New-York tribune., 1884-12-28
Il, Lnow the phastly story aud no good VIII come
rom mnooyerIug tnis social uoor' u Is Just nor"

IN this as with other reforms, 'lui' nV'",m" 4
litte aool and ID must ba accompanied Wv Wh,lVai
anorl ljnloss the rrlprmor has some lehHltln Ilin
Ia supges his Time il wasted Ie " hllnlhA h'm,ith
apainsi the ploks" Even linnhlhH ,ipnnt Inru
an The ear when advocating Whhl lhi"l'lh.nt nf n,,f
must fea Ia ho itomnn IenndHs nr iie ihiH'l'A ~
mankind, Whenever snapoalons "hinh ,",',,,it
themselves 10 ibe common he,a o. VT ",en n
AGaasnysp Xii ANY, l,c 1 most sorii nndo 9g be made
anenhhu ~ ienson hi the power "l pl"lir, "p"~""' 49,
backed hy lawful anthoilty, ~ ~ NisN hut l"9'hi
gesi too hwatuuH ielOluis, aud lhr fnEr 'ohl.l "l
hif Arthur iltlps in his ndnllihhlr hnnk " ,|'
iHypfnmeni" aloud always hn bnin' u, pn,' ',,i
wnud perhnpa surprise the world 10 iihl no" WUn
can be done, aud done ~ comrnigt, uH,o ,e m wv W
why ot improvement which IS nov ielt !" w "'"' ~
''Ne,"t,hrlras wc ennnot afford 20 wait much
louprt for iha cumulative results oi the ieueh.tn
house system II ~ barely i0rtY yours Sill i,st
latter has developed, lis effects WiU Vnn y, M III
berinnnR 10 show Themselves IN nll thclr ilt.,na .n
tude The second generation Of tenants cNhln'' ,mo
concentrated influence Of Their uusihhl.aiA 'Wc
ronndngs and are weak. decfept ana ,lfpl'o.n ,tv
can readily foresee the consequences oi
massing thousands OF people IN di 80 or in
bcreft of air and sunlight, ana WIN W. Ln,ith
sufficient food Unless these essontiAs 70 & &uon'';; /;
are soon supplied or the tenemcnt pppu..lltIun e.,
thinned ont by removing large shHrf oi i limo
better dwellings in the .snbnrs we snal m :. ~ br II
reap harvest of disease misery anu 81"
is appalling TO contemplate -
EVOLUTION OF THE rrNrMrNr-norsf. .,
The tenement house is proluct of evolution anu
Is notable feature of modern civilization IL ~ 'no
result chiefly of the enormous ovefcfoNuihs v, 80
through immigration from the country anu i'oit it
othef lands and the consequent enhanceu pre- ~
l..a s,nee ,he beginning of The pieseift century
pspua,8n has Htfted iioM the country to thc ci'y,
spi ,he sHgs see,lBns 81 Gipat Bitan, iiance anu
,he iin,iei states hate ~ bern ntiiietrt ~ ~
lahitagt5 IA iehb u Was eatiinatti thrt ore-
WeHt,ph ei ,he peepie W the tnl,th States itr' ~
ejtlps ihe nnnher has naW flsti b dfe 'hni'h W
the taiai pgpaiaileR aAt 'hs tHiirNt 's stiN WV,
ward Whegelel real eslale 70 eNlH w WV WN' ~
i,Qutage thege Is an lneYilahle 'sNNpNA w NHs9
popuatQn thGkly. in Phliadelphla pFNNhhN 'N'
a few other large cities the bulk OF lhs ppi"'"'p"
still live in single dwellings, when are Hpo'h
owned by their occupants; but IN other cilleS'
notably in New-York Boston aud Chicago, the Hat
sy stem has been introduced aud large tenenehts
have been erected Odating from one 10 Iour
and even light families on Il floor ioGse-oWhcrs
naturally seek to get the highest return from ther
investment and crowd as many tenants aS poss'pio
into each building Until recent years there mas
been no adequate restriction upon the mode OF con-
structinc tenement-houses and as they have be en-
put up by speculative builders they show t9e WORST
features of contract work. The plumbing Is usually
wretcledly done. Furthermore, this class oi tene-
ments are chiefly occupied by ignorant and I'M
cleany immigrants, who have no disposition OF en-
couragement to keep them decent or healthiul The
average landlord has little desire to keep them III
| repair The result of the joint influence of over
crowdng. bad construction and neglect py po.h
landlord and tenant is seen in the enormous dcath
rate among the tenement population In Ncw-iorK
70 per cent of the total mortality is fonnd among
the tenements and still larger proportion vi deats
| from ZymOtlc diseases.
| The early tenoments were merely transformed pri-
yate dwellings. As the better class OF residents
moved uptown and abandoned their homes in the
| of hn a.
