Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1898-02-04

dN OllllNlenl8l, bUi a~ SntuttllnN 10 bt
exercised for the good of the city. 1t
is quite probable that Boston is not
rs bad as some other large cities, New
York ior instance, in the number of
her unsanitary centres in proportion
20 her population, but she has enough
Of them. and as long as they were per
mltted to exist improvement was bound
to come altogether too slowly. These
old rookeries are very profitable real
estate. \ great many people are shell
tered by them, or rather huddled into
them. The repairs al next to nothing;
their taxable value Is kept AT the low
est limit, and the multitude of tenants
produces large returns even at very
small rate per capita. The condition
of some of these buildings is such
rs to carry disgust to sensibilities of
no more than ordinary keenmess. In
one of these roOkeries there are nine
rooms. These are now occupied by
five families, and there is one tene-
ment, So-called, to LET. They are not
small families, either. The more linn
tied and squalid the accommodations,
the greater seem to be the family de-
mandS upon them OF course, with
humanity so congested, it would be
impossible to preserve health and
deceucy, even We're the build
ings of the newest and best,
fully equipped with the most modern
and serviceable sanitary arrangements.
People thus thrown together cannot
long maintain either the highest phys
zeal or moral health. But it would be
ridiculous tlattery to call these struc-
lures houses. They are ''tenempnts.
with the worst that the term implies.
They are not as clean. as orderly. or
as homelike as kennels; they are more
like sites. Disease germs have been
breeding there for many wears: clean
liness is unknown; privacy is un-
dreamed of; some of the living rooms
are even below the street; fresh air
is foreign to the neighborhoOd. 1t
was about time for the forces of civil
i2atiom to move upon these breeding
grounds of pestilence. Only II begin
HluS mas ilttll lllhtt, l'tlN II IL Il llbIltlhl
indication of policy that in due time
will cleanse the worst sections of the
city of their present foulness. The
new lnw should be worked wherever
the need of it is evident, and there
should be no discrimination among
landlords. The best as we'll as the
worst should understand that large
public interests are involved and that
all who neglect to conform to the not
very cXucting standards will receive
the same treatment. 1t is good time
to give practical effect To this policy
The movement in the direction of
larger facilities for rapid transit ought
to help to break up the congestion i'll
certain localities without extreme
hardship to those directly concerned.
Indeed, it is hard to imagine any change
that would be hardship to those liy-
ing as many of these people now live.
Perhaps the law does not 60 far
enough In the interests OF the public
health there might he limit to the
number of people to be crowded into
Il given space. This would help as
much as betterbuildingS. The larger
authority given the hoard of health,
and the evidence that it intends to use
it, will probably tend to improve this
class of tenements generally but close
inspection and cea useless vigilance will
still be necessary. With the Fens
purified and the slnms dredged ont,
the conditions of both the rich and
poor should be greatly improved
Nothing good can be kept without
constant fight for it, and SO it is that
Copley square, the pride of this city,
is now through its friends a Suppliant
for protection against the cncroach-
ment of pocket greed. Unfortunately y
its friends do not own all the land that
borders Copley square, but money
grabbers have possession Of part of it,
and sky-scraper is to be erected
there, dwarting the beautiful Trinity
church where Phillips Brooks so long
preached, unless the Legislature passes
some bill to precribe special limit
for buildings within certain distance
of the square. Two bills are intro
duced, one to limit all buildings with
in 500 feet to so feet height, the other
to limit all buildings within 100 feet
70 feet height. The first would be
desirable, but the second is i'm
perative if the proper effect of
Holy Trinity church, the public
library, the Museum of Fine Arts,
the New cold South" the Second
church and others is to be preserved.
The hideous effect of such structures
in New York city ought to be escaped
in Boston where it is possible, as it
surely ought to be in this locality.
Old Trinity in New York and old st.
Paul's, the Madison Square Presby-
terian church, and many another spie
and tower which stand for higher
things than Mammon are now over
topped and their dignity insulted
by structures of money-making. The
argument of Copley square from the
money side is considerable. Mr..
Donald, rector of Trinity, stated at
the recent initial hearing that the
church had for 20 years given to re-
ligious, charitable and humanitarian
causes $1,000 for each Sunday i'll which
its doors have been opened-outside
of the money for maintaining the
church, and he thought that such a
corporation ought to be sidered.
This is an argument which ought to
have weight even against monster
hotel. In city where the venerable
Old South meeting ghouse is saved on
busy Washington street, where the
Bulfnch statehouse has been saved, il
ought to be possible to preserve Cop
ley square in It's just architectural
| lipnitY.