Southwest-sentinel., 1894-04-24

NOW GLASGOW HAS IMPROVED somE
or ITS POOR DISTRICTS.

Ahe influence ~ Municipal Icucmcuts tn
frightening Human Lilo clean and
Comfortable Dwellings Furnished to tho
roor ut ueasouabio Rcuiais.
municipalities arc 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 tho direction OF bright
euiug human life But with loss than
half q dozen blocks Of municipal tonc.
ments, she is still far from pointing tho
way 20 a boatfc condition. She IS also
far from having become q socialisdc city.
She had tbo opportunity 90 make expert
mcnts in the most wrctchCd Of her 1is-
tricls Tho experiments have succ aad,
and private enterprise lorc, as else hre,
has made similar experiments and with
similar success
Tho municipal tcnemcnts or artisans
dwellings, os They nrc variously called.
consist Of blocks Of flats on either side
Of tho salmGrkct Tho buildings are
four stories in height Tho ground floors
IRE occupied lv shops The houses are
usually arranged CD that on two floors
there are three touemcuts, q tenement of
two rooms being on each side of tho
staircase and a tenement Of one room De.
tween them. There are H'-l s1veral fats
Qf thr.. rooms each. Ihe tenement of
one room IS IA by I3 feet IL rs fitted
with @ bed.olosot which is expected to
answer the purpose Of o second room, O |
ncullcry, large press OF cupboard a
commOdi0us dresser and q kitchen range.
Such an apartment rents for $40 a year.
Tho two rC0ned flat has q small lobby |
fitted v!tb press, or closet On one |
side of the lobby is the living room,
which is completely furnished as q /
kitchen A selllcry odioins There is I
also q bed alcove IN the room. On the /
other side of the lobby and on the front /
Of the house is tho sittingr to which /
is also attached bed closet Such fat /
rents Tor $40. so pcr Guuum. Tho three |
roomod flats rent for $50 a year. Gas is /
supplied by the city at tho usual rate Of |
GO contEper I, 600 feet THERE'S q laun- /
dry nt the top Of the house for the use /
of The tenants These artisans dwellings 4
arc constructed in the most substantial /
manner. The stairs n-o stone, and the /
stairwuy walls are tiles or glazed brick,
which i5 easily kept clean.
IJ has long boon objected that these
dwellings do not meet the necessities of /
the poorest class of laborers Tho rents
were too high for mon who work in the
streets or on tho docks and at other kinds
of unsllillld labor Glasgow had to con-
slider whether it were possible for the
municipality to reach these men in any
way. II it had been question of letting
rooms 20 single men, the arrangement
could have been made easily enough.
But the difficulty was 10 devise homes
for large families, aud it usually hap
pens that in this part Of a., world the
poorer the man the larger Is mis- family.
Houses could be built. Of course, but
could the poorest GLASS of lab0rcrs afford
Go pay q rent which would return TO the
municipality an interest Of ., 3 or 4
per cent on its Investment? Could the
municipality compete in that respect
with the owners Of rool1clies, where
families live in single apartmeuts2
Much delibcration was given to the sub.
lcct TWAS found Chat the emunicipality
could pat up q block OF substantial
buildings 10 meet the wants Of the class
hitherto left untouched, but that il
would not lo practicable toprovide any
thing more than what are called Zone
rOOMcl houses that ia TO say. one
room % family To be sure, thoIooms
could Do divided by q partition reaching
within two or three foot Of the ceiling,
tho sleeping quarter being thus separated
from the cooking quarter.
was finally decided that a block of
single room teuemcnts should be con-
structed 4 piacg was cleared ct the
rear of block Of artisans dwellings,
and plain bUildiugo of thrco stories was
erected, with four single room tenemonts
ON each door, two in the front and two
behind These were let at rents well
within tho means Of unslillod lab0rers.
The building was opened, and it has
been filled ever since The experiment
is financial ~ successful, but in other t.
Fpects there B. little TO be said for il. q
course the apartments are larger, lighter,
healthier, bettar built than any single
room tcnamcnts in tho old rookerios.
Nevertheless the objections TO the herd
iugcf family I'm one room arc not there
by removed They are morcly minimizod
and in % very slight degree II is not by
amy means demonstrated that q munich
pahty is justified i'm doing anything 20
porpetuate the single room tenement sys-
tenn for families.
The construction Of Glasgow S muuic-
ir1l tenement houses whether Of tho
better class or Of tho poorer, is admira-
BILE The estGirw0ys, being built entirely
OF masonry, are consequently fireproof
The stairs them-elvcs and the hall floors
are of stone, and the walls Of tho halls
are faced with glazed tiles or glazed
bricks, as the case may be, and, as i have
said, are easily kept clean.
a very large amount of work yet re-
mains 20 De done uu the municipal estate
which ooles under tho administration
Of fthoimproyomont fund Old houses are
still being torn down, and crowded areas
are being cleared away. OF course all
this IS o very cxponFivo business But it
Is boing gradually carried ON so that the
cost may not fall excessively on any
single year Glasgow Cor. Boston Her
aid
Duke Robukcd.
When commanding tho Galatoa' some