INTO dOnciles for several families. AZ lrst only one
family occupied each oOr. then two families were
| accommodated in this space, when permitted Two
| living rooms and perhaps n closet for sleeping pnr-
| poses III each set Finally rear Duilding would DC
erected In the yard 50 as to nlllze thc whpo Iol'
and thus where q single family oi sX or cight per-
sons had lived there would now be IRON SIX 10 zen
families There are hundreds Of such dweliingS all
over the lower part OF Manhattan Island ana Whch
| tenanted by filthy and degraded people. Ike the
Polish Hebrews and low lrsh Their condition j. N
describabe. Frequently they have not pcen con
yerted into tencments until they were 80 old ana
dlapidated as TO be unfit for any other use ana rs
the owners considered IL waste oi money 10 MAKE
any repairs. they ran rapidly 90 destruction Even
with the best tenants house needs % be Fept III
good order, but the class ol Wiockers VINO gre 10
be found III the lower grade OF tcnemehs Wo"iu li'
any building II not Kept undcf cohsllnl hup'I-
vision. The woodwork ~ cut mp for klnlilnR hies,
the plasteIing Is knocked 10 pieces tho SINKS ana
vaults chokcd with htn, and every thmg Is soon
II is said OF London leased houses, in which the
mass OF people, even the nobility Ave. that they are
puIpOSplN DulU so cNcdplA rs lVl W wv ~
of lease The same thing may be not ced IN NeW-l ok
tencments: the walls are thin ana made oi INFERIOR
brick, the mortar Is mere sand thc pinstsrhn nahrs
show strcaks OF light IN them, ana ihe "huoW tiH-
ings let IN cold drafts of air As for the plnnhhg
N IA indescribablv bad In some O the oluri nous
| ono trap formerly snfced for all the fixtures Ram
| water leaders are used as soN llprS, anl, NH'h
! rorled with rain during heavy storms, sewer gas is
| forced ont of every opening. Kitchen sinks COM
/ meet with ordinary Tin leader pli cs, ANA these
! quickly corrode. leaving openings or gas, perhaps
| directly undcr window J have 5rcn such leaders
hopoycomhcd with hoIcs IN this maunrr so os hlrly
| 60 support themselves Stench pVrH are maue OF
| palynnized iron and the connection With th' soil
| p,pr nspniiiv demItiyS imps cyarorS,c ot siph.n
| ont AMI tenants will often pnt cloh hrih doNn hv
| biick oyer thc sink Qponm'a to lrnp ow iir
| tAri by inshths. While I'M i~iN' o'r '1N 'N iNr
rb,Srrs, N,aNret Nv 1iinarv nNct.r. so that thrt
| nrhtst nna rbtfrst mair'nl 90 Nati stN prr inl
| di sANh hOies tvnts % mu u3 rip" r'- UNstAni
! RAtthiNs T. NtNNFl iA hgUr ihN Nt0sr ~ 'f gt.
! arpsNft anA this ~ sN'r hi'trs 'H' thr raltA
| rinMhrr
| AVNHhR $40 BAH ibftNtNi iiNtses
lha isN dpiues q tepaNan'- -havsa 80 taiiiWe
Qesupipd hf ,hree pf Aunlp 1aniifs hN Manf SEA
those thus GiassInpi aln npt s.uali ieaempHts hat
| ilas aud apttmani huUsa'. ni tha eipJb ieng-
mauts GA Manhattan island only ln,,iuj hayo moro
than ono family on door. The otLols arc occupied
by wel-t,-do persous and arc not 10 be olassed as
| tenemonts. ialr estimate oi the number of bad
! tenements may be iormed by taking list of those
having high death-rate. During 1915 $50 tcue-
msnt houses were reported by the Board OF Health
rs having three on more deaths in them. Two death,
we're reported IN = l3S tenement aud one death in
| 6G}S houses. There were altogether 01G2 houses
recorded aud 1851 deaths or 53 per cent OF the
! total mortality. exclusive Of institutions
! Still another test may be fonnd N statistics re-
| garding a single Ward, the Tenth, which in 1879
had 800 tenement-houscs. The character of these
buildings may be iudgol by the following data: