Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-11-23

|
| advising their patrons in the erection OF
| homes according to hygienic principles
The disadvantage under which sanitary
| aid societies work in being unable to es-
| tablsh any direct change in the environ
ment as a result of the knowledge and ap-
| probation of the laws of health they may
cIss eminate, and the unnatural order, the
| lack of harmony which results from such
| phllenthropic endeavor as lifts the poor
! into improved sanitary condition without
having established that permanent rela-
| ticn to better environment which is pro-
dcced solely by the individual himself being
| the cause or mis- adyancement-these diff
| culties. and seemingly the whole problem
| OF developing, the sanitary conditions Of
! the poor, have been solved by woman in
London Miss Octavia Hill.
An English Woman's View.
Miss Hill conceived the idea of making
| the landlord a teacher of sanitation TO his
| tenants and Of rewarding promptness and
regularity in the payment of rent with
better facilities for decent and healthy liv-
| ing. The last report of the commission of
| labor devotes an entire chapter to Miss
Hills method of combining business and
reform.
''She believes that the destructive and
| criminal cls sses cannot be dealt with by
any existing sc ciety or any building cor
poration, because the difficulty with these
people is not financial. but moral. They
| must be trained, and the only way to deal
with such people is TO make goodness prof
liable. 1t is not a question OF class. but of
character. 1t is a question of personal in
| fuence. and the landlord, his representa-
tive, is the one who alone can WELD it,
Ruskin stood sponsor in the commercial
| world for Miss HIS idea, and provided the
capital with which she bought three houses
and made a start. II was not long befire
her business had extended to include the
management of 5000 houses. On such prop
erty she assumes the agency of she pays
md al hat 1aft
after paying taxes and insurance goes to
repairs and Improvements She has under
her direction forty or fifty helpers. all wo
men, Her plan of operation is duir-
II G a tenant be is made to understand that
he has got to improve or leave BY an clab-
| crate system of detailed work she stimu-
l&tes and helps all effort at Improvement
and, being earned, promptly supplies the
means for it's realization. In taking house
where there are arrears the plan is to take
those tenants who pay promptly and inform
them that they will have a bonus of so
much per week SO long as they pay regu-
larly: then those behind are told that they
| will have the same bonus if they pay reg
ularly, and that the bonus is to go in liqui-
dation of their arrearageS. Repairs are
| made gradually. so that as little inconveni-
ence as possible may be caused. and an
arrangement is made with every tenant
not in arrears to have some improvements
made in his apartments. Frequently he
executes this himself on Saturday after
| noon, thus himself becoming not only the
cause but the author of his better state.
his self-respect increasing. not diminishing
with the benefits he receives.
The Local Conditions.
Miss Hills system has been adopted with
uniform success in many large cities in
Europe. and to lesser extent in this coun-
try In other cases ladies' have assumed the
management of the model buildings. and
employed others to attend to the business
of receiving rents. Another innovation re-
sulting from Miss Hills work has been the
eAtthueu daihisSion OF women INTO the man
tie i.ra. aotInrrs Io, ,,' SeT al VI
acknowledge that their success financiailv
and morallr only began with the intrcduc-
ton of rent collecting through lady vol
unteers ~ =
Under the provisions of the sanitary code
Of WASHINGTON othe whole matter of home
sanitation is left to individual enterprise
In legaliZing the ordinance aGopted by the
board of health, Congress struck out the
section thai refers to conditions NEST inn
nediately affecting the health and well-be-
ing of the family. The section reads as fol-
! lows: -,
Section 8. That any dwelling house or
building wherein people live or congregste
or assemble which is deficient in yentila-
ton, drainage or other provision essential to
health; which has leaky roof, or is below
grade. as to render the walls thereof
damp and the rooms unhealthy. or is de-
cayed filthy, and premises which are
filthy and offensive. are hereby declared
nuisances and injurious to health. and any
person who shall create or maintain such
nuisance, and who shall fail. after due notice
from this board, to abate the same. SHALL
upon conviction. be fined not less than five
nor more than fifty dollars for every such
offense
Our Inslorious Alleys
This ,,ro,.;si,r ,,,,,,,a ,o,.o. .,o o-,
ill,. p.o So, 'slol al''' NV ,l'''.-
ihuiiltS at large ana the individuals most
concerned without any municipal protection
from any menace to health which ignor-
ance or depra v,tv in tbe home may ,ro-
I,,oo c,.tt.u,, ,,,a,.a ho.s .,. -
uuce' o"'itais Inspectors nave the power
to insure sanitary conditions for the family
~. ,nan,s bn,sa ;s he cas,,a III , n4'
ever sanitary evils it contains are his also
to the exclusion of any right of the health
oi n, 10 intervene IN ms pehalt. heath
s,nitar,, -. nf ~, nis,.a. u;th nu
to bringing their deficiencies TO the atten-
ton of the coming Congress. in the hope of
thus securing better code.
me absence rom rasmussen OF me
house Iarge masses of tho 49, ~ 49,
cities does not contain the assurances of
| consequent better health conditions. as is