The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1894-05-02
ARTISANS HOMES.
HOW GLASGOW HAS IMPROVED SOME
OF ITS POOR DISTRICTS.

Tho Influence of Municipal Tcnemcnts In
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 a 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 Saltmarkot 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, n tenement of
two rooms being ON each side of the
d. 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 bed closet, which is expected to
| Al-.., 90 N
scullery, large press or cupboard, q
commodious dresser and n kitchen range
Such an apartment rents for $40 year.
The two roomcd fiat has small lobby
fitted with press, or closet. On one
side of the lobby is the living room,
which is completely furnished as u
kitchen. A scullery adjoins. There is
also bed alcove i'll the room. On tho
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 annum. The three
roomed flats rent for $50 year. Gas is
supplied by the city at the usual rate of
60 cents per l, 900 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 unslSilled 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 rent which would return to the
municipality an interest Of 2, 3 or
per cent ON its investment? Could the
municipality compete in that respect
with the owners of rookeries, where
families live in single apartments?
iuuCi WtiS klNcu w bilt buD-
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 family. To be sure, the rooms
could be divided by 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 block Of artisans dwellings,
and q 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 well
within the means of unslzilled laborers
The building was opened, and it has
been filed 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
amy vnao !, q dam opcfrato3 fl,ok m ,x,,,.;s; :