Evening star., 1897-02-22
One Blot on the Beauty Of the Capital
of the Nation.
SANITARY HOMES FOR THE POOR
Board Of Trade and Civic Center
Unite Efforts.
WORKING FOR REFORMS


dry NJ. E. Church Saturday evening. The
meeting was held under the joint auspices
of the board of trade and the Civic Center.
the purpose of which was to forward the
interests of the Washington Sanitary I'M
provement Company, which has been form
ed to provide sanitary and economical
homes for the poor who are now crowded
in miserable novels in alleys.
These alleys were declared by the speak
ers of the evening to be slums as loatnsome
as the worst quarters of London, and pest
holes as favorable to the spread of the
black plague, cholera or yellow fever as are
the dirty novels Of Bombay, if any of those
diseases should be introduced here. Start
lirg facts were laid before the many
thoughtful people who were present and
there was consensus of opinion that some
thing must and be done to clean out
the thickly populated alleys of the city.
Indorsed by Justice Brewer.
The meeting was presided over by Asso-
ciate Justice Brewer Of the Supreme Court
OF the United States, who, upon opening
the meeting, heartily indorsed the purpose
for which it had been called.
The first SPEAKER of the evening was Dr.
Elgin r. L. Gould of New York city, who
has made a thorough investigation into the
problem of housing the poor as well as
other social questions.
Physical, moral and social laws" he de-
clared, bear the closest relation to good
houses. Unless environment is changed
your attempts at reforms will bear no last
ing good
As Bad ns In London.
DR.. Gould spoke Of the miserable condi-
tlon OF the poorer classes in London, where
ne mad spent much time in looking into
the condition of the slums, but said that
IN this city the condition found in the
alleys is quite equal to anything he saw
in London. He spoke of the great loss
or earning power suffered by the poorer
classes who live in unsanitary houses be-
cause OF the sickness SO brought on. This
sickness in London amounted to twenty
days per year for each worker and to that
extent reduced his income, though such
illness was entirely preventable through
the enforcement of sanitary measures.
Effects on Children.
DR.. Gould referred to the effect upon
children of being brought up among scenes
of vice that run riot in the alleys here,
and IN the slums Of all cities. Fortunately
the housing problem had proven to be the
easiest of social problems. 1t had been
proven in Europe that sanitary homes for
the poorer classes could be provided pay
ing al the same time 5 per cent on the
investment, and $1OO.0O,OOO had been in
vested abroad in such ENTERPRISES onlv q
per cent of which enterprises had proved
to be failures. He said the people of this
city were in better position to provide
sanitary homes than were the people of
New York and London, where the price of
ground was SO high. Yet in London they
had been able to buy ground at $565 per
square FOOT and to provide sanitary homes
which were rented at the rate of 81 IL
cents per room per week. That paid per
cent on the investment, while during the
last two or three years there had been a
surplus from the London enterprise of Ia
per cent with which a club house for all
the tehements had been provided.
Women Collect Rents.
DIR. Gould reviewed the work in London
Of Miss Octavia HILL who had suggested
the Idea of allowing women to collect rents,
in which she had been highly successful.
He hoped that the Washington Sanitary
Improvement Co. would adopt the same
method. The contrast is strong between the
man collector, who demands the rent with
threats of eviction, and the women collect
ors, VINO call upon the tenants, become
friends of the housewives, advise them
about their work and see that repairs are
properly made. The woman collectors had
proven much more successful than the
men, and in only two instances of the
thousands OF tenement houses placed under
her control had she failed to pay per cent
He said that eighteen years ago Miss Hill
was collecting rentals amounting annually
70 $5oo,ooo. She became the agent for the
worst tenements in London, only stipulat-
ing that the roof should be made water
proof, the cellar cleaned out and the place
made sanitary. Other improvements she
would introduce gradually from the in
come, giving only per cent to the owners
or the tenements There were three rea-
sons, DR.. Gould said. why women manage
property better than men, They were more
painstaking in their preliminary inyestipa
IlOn, took care to get Onlv
ana saw that repairs were made promptly
on the plan that stitch In time saves
nine."
Bishop Satterlee's Experiences
Bishop Satterlee heartily indorsed the
work proposed to be done by the Sanitary
Improvement Company. While Washing
ton was the best governed city in America
and while he had never seen or imagined a
city like it before he came mere there was
one blot upon it in its alley population
Seven years ago. he said, the population of
the alleys was $1,000. He had visited fif-
teen or sixteen Of the alley houses and
found them in a deplorable condition. He
found seven people living in two small
rooms In one house, and nine people in the
same number of apartments in another
tenement. These houses rent from So 90 to
81 per month, the poorest Of frame houses
bringing $1.5O per month per room, and the
brick houses s. per room per month. He
had found the condition in the slums Of
London almost identical with the condition
In the alleys Of this city.
Progress of the Work.
Surgeon General G. NJ. Sternberg spoke
Of the progress that had been made by the
Washington Sanitary Improvement Com
pany. He said that number of people
had subscribed to the stock Of the COM
pany, although but little effort had been
made to raise money. He said the COM
pany would limit its dividends to per cent
It would build houses of six rooms, three
rooms on a floor. for from $12 to SIS for
ground to cost not more than 90 cents per
foot. He wanted to have lady agents to
collect the rents from the tenements. The
society had capital stock of 5000 shares
at 500 each, and this would provide homes
for over 5000 tenants. which would relieve
the pressure in the alley houses and tend
to reduce rents there.
Compared With Havana.
DIR. Sternberg said much had been report
ed about the filthy condition of Havana:
but he had seen as unwholesome and as in