcnts because the legal
definition of tenement house is one occupied by more
than three families doing their cooking on the premises
and living independently" But the existence OF h'th
room Is the easiest mark 81 distinction between inc '
and tenement house or the 1917 buildings 20 We're
e. and 22s tenement houses proper Two hundred and
tbrtyour Of the for two families on moor
6i for four and for six. The first law Oh
lsG7, giving the Board of Health contI"I
of tenement houses was practically dead le''oF III us
construction. June To- 1879. the matter was brought Wy
again A mass meeting held at Cooper Union ana
a committee was appointed 10 draft amendment to
The bill. James Galatin chairman OF the commit
tee. Finally act was passed GIVING Ine b%alF or
Health jurisdiction over an ttehc, mar
erected in the matters OF light aud Nenlht"i OhucI
tins act Board has been able to efcct an hllncnh
amount OF good until to-day the tenement houses erectd
In the years i'm advance of private houses IN
their sanitary conditions DARK uhNeh'I@teu Io"lns
found in the majority private houses naft1e cor
troll only those erected since the passage o Tue h
the Board cannot modify NE els Gt houses R5eHSISg
but In their light and ventilation What the Boaid mas
done can he shown by a few examples Ihe ordihaI!
old tenement house had II rooms ON moor SIX nehg
dark as "A cave An example of tenement house uutr
tcb tba visited on the sides there
gn We II,
windows open from the middle rooms that were formerly
dark.
In Baxterst uied to build the whole depth ola
LOT 100 feet long There to be central stairway up
which the inmates would come and enter their rooms
from verandah and all the closets were 10 be In the
cellar OF course the plan was rejected He brought
second bad plan which refused and then he began
buiding on the first. An injunction served on hA
md after two weeks Of arguing he was made leave space
for court at the and we'll ne to change the
closets and starways. An apartment mouse IN fljy,
space for courts aud then the ipspectors OBLIGED The
fudcrs to take feet from the side walls Alderman
Duffy built an entire lot ny II Voiatloi o uf w, INV
was obliged take of nine feet from the corner houses
Again this has prevented the building Of rear tehe
net houses The law that NO house OF t4ls casS
shall tLau 90 per cent % any "l auu' "Ao
r cno nIs t ite,i a!cra he fcar The innum space
FOR the side courts j. twevc square iett "ia an !I
There are four families there usually four court
'rbnsc are onep formed bv recesses in The walls I'm
oDarmeu houses every built now must have every
ram containing batd and closet open INTO a court or
ajr snait into wAich no slice ping room opens
The rev plumbing act VIII also 10 very uuch 10 I'
duco sickness and malaria, ~" I'D. Gi','I rom "ii
thee facts were obtained. "Hou-"s l,Ie are noj PUT
FOR the poor Tie POOR move into those discarded ny
others Much Of thc building l. mere fmsy contract
work rushed through 10y -ecula'"rs on l"al-, ana t'
worx crimpcd 80 every detail Cases have been known
in apparently line houses were waste pipes Lave peeu
IsI 0u side directly into the soil, with 10 connections
with the But no" any one can nave 'AC Ii'i!i'
.i"vii. ~ ~ rrescnf in tenement houses but we
lob in 60 4.
tro he sanitary conditions Of houses huit since thc
v hg. been enforced with the result that light and
veuation secured Ia all tenement houses ie'en'y
'"-''' An EXAMINATION oN THE EAST SIDE.
Notwithsan dug recent Improvements an examination
a. the East side tuemcnt-nouse district shows hat an
almost endless amount OF sanitary reform Is necessary
East Of the Bowoy and Thirdave live, # IS said hdfa
million OF people. Nearly half the number live between
Grand and Fouiteentlsts. From Gr"nd-s' to I"mpAh-
souore where the eastern shore ot Manhattan Island
sves ont into cape, Is the great aforementioned dis
trict-a world by it-ef p.oIlod by tie poor OF every
uaou4 Is packed together u lOu unhealthy tdNts'es
of homes The district .nciudes parts of the Tenth
Eleventh, IlutOtltn did -t,tI.. ythth "%I"s' "a,
rgnlIcru portion ol Tie Eleventh. Ward ot the eastern
end OF Houstou-st.. is aid 10 be no most
BiacE'riar's in London. TIE GruIes vC Of d tbe
Icuemeu containing $4,000 persons; le3 OF these
teneIncus buildings situated III Darn courts anu
N ItueIu.nt houses !uAautoj by 1900 people, 2I4
nj HOUSES lAtl vary I.t4t't
Ia size Somo oil them are " 'go W. I95
Ward 10 are occupied 10y nom II 10 10 I'nil'r, -
nv from rs To %. and by from 90 to -. IN me
Eleventh Ward from to I6 families live IN 1874, from
10 10 20 families in III and from - 10 70 ID ~ t'
isTre houses there are usually four apartments On
floor, each consisting OF Two OF teo sIaH "Ul9 "
a FAMILY som, times numbering eight ten persons.
tut kern the average of four this gives persons
usually from three TO tye OF these houses IN a
row making IN the entire row from 200 to $50 persons
The halls were narrow, dark aud damp; Inc eohlh-
passing makes IL inpOss'oe 10 hD'P ,Ho I
clean. The doors ana d"iH p,~soi %" ne M1' a." I ~"
grimed with The tOnch Of hundreds OF L4hds' IN tAe
han on each floor usually sluk ana faucet "AcIe
water Is obtained Inc A"is 'lhi tuo cO!IOl,
Of me house Here the inmates meet 10 chat or |raSe
aver the Rulings Of the stairs shrteue at chill
aren or neighpors below. Toward O'Clock TIE tramp
The return from work Of the husbands, ana sHnuIhe
Dusy str0Hg Odor OK fry iug minced %I lhr aroma .!
.gbtage and onions spreads through the mousse Az
night the halls often unlghted ana are always per
meated with bad smells
SCENES N TIE APARTMENTS.
Entering one of the sets Of rooms that a
br for from four ten persons the front rOOm looking
out Of DOORS Will DE found utilized as a Kitchen and
livingrooin The Goor usually unexpected, although
often scrubbed clean. table, covered with
oilclotb some wooden chairs and perhaps
a lounge make Mp most Of the furniture
I'm the anel over the stove are often two glass
caudlestlcks OF cheap china images, which, together
with chrome two representing religious subjects,
make up tho attempts at decoration rs pathetic evil
deuces Of yearnius for the beautiful as t1e ~hGrcd
plants tended touching care, which are occasion
ay To be II the yugroom be Ia the 'front.' OF tho
house its windows look into the window, OF similar
room, lust across street From the pavement
and crowded sidewalk below rises continual uproar
Above between the towering brick walls, narrow
Stretch ot Sky is Just visible In the rear Of these houses
te uro-urct is gloomy. Ofcn blocks are built
within blocks and tAe walls o the rear houses are only
T. " feet from jhcsc ia nout AT best there are only TO
bc -eru small dismal IcNyards, Uttered with NTH
Cloth,- nap Ncfo4c e Windows and t.e only animation
IN the scene, save i.r the H0"zy H,aos o e
hind the glass. cDl4,s pom the occasional
tf..l.hy rr.-cure u. half starved cat
Icb the front or liyrc-r l. one, sometimes two
.,..d ~ bod ro1ra only INTO the Nr