New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-01-08
1 uONSTROT.S EVIL.

One of the cOmpcnSatlOnS Tor the typhuS
scare is superintendent ByrneSs dcnuncation
of the police lodging houses. He has con-
demned the present system not only as stand
ing disgrace TO the city, but also as menace
to public health. He puts the case plainly and
cogently The filthy and foul tramp applies
for nights lodging at the station house.
There is no medical officer on duty capable Of
RAISING nleigcnly upon the applicants physi-
cal condition. The police sergeant admits the
unwaShcd bundle Of rags and the doorman con-
duets il 10 the rear OVcrcrOwLed i'll ventilated
room where it sleeps on board over night.
If there are typhIS germs in that bundle the
conditions promote their rapid distribution
among the other dodgers of the night. In the
morning the doorman arOuscs the tramp and
takes him out and then goes 10 the rooms of
the captain sergeant, roundSmcn and patrclmcn
10 call them and make their beds II he has
come in contact with contagion he is in the
way Of communicating it 10 the police forcc.
The tramp himself if he be infected with
tvphuS. has been enabled by gWtcSque and
horrible caicaturc of public charity 10 spread
disease among filthy swarm of station dodgers.
With cholera in front and typhus behind
this town there are the strongest possible rea-
sons on sanitary grounds for tho abolition OF
the station lodging rooms. On an ordinary
winters night about 40 Of these tramps and
Migrants sleep in twenty police stations OF the
city When the weather is bitterly cold the
number is swclled to nearly 600. No argu-
ment is required T. show that these lodging
rooms are natural breeding places for disease.
These swarms of dodgers in time Of pe>tilcnce
are IL dangerous a. the caravans IT Eastern
pilgrims which carry cholera from country 10
country. These Migrants are dirty their cloth
ing is filthy: they are huddlcd together around
hot stove: they breathe an atmoSp hcrc of
>tcnchc, H. they sleep and from that close,
Il-Vcntilatcd room, where they have been in
tcrchangng foul breath and conamnating in
tiucncc> over night. they emerge in the morn
Ing to roam al will through the town. Whether
or not there j. :yphuS or cholera in the city. it
j. system that breed, disease a, all times
and the only safeguard that Is adopted is
fresh coat OF whitcWash now and then for fhc
walls Of the lodging room.
." IL is a bad system" men will say but
il is a necessary evil. There must be places
where Migrants can be lodged at public cx-
pen>c. Otherwise they would lie on door
Thai is the superficial view which is ordinarily
taken of this matter. Possibly the danger Of
plague this wear will warn tho municipal au-
thoIitic> and the public that every one Of these
lodging rooms now conducted is a hoibed
Of disease. 1hcn~>herc will be ~ idle talk
about a " necessary evil"
What should be done? Every one Of these
police lodging rooms should he closed In
their place should be established series of
municipal lodging houses conducted on the
principle that some equivalent in work must be
rendered for shelter \ yaglant when he applies
for lodging AT police station should be sent 10
some place whcro he can be properly cared
for over night, fed in the morning and forced
10 work for what he has received His ragged
clothes should be taken from his back, steam
laundorcd and dried over night. lIe should
be compelled 10 take a hot bath, and be pro-
vidcd with clean linen and Il decent bed
After good meal in the morning he should
be set TO work 10 earn the equivalent for what
he has had Then when he leaves the house
he will be cleaner and in better health and
morally aided u become something better than
degraded drunkard and an incorrigibe tramp.
There is nothing impracticabc about this
plan The experiment has been tried in Lon
DON Boston. Philadelphia indianapolis, Balti-
more and ether cities. Invariably the results
have been salutary. Such a system operates,
as Mr.. Rs has said in one Of his luminous
articles as sieve that Sits the tramp from
the honest out -Of-worll' such lodging houses
invariably tend 70 lessen the number of tramps
and to discourage yagrancy rs well a. 10 pro-
mote public health and to prevent the spread
of contagious diseases The present system Of
station-house lodgings breeds trampS disease
and moral contagion Ii is monstrous evil
which should be abatcd without delay.