Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1902-12-20

but It 1S my business! IL l6 tne
business Of every man. Father, do
you know the horrible condition Of that
property and the awful condition Of
the people living thereT'
Rufus Gordon made no answer, but
the anger was evidently deepening In
him. John Gordon waited a moment.
All his accumulated passion growing
ont Of what he had seen and heard dur
ing that one short week in Hope House
was in danger of rising like torrent
against his own father. But when he
spoke It was with an earnestness that
revealed his attempt st SELF mastery.
"Nos. II and 10, owned by you,
father, contain seventeen families.
They are, as suppose you know, front
and rear tenenents. They are both
horribly out of repair and absolutely
unfit for human haDitation. Take the
case Of the plumbing. There are no
revents to any Of the pipes, and only
one waste pipe has trap. That is Of
no value because Of the condition Of
the catch Iaslns, which are below
ground and have simply become so
clogged with grease that they are cess
pools that overflow the court and even
run over into the basement, where two
families are living. Back Of No.
10 Oh the alley Is stable In which
vegetable dealer keeps two horses
and a COW. These are directly under
q room which has been added to the
old brick bakery, that is in terrible
state Of decay and threatens to fall
down. If 1t does, as it is liable to do
at any time, it will certainly result in
the death or injury of the tenants. All
the plumbing is in direct violation Of
distinct city ordinance which ma-es 1t
an offense to put in piping without
traps, revents and catch basins to ac-
cumulate material that clogs the sewer
connections. The overcrowding is sim.
ply indescribable.
"In both these tenements that you
own and control there Is less than 200
square feet of floor area for families
Of from five to seven, living In three
and two rooms. There are six bed
rooms In No. II that are absolutely
dark and that in spite of the ordinance
which provides that every room Of
tenement or lodging house must have
window space equal to at least one
tenth of its floor area. These rooms
not only do not have one-tenth window
space, but they do not have any at all.
They are simply dark rooms, the only
light and air that ever enter them be-
ing what can get in through the door,
which in many cases opens on middle
room, which in turn has no light or
air except what can enter through
shaft between the front and rear tene-
ments only six feet wide and into
which the tenants throw their garbage
because the boxes in front are broken
and overt1owing. Father. these human
beings are rotting in these inhuman
surroundings, and no language can
convey the awful horror Of child life,
the cruel torture Of mother life CON-
PEELED to give birth to children, to
nurse sick babies, to prepare meals, to
endeavor to obtain sleep or rest, in
the heart of overpowering odors, all In
less space and with less light and air
than human being would grant to a
suffering dumb animal. Father, the
property owners Of tenement buildings
In this city are paying less attention to
immortal creatures made In Gods i'm
age than they pay to sick cats or i'm
ported toy dogs or blooded race horses.
And, oh, father, for the sake Of all
this tortured life, Of these children
born without Fairgrounds, Of these
mothers who struggle to keep decent
and these girls who 60 down to ruin
under the stress Of the inhuman crowd
ing. will you not do something? You
can do it. The old buildings can be
destroyed. They never can be repaired.
They are simply alive with vermin
and disease. But new buildings. cov-
ering the legal space on the lot could
be put up and be made to pay better
han the old ones. You could save the |
ives Of children for the future. You |
:ould"-
"Are you lecturing at me?" Rufus |
Gordon suddenly interrupted, his fat
labby face white with passion. II
now my own business. and I will at
end to it."
John Gordon took step nearer and
,azed with painful intentness into his
ather's face.
"Then do you mean to say, father.
hat you will not raise a finger to right
hese great wrongs? Will you not