The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-01-22
STORY OF THE SLUMS
JACOB RITS' LECTURE HEARD BY
LARGE AUDIENCE AT PEG
PLIES CHURCH
PROBLEM OF CITIZENSHIP
With Abolition of Dirty, Crowded
Tenements, Battle Against Vice
Is Half WOn-WOrI1 in
New York

An audience large and distinctly fash
ionable heard Jacob Riis tell 1.-The Story
of the Sums last night at the Peoples
church. A man of medium height and
Of middle age is the author Of "How the
Other Half Lives" His strong, plain
features, his near-sighted but quick
glancing eyes, his vigorous speech, all
suggest the energy that is one of the
prominent characteristics of this police
reporter, reformer writer and lecturer.
His talk last night was illustrated by
a large number of pictures, or rather
the large number of pictures were ex-
planned by a few short sentences, Wig
orous, well expressed, often humorous,
and always very much to the point.
THE sum-" said Mr.. Riis last night,
by way Of very brief preface. pre-
sents not merely problem of foul
smelling, badly lighted tenements. It
presents one of the big problems of cit
izenship. Danish the sIun, and vice
to a very large extent is banished.'' The
lecturer stated that the problems which
New York had been trying to solve for
the last fifteen years would some time
have to be faced and solved by st.
Paul unless preventive measures were
adopted at once
The audience last evening were shown
some Of the worst slums and the worst
tenements in New York city. Beginning
with view of Five Points, which TWEEN
ty-five years ago was one of the no
torious sections in the metropolis, glimps-
es were given of tenements that housed
hundreds of people; Of blind alleys where
humanity swarmed and vice is rampant;
of cheap lodging houses and crowded
police stations, showing people huddIed
fnT, hn
nights shelter. AS a relief to such pic
lures, others were thrown on the screen
show the result of a wave of reform
that has from time to time swept New
York. All of the small parks that have
been built where tenements once stood
were shown together with many of the
new model tenements, particularly the
Mills hotels. The lecturer stated that
these model lodging houses and hotels
have all paid from to ~ per cent
on the investment, and in no case has
the owner lost money.
Want Only a Chance.
TT is not charity that the American
labOrer wants, said Mr.. RiiS, 1T is just
chance" The lecturer told of his
work with Theodore Roosevelt when the
latter was president of the police com
mission in New York city. The men,
ton of the presidents name was loudly
cheered and when Roosevelt's picture
was thrown on the screen the applause
was deafening. Some pictures were shown
of a number Of New York school build
ings now in process of construction Mr.
Riis explained that the plan of erecting
beautiful school buildings in the slums
was having an excellent effect on the
jewellers of the slums. En- PEASANT the
lecturer declared that a school should
be in use all the time; that the rooms
should be used for the children during
the day, and that in the evening mems
clubs and Women's clubs should hold
their meetings there. In this way, he
said, the school house would be the cen
ter Of the moral and intellectual life Of
the neighbOrhOod, and would be the sa-
looms strongest rival
The speaker in conclusion confessed
he was an optimist. 81 have seen so
much accomplished already in New York
for the good of the city and its people
that I am full of faith for the future