The Progress. (Shreveport, La.) 1892-1900, 1894-04-14

.L,0w GLASGOW HAS IMPaJ|lo SOME
OF ITS POOR DISTRICTS.

TIA, lGHUrnCs OF Mnhi''n'' ''"'"'h'H In
U-i.?..tp.D~ Human Ii" Clean and
,o,,f,rt,hl. Dwellings Furnished to ihs
pnor.t Era>ouabl" Rentals
Municipalities n" mot necessarily
wiser thm other corporato bodice, elias.
,,,,,- ha, NV no means solved tn" human
problem. But she has made som" notable
nyperiments in the direction Of bright
nn;nr human life But, with less than
half a dozen blocks of municipal tone,
mpnts, sho is still far from pointing the
wav to beatifc condition. She is also
FAR from having become a SocIallrtlo city
She had the opportunity to mak""Nperi-
rants in the most wretChed OF Nor dis
tricts. The experiments have succeeded,
and nrivate enterprise here, as elsewhere,
has made similar experiments and with
similar success.
The municipal tcnementS or artisans
dwellings, as they are varlou'iy called,
consist of blocks of flats ON either side
of the SaItmarkot. The buildings ara
four stories in height. The ground floors
are occupied by shops. The houses are
usually arranged 50 that on two floors
there are three tCnementS, atenempnt of
two rooms being on each side OF the
staircase and IA tenement OF one room be-
tween them. There are also several hats
If three rooms each. The tenement Of
one room is "A by IS feet 1t is fitted
with bed closet which is expected to
answer the purpose of second room,
sCul!ery, a large press or cupboard,
commodious dresser and kitchen range,
Such an apartment rents for $40 year
The two roomed fat has small lobby
fitted with q 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 fat
rents for $40. 80 per annum. The three
roomed flats rent for $50 a year. Gas Is
; supplied by the city at the usual rate Of
, so cents per /, 900 feet There is a laun-
dry at the top of the house for tho Use
OF the tenants. These artisans dwellings
are constructed III the most substantial
F. manner The stairs are stone, and the
r 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 laborcrs. The rents
= were too high for men who work in the
8 streets or on the docks and at other kinds
, of uns1illed labor Glasgow had TO con-
slider whether it were possible for the
municipality to reach these men in any
y 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
l. 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
II to pay a rent which would return to the
Q municipality an interest of 2, ) or .
n per cent on its Investment? Could the
municipality compete in that respect
with the owners Of ro0keries, where
d families live in single apartments
d Much deliberatiOn was given to the sub
q iect. 1t was found that the municipality
could put up a block Of substantial
buildings to meet the wants Of the class
y hitherto left untouched, but that II
4 would not be practicable to provide any
il thing more than what are called "0nf
80 roomed houses that is to say, ont
room to a family. To be sure, the room
L. could be divided by a partition reaching
within two or three feet of the ceiling
the sleeping quarter being thus separates
10 from the cooking quarter,
a. 1t was finally decided that block o
,r single room tenemeuts should be con
structed. A place was cleared at tn
le rear of block of artisans dwellings
st and a plain building Of three stories wa
le erected, with four single room tenement
or on each floor, two in the front and tw
- behind. These We're let at rents we
!" within the means of unsl,illcd lahOren
10 The building was opened, and 1t hi
been filled ever since The eXpcrimel
inf is financially successful, but iii other II
speCts there is little to be said for it,
." course the apartments are larger, lighte
re healthier, better built than any sing
he room tenements III the old rookerie
Nevertheless the objections TO the hers
ing of family III one room are not Their
Oh by removed. They are merely minimize
II and in a very slight dcxfee 1t is not !
III any means demonstrated that a munic
.,y pality is justified in doing anything
. perpetuate the single room tenement "
,'' TEN for families
ne The construction Of Glasgow mum
nd ipal tenement houses, whether Of Il
'ut better class or of the poorer is admir-
re- Bile The stairways, being built entire
"a of masonry, are consequently tireproC
NJ The stairs themselves and the hall foe
are of stone, and the walls Of the ha
are faced with glazed tiles or gIaz
hr;otyu tbn poco NAV hn aud I la