Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1894-04-19

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
sning human life. But, with less than
half dozen blocks of municipal tene-
Inents, she is still far from pointing the
way to beatifc 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 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 a bed closet, which is expected to
answer the purpose of a second room, a
scullery, a large press or cupboard, a
commodious dresser and a kitchen range
Such an apartment rents for $40 year.
The two roomed fiat has small lobby
fitted with a press, or closet. On one
side of the lobby is the living room,
which is completely furnished as a
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. so per amum The three
roomed flats rent for $50 year. Gas is
supplied by the city at the usual rate of
90 cents per 1000 feet. There is laun-
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 coll
slider whether it were possible for the
to reach these men in any
way. If it had been a 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 rent which would return to the |
an interest of 2, 3 or
per cent on its investment? Could the |
compete in that respect |
with the owners of rookeries, where
families live in single apartments?
Much deliberation was given to the sub
ject Itwas found that the municipality
could put up a block of substantial
buildings to meet the wants of the class
hitherto left untouched, but that it
would not be practicable to provide any
hing more than what are called lone
-oomed houses that is to saw, one
'oom to a family. To be sure, the rooms
,ould be divided by partition reaching
within two or three feet of the ceiling,
he sleeping quarter being thus separated
rom the cooking quarter.
1t was finally decided that block of
Jingle room tenements should be con-
tructed. A place was cleared at the
ear of a block of artisans dwellings,
md plain building of three stories was
rected, with four single room tenements
N each floor, two in the front and two
,ehind These were let at rents well
within the means of unskilled laborers.
The building was opened, and it has
'een filled ever since. The experiment
S financially successful, but in other re-
poets there is little to be said for it. OF
curse the apartments are larger, lighter,
better built than any single
oom tenements in the old rookeries.
nevertheless the objections to the herd
ng of family in one room are not there
y removed They are merely minimized
nd in very slight degree 1t is not by
ny means demonstrated that munich
ality is justified in doing anything to
the single room tenement sys-
EN- for families.
The construction of Glasgow's munic- {
pal tenement houses, whether of the
etter class or of the poorer, is admira-
le The stairways, being built entirely
masonry, are consequently fireproof.
he stairs themselves and the hall floors
re of stone, and the walls of the halls
re faced with glazed tiles or glazed
ricks, as the case may be, and, as l have
hid. are easily kept clean.
A very large amount of work yet re-
lains to be done on the municipal estate I
'hich comes under the administration b
the improvement fund Old houses are
ill being torn down, and crowded areas
re being cleared away. Of course all
lis is very expensive business But it E
being gradually carried ON so that the {,
,st may not fall excessively ON any u
ngle year. Glasgow Cor. Boston Her a
d
They Remembered Him. -
A circumstance hannened in oopnac ~