The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1894-04-20
ARTISANS HOMES.
HOW GLASGOW HAS IMPROVED SOME
OF ITS POOR DISTRICTS.


Frightening Human Life Clean and
Comfortable Dwellings Furnished to the
Poor at Reasonable Rentals.
Municipalities are not necessarily
wiser than other corporate bodies. Glas-
gov has by no means solved the human
problem. But she has made some notable
experiments in the direction of bright
ening human life. But, with less than
half dozen blocks of municipal tene-
ments, she is still far from pointing the
way to beatific condition. She is also
far from having become socialistic city.
She had the opportunity to make expert
ments in the most wretched Of her dis
tricts. The experiments have succeeded,
and private enterprise here, as elsewhere,
has made similar experiments and with
similar success
The municipal tenements or artisans
dwellings, as they are variously called,
consist Of blocks of flats on either side
of the Saltmarket. The buildings are
four stories in height. The ground floors
are occupied by shops. The houses are
usually arranged SO that on two floors
there are three tenements, tenement of
two rooms being ON each side of the
staircase and a tenement of one room be-
tween them. There are also several flats
of three rooms each. The tenement of
one room is IA by 13 feet. 1t is fitted
with bed closet, which is expected to
answer the purpose Of a second room, a
scullery, large press or cupboard, a
commodious dresser and kitchen range
Such an apartment rents for $40 year.
The two roomed fat has small lobby
fitted with a press, or closet On one
side of the lobby is the living room,
which is completely furnished as
kitchen. A scullery adjoins. There is
also bed alcove in the room. On the
other side Of the lobby and on the front
of the house is the sitting room, to which
is also attached bed closet. Such fiat
rents for $40. 80 per annum. The three
roomed flats rent for $50 year. Gas is
supplied by the city at the usual rate of
dry at the top of the house for the use
of the tenants. These artisans dwellings
are constructed in the most substantial
manner The stairs are stone, and the
stairway walls are tiles or glazed brick,
which is easily kept clean.
1t has long been objected that these
dwellings do not meet the necessities of
the poorest class of laborers. The rents
were too high for men who work in the
streets or on the docks and at other kinds
of unskilled labor. Glasgow had to con-
slider whether it were possible for the
municipality to reach these men in any
way. If it had been aquestion of letting
rooms to single men, the arrangement
could have been made easily enough.
But the difficulty was to devise homes
for large families, and it usually hap
pens that in this part of the world the
poorer the man the larger is his family.
Houses could be built, of course, but
could the poorest class of laborers afford
to pay a rent which would return to the
municipality an interest Of 2, 8 or
per cent on it's investment? Could the
municipality compete in that respect
with the owners Of rookeries, where
families live in single apartments?
Much deliberation was given to the sub
ject 1t was found that the municipality
could put up block of substantial
buildings to meet the wants Of the class
hitherto left untouched, but that it
would not be practicable to provide any
thing more than what are called lone
roomed houses''-that is to say, one
room to a family To be sure, the rooms
could be divided by a partition reaching
within two or three feet of the ceiling,
the sleeping quarter being thus separated
from the cooking quarter.
1t was finally decided that block of
single room tenements should be con-
structed. A place was cleared at the
rear of a block of artisans dwellings,
and plain building of three stories was
erected, with four single room tenements
on each floor, two in the front and two
behind. These were let at rents we'll
within the means of unskilled laborers.
The building was opened, and it has
been filled ever since. The experiment
is financially successful, but in other re-
spects there is little to be said for it. Of
course the apartments are larger, lighter,
healthier, better built than any single
room tenements in the old rookeries.
Nevertheless the objections to the herd
ing of family in one room are not there
by removed. They are merely minimized
and in very slight degree. 1t is not by
any means demonstrated that a munici-
pality is justified in doing anything to
perpetuate the single room tenement sys-
tenn for families.
The construction of Glasgow's munic-
ipal tenement houses, whether of the
better class or Of the poorer, is admira-
BILE. The stairways, being built entirely
of masonry, are consequently fireproof.
The stairs themselves and the hall floors
are of stone, and the walls of the halls
are faced with glazed tiles or glazed
bricks, as the case may be, and, as have
said, are easily kept clean.
A very large amount of work yet re-
mains to be done ON the municipal estate
which comes under the administration
of the Improvement fund Old houses are
still being torn down, and crowded areas
are being cleared away. Of course all
this is a very expensive business. But it
is being gradually carried ON so that the
cost may not fall excessively on any
single year.-Glasgow Cor. Boston Her
aid