Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1895-03-21

The police and health officials made
thorough investigation of the vile negro
las on Water street between King and
ench Thursday afternoon and the filth |
ID disofrier that WAS found is beyond
kscripti0m. the inspecting party in
luded Chief of Police Dolan, Sergeant
kelch ana Officers Lucas and Flynn of
fhe Police Department., Special Agent
Stout OF the Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty tp Children and Secretary Colqu-
fhoun dnq Executive Officer McVay Of the
AHealtli Department. .
TheIbuilding No. 100 East Water street.
Fwher9 an incipient riot occurred ON We'd
nesday night was the first place visited
This is n fOur.story building and contains
h ii rooms, seven of which are occupied by
rs many different parties, the jewellers in
zach being mainly two or three women and
men. 1t is one OF the principal resorts for
the worst kind of negroes, and here all
kinds of orgies are of nightly occurrence.
-Four women were taken in custody from
four different rooms and sent to the police
station. They were Nellie Meyers, Mary
Moore, Lydia Johns and Mollie Irons.
They will be tried each OH a charge of keep.
Ing an designation room.
, Lydia Johns claims that she is not
regular resident of the place. but was just
staying there to keep the room while her
sister Annie serves out sentence i'll New
Castle Jail.
Z Nevertheless. two children belonging to
Lydia, one little over year old and the
other six years old were given over to the
care Of Agent Stout, who will see that they
are provided with home.
No. l09 where the arrests were made; is
. very dilapdated building and some of
tho unOccupied rooms, which have doors
Iwide open, are the receptacle for all kinds
Iof filth aud refuse and the stencil that is
lnoticed oil entering and which permeates
the entire building, is almost unbeatable
u FTharn 10 ttnt N SIiul,Iplt aat blanca nf
cleanliness in any pnrt of the building
4 The occupants are of the 'lirfiest sort and
what little they have in the rooms is COW
cred with filth and yermin, some OF the
occupants have bedsteads while some
sleep on the floor on dirty mattresses and
others sleep ON the bare floors. Some of
tine rooms have little carpet and some
Z have none at ALL
The inmates cat sleep and do every
l thing else in the same room, and even pile
lkthe refuse about in tue corners.
The different apartments US rule are
very small, but some of them are larger,
and the appearance of all is about the
same. The whole place looks like huge
junk shop.
The inmates of the place were talked
with and they seemed contented with their
lot. They pay from 81 to - week for
rent and run the place to suit themselves.
At the present time there are about % col.
ored people living in the house No. 100,
but the population varies numerically. and
il is said that sometimes MS many as 100
persons make their habtation there.
After leaving No. 100 the inspecting
party went to No. Ill. Here the condition
OF affairs was Il triie better. The charac.
ter of the inhabitants did not seem to be
quite SO bad, although il was nothing ia
brag about This building was found to
contain seven rooms, nearly all OF which
were occupied by about 10 people.
N.,sNru On bull No ~
known as 1.-The Singed Cat" The rooms
here are smaller AS 4 rule than those in
the neighboring one, but there is not quite
So much filth lying about.
The next place visited was No. l05, in the
rear of the old National Theatre which
was formerly conducted by Billy Carroll.
The whole building is rented by Annie
Wright, a big colored woman, who sub.lets
the rooms IL the rate of 81 ii week. The
rooms i'll THIS house are in n dirter Cond-
ton even than ut No. 1903. The apartment
occupied by Becky Moore, who hurriedlv
left the place with her child as soon Us she
saw the officers, is the worst specimen of "a
place OF habitatiOn that could be con-
ceived.
There is no bed in the room. A dilap-
dated lounge is the only place there where
one could lie down. Scattered about are
fragments Of carpet, clothing and all
kinds of rags. When the officers entered
they found the room wide open. Becky
had paid no attention to locking it up. she
was i'll such biz hurry to get away from
the police. Had she been caught She
would have been sent in on Il charge OF
keeping Il Gisorderly room.
The Commercial House, No. 107, which
has for years been Il familiar term with
the police i'll the lower part OF the city,
was also inspected. In the front room d
bar is locayad, whore presumably the dent
zens of the Front get soft" drinks t.
a nod
Hattie LuH says she rents the whole
building and She claims that she and heI
family are the only occupants. Things
were III litJiG better shape here than al
Nos. 100 and 100. and the officers did not &c
above the gruuud floor. In all the uthei
buildings they Went clear up to the tot
floors and iUuked III every nook and corner
The building ue&t 10 the corner was thu
last one III the block visited and here dir
was found piled upon dirt, and in the hail
ways were Iuuud buckets Tiled with The
vilest kind OF putriieu refuse. This build
ing is also inhabited by number of negr,
men and women, the same as tue neighbor
ing ones. They get cheap rent and pay bl
the week. Everything was chaos and thu
whole place looked like the remains Of /
wreck or fire.
In one of the unoccupied rooms, thu
door OF which was wide open, the llool
was strewn with chicken feathers, as wa
also the yard below, giving the impression
that the place may be a resort for chicken
thieves.
The floors Of all the buildings are in Al
extreIuelg bad condition ana appear to b.
dangerous, while the state OF the re
mainder of the woodwork is about th
same way. Many OF the doors are hum
oil single hinge or tied on, and those 4
the vacant rooms are left standing wild
open. Fhe tenants who are in the othc
rooms use them as Il dnmping-ground TO
all kinds oI refuse.
The condition of the yards, too, witt
one exception, was very bad. They wer
covered witt all kinds of filth and iuu
and it Is impoI5hle to walk about i'll then
without welt llS the feet in the worst kim
of muddy wafer. In one OF the yards
burst hydrant was found, which wa
flooding the yard and running into tn
house.
The whole place is a disease breeder an
verituble lire crap. The Carelessness 4
the occupants IS liable To cause fire &
any time and II one got started there is IL
telling how Tar j: would extend before
could be checked.
It's mystery that people manage t
live there and apparently keep healthy
The germs Of disease c,.n be detected i
the air all over the place, and why TIE
don't attack the minutes cannot be e.
planned, The udor was so bad in one
the buildings that one of the men in III
party was compelled to rush out in the a
to prevent being taken sick ut the stomach
these huuats are not only resorts for di
orderly people but hishwaymeu an
women make their heRdq Their
Their victims are mainly people who Al
intoxicated or who are lured inside an
drligged afterward. One of the inmate