Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1883-10-27
TENEMENT HOUSE LIFE.
PICTCRES OF POVERTY AND DEGRA 4.
DATION IN CROWDED DISTRICTS.
What Visit to the Abodes Of the Poor and
De.titute Revealed to an Inspector.

xha, a visi, to the Abodes Of the Poor and
Destitute Revealed to an Inspector.
from the New York World.1
The sun was streaming down in all its
vrath AZ a reporter and an officer of the
SANITARY Squad picked their way among
the children and refuse-barrels which
ohstructed the sidewalks in Mulberry
street. The cool breeze which made
life tolerable in other parts of the city
was wanting there. The heat radiated
from the uneven f~agstones and noisome
| smells rose from stagnant pools. On
either side OF the street lowered the
high brick walls of the tenements within
which resided countless thousands of the
city's poor, whose number defy the
| census-taker.
Passing down Mulberry street, where
it was evidently marketday, the side
walks and roadway were thronged with
| bare-footed women and children ~scantily
and shabbily clad, who jostled each
| other in their eagerness to get near the
| various wagons and stands of hucksters.
Entering q dark, narrow alley on Null
berry street, the reporter and his guide
emerged into a courtyard.
A dozen or more bright-faced, healthy
children were playing there. One of
| them was fving a miniature kite which
in it's widest ascent never rose two feet
above the surface of the ground. -Four
old women were e%nsconced on benches
needless of their surroundings, while
others were washing clothes in small
tubs, and a number of men sat on the
rickety steps and gazed lazily at the
visitors. The buildings were five stories
high and offered shelter to twenty fam
lilies.
ITALIAN HOMES.
The landing of the fre-escapes were
literally covered with bedding, boxes
and refuse, which made egress almost
impossible and would prove a fruitful
source of danger in case of fire.
On ascending the steps a small hall
wa discovered whose walls had been re-
Gently whitewashed and which had a
fairly clean and habitable appearance.
Each family has two rooms, the outer
serving for kitchen and dining-room and
the inner for bed-chamber. In these
two rooms are crowded from four to ten
persons when the family and 'boarders'
are oil at home. At this season of the
year most of the male members Of the
household whose presence is not needed
for rag-pickirg are lin the country,
which means that they are working on
railroads or tramping with their organs
and monkeys through the outside towns.
Further down the street were found
tn. lowest class of Italian rag-pickers.
The odor which came from the out-houses
was something nauseating; remnants Of
food were scattered about and the ail
was reeking with filth. When asked i
there had been any deaths in the house
during the season, a boy-the only one
who could speak English-said that al
had been we'll. On ascending dark
narrow stairs the rooms were found t.
be in a very unhealthy condition.
Still further down the street two larg,
houses were visited, the appearance o
which was better than any in the quar-
ter. The walls of the alley-way hae
recently been whitewashed and tn
inside bore the marks Of a late renova
ton.
Progress through Baxter street wa
slow. The shopkcepers, the majority 0
whom seemed to be Poles-and a filthy
looking set they were-displayed thei
merchandise on and above the sidewal]
to such an extent that the pedestrian
proceeded with difficulty and discom
fort. Secondhand clothing and second
hand shoes are the staple goods in Baz
ter street.
POLISH HOMES.
One OF the worst houses in the dis
trict which was visited by the reporte
was a fve-story rookery where the yer
lowest elements of Poles and Italian
, herd together. Passing through a
alley-way into a courtyard a scene Wa
revealed which heggars description.
Congregated in that small inclosur
we're at least fifty people, men, women
boys, girls and infants. Ragpicker
were continually coming in with the
burdens, the result of the morning
labor, which they deposited in a loos
pile previously gathered from the gut
tiers of the city. One of the neighbour
merchants was offering for sale an arm
full Of old clothes which should hav
found a fitting resting place on the hea'
OF rags. An old woman, bent doubl
with age, had a small basket of decaye,
fish on her arm which she spread beior
her customers. Pushing through tn
miserable crowd and stumbling owe
several infants on a dangerous stairway
the officer led the way to the roof, whicI
was apparently the summer bedroom c
he community. In the corners an
along the sides we're piles of straw an
rags, covered with vermin and breathin
forth disease and death in the noonda
heat.
On Park street stands one of the LOT
test tenements in the vicinity, the from
being seven stories high and the rea
tour stories. Underneath the front DO,
ton, in the basement, were found tw
bar-rooms. There are over thirty FAM
Hes In b structure, principally Irish
with a mixture of Italians. but the ar
pearance of the rooms betoken a genera
care and neatness.$
While walking along Mott street tn
ofhcer suddenly turned into a basement
The reporter followed as manfully a
possible, though the darkness prara,.o.