Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1903-03-07
! Mr.. Marsh pulled at Gordon's arm.
"For Gods sake, Gordon, let's get
out of here. I'm growing sick. II shall

faint" u... = A. -
"Come out into the fresh air!" Cor
don said ironically. .--
They went out into the corridor, and
Mr.. Marsh in his eagerness to get out
of the building did not even stop to
reply to several of the women who had
learned from Mrs. Caylor that he
owned the double decker and crowded
up to complain about the garbage boxes
and the drainpipes. While Gordon
was talking with Mrs. Caylor about
Louis, Mr.. Marsh went down, hurried
as fast as he dared through the lower
court, and when John Gordon came out
he found him seated on the outer steps,
deathly pale and actually sick.
Gordon grimly eyed him.
"It's only o'clock. Wen have time
to do the other. There are some fea-
lures of No. 81 that are peculiar.
would like to have you see them"
81 cannot go, Gordon. It's out Of the
question. am too ill.,"
Lets go over to Hope House, then"
John Gordon said gravely.
Mr.. Marsh, with difficulty, walked
over to Hope House. On the way Cor
don said:
''There is an ordinance which says
that there shall be spaces between
front and rear tenements, graduated
according to the height of the building
IT the tenement is one story high, there
must be ten feet between front and
rear; if two stories, fifteen feet; il
four stories, twenty-five feet, etc. Your
agent deliberately ignored this law
and built your double decker so as to
cover all the space. In doing so he
deliberately established condition
that permitted Of no light in dozen
bedrooms like the one we went into
More than that, he created conditions
that breed anarchy, for if the rich and
cultured citizens Of this municipality
for their own gain selfshly. trample on
the laws of the city what can they ex-
pect from the poor and the desperate
and the ignorant but hatred of all So
ciety?"
"I'm too sick to discuss it," Mr.
Marsh groaned. Gordon saw that he
was actually suffering severely, and
"ucH tuet e11le'Ieu nope House ne
gave him careful attention.
1t was only temporary indisposi-
ton, however. and after resting an
hour Mr.. Marsh recovered sufficiently
to sit up and expressed some mortifi-
cation at the way he had behaved
But his manner was very grave, and
the experience of his visit to the build
ing was evidently making profound
impression on him
To Gordon's disappointment, Miss An
drews had been called away and was
not present at the evening meal Mr.
Marsh was able to be at the table with
the residents and was close listener
to the talk, although he said little.
do you feel equal to a little work
this evening, Mr.. Marsh?' Gordon
asked after the residents had adjourned
to the library and had begun to scatter
for their several duties.
Il think so; yes,' Mr.. Marsh an
swered. He was really ashamed of his
inability to endure unusual sights of
disagreeable human suffering
''Then perhaps we had better visit
one of the vaudeville halls. l want you
to see how the saloon, as i political in
stitution, comes in to supplement the
absence Of home life. Perhaps it will
help you to understand better, if YOU
want to, why the tenement house con-
ditions are not interfered with and
why it is to the interest of the politi-
clan that the people suffer as far as
endurance will go in the matter of no
homes
At o'clock. in company with an off,
Ger in citizens clothes who was de-
tailed to look after Hope House dis
trict, Gordon and Marsh entered one of
the vaudeville halls joining corner
saloon on Bowen street. Mr. Marsh
was unusually excited. His university
training, his exclusive, refined culture,
his sensitive habits, were all the exact
opposite of everything he had felt and
seen since he entered Hope House dis
trict. He went in with Gordon, and
they took seats in the rear of the saw
dust covered floor in a hall that would
hold 200 persons. They faced gaudily
painted curtain, which let down in
front of small stage. The hall rapid
~ filled up with men and boys. The
air was heavy with the fumes Of beer
and tobacco. The night was sultry, and
at the saloon bar, which was visible
through the doorway opening into the
hall, could be seen long line of men
and women drinking, while others
stood behind the line reaching their
hands over for glasses or waiting their
turn to get up to the bar itself.
Three violins, harp and a piano be-
gan to play, and the curtain went up.
At that very moment in Christian
homes all over America good women
kneeled ut clean beds by the side of
pure hearted little children to repeat
the evening prayer to the good God.
But will the time speedily come when
little voices shall swell the thunder of
the good Gods wrath against an insti-
tuition that carries into homeless des-
erts Of. the great cities the plague of
death. the foul touch Of lost virtue for
the sake OF gold? - So