New-York tribune., 1896-08-26
DATA FOR THEIR MAP.
WORK OF SANITARY ENGINEERS OF THE
HEALTH DEPARTMENT
70 RI or GREAT ASSISTANCE ~ ABATlNG
NCiSANcEs AND CONTROLLING DISEASES
HOW DIFFERENT BUILDINGS ARE

DESIGNATED
The sanitary engineers of the Health Depart
1nent under the direction Of the Sanitary En-
gineer w. w. Locke. gathering data Tor
u map of the city which will bc Of great as
sistance tc the Department in the work ot abat-
ing nuisances and controlling diseases. 1t Is
to hc d map which will show at ganc" IN"
exact character Of every house in the city. Tn"
idea of course was borrowed from the Depart
meni of Buildings. which has a map showing
whether q building is made of stone. brick or
wood. When building is rebuilt with dit
fcrcnt material that fact is noted on the map
at once, 50 the map is accurate at any time
Of the year. and does not have TO be recon
structed periodically from new canvass. This
same method OF keeping it's map up To date
will be used by the Health Department.
II ia an enormous task for a small body OF
men to canvass the entire city and note the
exact character Of every building, front or rear.
In fact. during the summer months pressure In
other directions has compelled temporary
cessation in the work. but IT will be taken up
again this fall.
Women may get some satisfaction out or the
fact that the only sanitary inspector whose ter
ritory was completed was the sole woman IN
spector Of the force This is DR.. Susan II. Pray,
who has been on tne 1OTce lor tlSHl vi ""
wears II is not rejecting on the Industry OF
the male inspectors to say that they stand
i'm awe of the amount Of work DR.. Pray can
do If the ordinary man attempted 1t he would
feel that nothing short of European tour
would enable him to recuperate
DR. Pray was not only the first to bring In COM
plete data about her district. but she Is the only
one so far who has completed the canvass of her
district for the map She has probably the very
worst district of aIl-the Thirteenth Fourteenth,
Fifteenth and Sixteenth wards. II Is as full OF
tenement houses ds it can he.
The result of DR. Prays work has already been
placed upon the map in coors. The frame build
jngs are in yellow and the brick and stone build
ings in red the latter being distinguished from
ono another by crossed lines There are other
Innings to show whether a building is a tenement
house dwelling store. factory or stable Ihere
are many other markings Of importance.
One of the startling facts brought out by the
man as far as completed is that there are large
number Of rear buildings and especially rear
tenement-houses. In Brooklyn. OF course. there
are not nearly so many rear tenement-nouses as
In New-Yo City. but there are enough TO make
BROOKLYN humanitarians inquire: IF it is so good
a thing for the poor of New-York to have the
poisoned buildings torn down to admit the
air and sunshine why would 1t not be good
thing to have the back tenement-houses In Brook
lyn torn down. -
The law by which this is being done in New
York applies 10 thai city alone. but similar law
could be passed applicable to Brooklyn. DR..
Prays man of the Fourteenth Ward shows that
there are about fifty tenement-houses in that
ward alone.