New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-10-04
TENEMENT HOUSE REFORM
What the Fusion administration
Has Been Able to accom- plish.

One campaign argument for the fusion ticket
which Tanrnany is unable TO meet is the record
Of the present Tenement House Commission. In
a few DAYS the voters OF this city will see flashed
on great white screens what the tenement houses
were under Tammany's rule, and how they have
been bettered by the present administration on
the one hand there are squaioT. filth and disease.
On the other there are light cleanliness and health
They Will lie called pictures of Before and After
Fusion" and the lenses OF the stereopticon. sta
Toned al various throughout the city. will
picture al these details tongue tell about
them The crusade OF the stereopticons will be
conducted by the Citizens Union. and the pictures
have been furnished by the Tenement House De-
partment
How the tenement house dwellers O., the city
have been benefited. although It may interest the
poorer classes directly than another subject,
IS not the only theme which the fusion stereop-
ticon Will exploit There will be pictures showing
where fusion has made children's playground
where Tamnany permitted grafters to dump rub
bish. and how in other WAYS the Park Department
has thrown open recreation grounds and breathing
spaces TO the poor, OF which they would
have known under Tammany. There will be
pictures Of the present ornate street lamps and
street signs which will be contrasted with the
same corners two years ago. where stood bat
tered lamp posts or wooden poles surmounted by
posters. announcing the date OF some Tammany
leaders clam chowder party The Improvement OF
the Departments OF Street Cleaning Highways.
each case the identical places will be reproduced
by means Of photographs, showing how they have
been transformed by honest government.
Although the pictures OF tenement houses de-
scribe much TO the eye. they never reveal all
the misery which Tammauy beGueathed to the tene-
ment classes. They never tell how families
came TO be familiar with squalor: that they
grew contented with Il: how they became ig-
norart Of filth that they watched their children
Ole ana knew not that the foul gases from leaking
had heir
When the fusion government took hold OF the city
the inspectors OF the Tenement House Depart
ment. which had just been created by special
act OF the legislature. found conditions existing in
certain quarters at which the oldest teuo-
ment house worker was astonIshed. The care OF
the homes Of the poor had before been under the
supervision OF the Board OF Health. the Building
Department and the Fire and Police departments.
As matter CT fact. none Of them gave the tene-
ment houses thorough inspection. Whenever a
poor tenement wrote complaint to the Health
Department concerning unsanitary conditions an
inspector showed the letter the landlord and the
tenant was promptly evicted II the landlord
feared the result Of his conduct, a little forget
Il money" generally had the desired effect
At the present time the Tenement House Depart
ment has complete jurisdiction tenemen: and
apartment houses. and its inspectors are con-
unually exploring through the most exclusive as
well as the most congested districts. Many are
women and although most Of them frequent what
are termed undesirable neighborhoods' never
one has been rudely treated There is often a
growl or threat from the ignorant, who
look upon the inspector the first time with sus-
picion. but few words Of explanation generally
satisfy the most increduous.
When complaints IN the tenants who
send them are no longer exposed to the wrath of
the landlord The letter is coped and, armed with
a clean typewriter copy. inspector goes to the
house and inspects the place. II he finds that the
complaint has been written because Of grudge the
case is dismissed. II the conditions bad the
landlord is asked to remedy them If the house Is
filthy and unsanitary that 1t is uninhabitable
the tenants get a certain length OF time In which
TO vacate The ordinary length OF time is five days
The complaints which to Robert w. De
Forest. the Tenement House Commissioner. are
often amusing they pathetic. Here
few samples:
Please casl don at Henry St Tap 1oor 10 room.
yer vii meeth Their. a regolsr. Boarding Hose. bet
I don't thine If thath can bey, possible too KEEP
mems and women in klein roms. there is all the
birth the roof. wi compliens too the landlord
and he Lidnth seid sny thing. Please call don and
4 CITIZEN.
Mister: Come and the roof by Crand-st A
woman sweeps the dirt by the window and l may
get sick Please that Is cleaned ] live by
Graud-SL