Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-09-01
81 UMS OF THE WORLD
How the Submerged Tenth Live in the Big
Cities.
From the New York Herald.

TO visit the slums Of the large cities. There
one mas what the economists call the
lowest margin of social culture" and I'M
| fortunately one knows that then he is much
nearer the masses of the people than when
he Is wandering through the dreary palaces
of kings with his monotonous guide And
while the search for the palace is some
times in vain, the search for the Stun is al
ways fruitful The wealth OF Paris and the
natural beauty of Naples cannot escape Il.
And Athens even. the queen city Of ancient
art and beauty. has a slum. And though
the Acropolis seems to gather up its classic
skirts to escape contamination. Il gets It.
| nevertheless. and right at It's feet, too.
In Berlin and St Petersburg these people
seem the least dangerous. In the latter
| because of the severity OF the police in
spection and in the former because of the
| systematic attention given to their order
and arrangement few being allowed to gath
| er together and the most careful attention
| being given to their housing and living
In St Petersburg they are almost wholly
| freed from one troublesome element, the
drunken. AID strange to say. in no city
| have i seen drunken men treated with such
mildness by the police in this city or
autocracy. The fact is that the Russian.
when intoxicated on his favorite vodka. is
|
weak he may be in logic and the law CT
| gravitation- The police recognize the HARM
| lessness of this condition and only pack
the inebriate OF into some back alley. or II
they know where he lives, they often put
| rim into a sleigh and send him home.
| happened to be In St Petersburg during
one Of the leading sacred festivals which
| the orthodox Russian, who will cross him.
sell whenever he passes a church, will, with
! equal devoutnass celebrate by getting
drunk, and. while 1 saw many of the faith
| ful In a condition of pious ecstasy, there
| were no arrests. My own sleigh driver was
| intoxicated on one occasion, but though he
| could hardly hold his seat, he was brim-
| ming ever with good nature and found inef-
fable delight in repeating the name of my
| hotel in French. apparently the only foreign
| words that he knew.
Must Have Warm Air.
For living accommodations, while a large
section Of the poor quarter is made up OF
rear tenements, a larger one is composed
OF small houses Of the customary stucco.
thick-walled according to the need OF the
cold winter weather. But inside a close,
stufy air and genuine warmth may be
confused. Yet 1 have noticed everywhere
even in personal experience. that IL one
cannot have the pure warm air. he pre-
fers to have a close atmosphere as the next
best thing.
OF all cities 1 have seen. Constantinople is
certainly the dirtiest and Port Said. on the
| Mediterranean, the coarsest and wickedest.
Ii Is, in fact, all Sums. with only a partial
exception in favor OF a couple of second
class hotels. Paris our normal standard of
| depravfty, is a Sunday school in comparison
with this famous coaling station. And the
/ EXCISE that might be offered for a rough
mining town. that IL is out Of sight, is not
| in point there.
In New York and Chicago the wear OF
poverty seems greatest The poor work
longer and sleep less In the American cities
| than IN those OF Europe. The Russian He
| hrpwS m m try IN
a house of refuge when at home toiled ten
| hours a day and lived In less crowded &C
commodations tkan here. Now they work
twelve, fourteen or more hours a day, and
| live in tw Groom tenements. and likely have
a couple OF boarders to help pay the ex-
orbitant rent that inevitably follows on
| close crowding.
In Other Cities.
For immortality Budapest Vienna and
Amsterdam certainly compete successfully
with Paris for the palm among the higher
classes. The lower classes Of the French
capital are probably not worse than those
of several other large cities Of Europe.
Parts OF Naples and Smyrna are probably
| least safe to the stranger of all the large
cities which the traveller may visit Three
Greeks mad beer caught and burned alive
almost in the suburbs of Smyrna Just be-
fore was there. and It was not an orderly
American lynchtng either but an act per-
petra ted by robbers who thought that the
best way to insure the quiet Of their VIC
tins.
There was a round Of night attacks In
Paris few years since in which the sand
bag was the chosen weapon of attack as
there was about the same time In London
and Berlin. but these were soon suppressed.
If one looks for dirt neither pure nor
simple, but compounded with the rags Of
disease and the vermin OF countless beggars
and scented with the doors of Arabia he
will undoubtedly HE himself to Constanti-
rople and his every wish will be more than
gratified What that city. so beautiful at a
distance and so hlthy upon nearer view.
would do il IL were not for the army Of dogs
which act as a board of health and the re-
movers of all garbage. II is Impossible to
say, but certainly II would De uninha bita HE
by the least sensitive European.
As to Government AID.
Not simply for the so-called .-delinouent
and defective" and the submerged tenth"
but for that tenth which may be submerged
at any unusual rise in the tide Of public
misfortune, does the orderly municipal gov-
eminent in Europe give heed and relief
Not simply lest IL should be a menace but
for the public health. the city government
in Germany exerts itself to prevent too
much crowding OF the poor In ore quarter
of the city.
Paris does the same. Glasgow and several
of the large cities in England have estab-
lshed public lodging and tenement houses
and make a Thorough inspection of ALI
similar private dwellings, AS a result
Glasgow is rapidly rising in the scale OF
Nholesomeness and Responsibility among
the cities of the world. though IL once was
almost at the foot of the list
Nearly every country in Europe aids the
POOR in their business TO the extent of es-
tablishinS government pawn shops so that
during the last winter the unfortunate in
those cities were able to pawn their goods
ana chattels at q per cent Ter annum while
In New York they were paying 3 per cent
per month and in many cities more
Slums Are Not necessary
is, then, a slum necessary? From my ex-
tended examination believe not When we
see how In Paris which used TO be noted I'm
the old days for the cours des miracles
,court OF miracles). where all the beggars
USED to herd together at night and hold
nigh and low carnival and which received
It's name from the remarkable fact that
those who on the public streets were lame
and blind and dumb there had their sight
ana use OF their limbs. All these things
nave been changed. and one must make
careful inquiry TO find the abodes OF ex-
IRENE poverty. and when We IN Eng
land that more comprehensive schemes