The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-07-30
Health Commissioner Simon Pre-
pares Ordinance and Submits
1t to Mayor Wells.
PENALTY CLAUSE A FEATURE.
Measure Soon to Go Before Munic'
ipal Assembly Is Designed
to Correct Lodging House
Evils.

Health Commissioner Simon has prepared
an ordinance regulating tenement and ,odS-
ing houses. prescribing the requirements or
their construction and defining the proper
conditions for light, ventilation, plumbing
and sewers.
The bill Is now in the hands of Mayor
Wells and soon will be sent to the Mu-
nicipal Assembly. When II becomes law 1t
will make the tenement houses habltable
and far more healthy. in the opinion of the
Health Commissioner.
In speaking of the bill yesterday Doctor
Simon said that the present law on the sub
ject is meaningless. there being only two
paragraphs devoted to the question in the
municipal code.
Sections COL and COZ of the code are the
ones touching tenement houses, and the
law says that there must be adequate sew
ering, adequate plumbing. adequate ventila-
ton and adequate halls and passageways.
AS will be clearly seen. Doctor simon says.
the ideas of what is adequate IN these mat
tiers will differ widely as between person
who erects such buildings. for the rent he
can get out of them and Health Com
missioner who inspects them.
My thought in preparing this ordinance.
the Commissioner said. lis to define exactly
Inc COnultlOUS "i'4SAi .-'.SN
be complied with. repeal the present law
and fix a penalty for the violation of the
new one"
In this bill 1 have defined the meaning
of the words tenement house, l have
made 1t mean any house, building or portio.H
thereof which is occupied as a nome OF resi-
dence by more than two families, living IN
dependent OF each other, or more than t"o
families living upon the same moor ana nay ris
ing a common right to the halis' Safus'
closets and stairWays.
PENALTY FIXED.
Another provision of the bill Is that
there shall be at least 600 cubic feet of air
space to each occupant of such building,
and the ordinance gives the Health Com
missioner power to issue an order reducing
The number Of persons living IN a tenement.
This may be enforced by the Police Depart
ment.
LAS regards ventilation, the ordinance
provides that there shall be an open space
OF lot less than ten feet between buildings
one story high, nfteen feet between build
Ings two stories .ligh, twenty feet between
those three stories high. and twenty-five
feet between those more than three stories
high.
be made twice a year, at least, under the
new ordinance, and when a house has been
inspected by deputies from the sanitary di-
vision of the department and complaint
made to him the house shall be inspected
again within six days. If 1t be found that
no attempt has been made to alter the con-
ditions Of the house the Commissioner Is
empowered to order that the house be va
Gated
The weak point in the present law Is
that there is no penalty named but in this
ordinance any person who refuses to obey
the order of the Commissioner to vocate
premises declared to be in an unsanitary
condition shall be fined not less than xl5
or more than $500"
There are thirty sections in the ordinance
as drawn UP by Commissioner Simon deal
ing with the treatment of the sick in tene-
ments, and minor details as to the disposal
of garbage, ventilation for each room and
the condition in which the cellars and area
ways must be kept.