New-York tribune., 1903-04-11
A CLEAN EAST SIDE NOW.
Continued from f1rst page.

the district at every hour OF the gay anu ,d if and
signs Of the tenement vice. have not seen It,
There is no institution on the East Side Whlch
comes more closely in touch with the poorer
class of the inhabitants OF the quarter than the
Legal Aid Society. Through its hands the COM
plants wrongs and injustices of nearly four
hundred people pass each month, and every sort
of complaint is brought to them. 1t is interest
ing, therefore to hear the statement of Arthur
G. H. Lester. the attorney in charge Of the East
Side branch of the Legal Aid, at No 6l Riv-
ington-st Mr. Lester is graduate of the Har-
ward Law School, and has been at work on sne
East Side since last August. To a Tribune rep
resentative he made the following statement on
Thursday:
LEGAL AID HAS NO COMPLAINTS.
1 have been handling cases here-hundreos re- soo 0l
them OF every s a might be called cadet
have been accustomed to pass up ana notd oom Rave
never Seen any solicitation have never seen any
evidence Of the sort of thing have heard SO oGh no
pare this East Side and moral conditions e0 *
Of similar quarters OF Paris or German cities IN
which have lived ! nm flnd sdn the coHpafiSo" "-
the advantage OF the East Side.
A startling contrast between present ana lol-
mer times is furnished by Frederick A King. a
probation officer who has lived the East Side
for the last five years In the period of the req
light" scandals Mr.. King working II the
quarter for the Charity Organization Society IN
the University Settlement Year Book for l9oo
the following experience which happened 10 MI
King is printed In the course of his visits MT.
King was informed that a certain house was one
of evil resort. To get place of vantage Tor oo-
servation Mr.. King went to an alley, passing
behind the entrance to the house of i'll fame
Seeing him apparently looking for the houSe'
little girl came out and said:
Saw mis- he house
indicating the entrance Contrasting the pres
ent situation. Mr.. King said yesterday:
The general character of the neighborhood has
undergone great change The cadets nave We grad ado
in the Bowery. They no longer live by their former
trade They nGt 0sn in sha hss
changed; the long procession of houses OF ilofame
Chat is unquestionabie) but there is longer the
openness the street solicitation the puhng hs ae the
police watched with tender s9lictude for the the
IT is no longer done on the Wholesale as the
old days You have sh9wn to me list It Of fa1ry
know now of one place used for such CHI purposes or 3s
others, but even these are conducted quietly
J. c. Phelps Stokes, who has been living at
the University Settlement for the last winter.
gave the following personal impression of the
situation:
knew in the conditions that existed Ste
in this section in the former times put am Detee e
been out through the quarter at every hour of the
way Watched @ a"' for evidence Of the old Condition
tcuary in Aen-st have not seen the 81 slghest s1tes
soliciting The whole system has been wiped out
houses s in this Quarter now they say: s'These
houses, if they exist at all are conducted quietly q
very existence is problemati teal where it must
have been apparent and self-evident in those days
Miss Elizabeth S. Williams. headworker of the
College Settlement in Ri-ington-st.. near Allen
ST. an institution conducted entirely by women
added her testimony to that of other residents
of the East Side concerning the changed con-
ditions
CLEANER THAN UNDER STRONG
THE situation here to-day is cleaner than it
was under Mayor Strong" said she. There Is
nothing left of the old Haunting immortality
The little that we know of over here is removed
from the tenements and from the sight of the
children. 1t is great change, and one ap
parent to the most casual observer"
David Willard, of No 129 Chrystie-st.. who is
well known because OF his probation work
among boys in the Bowery and Jewish district
said:
you ask me if things are better than in the
red light days Why, any one can see that
they are. A stones throw from my house, OPP
posite in the block, were three disorderly houses
One up there at the corner had eighteen women.
not stand for the things that went in the
other administration"
The foregoing statements will suffice to indi-
cate the situation as it is viewed by those who
working in various charitable social in
sttutions. Even more significant, because of
its intimate personal nature, is the testimony Of
those who live in the quarter, whose homes are
those tenement houses made unsafe and
intolerable by the colonies Of prostitutes who
took the lower floor for themselves and con-
taminated the whole house with their abOmina-
BILE traffic.
A vivid personal impression of this change is
furnished by Harry Lorber young East Side
physician of No. 94 Delancey-st.. a native of
Galicia who has for many years been resi-
dent of the East Side Lorber was one of the
witnesses against Captain Herlihy at his vari-
Gus trials.
The difference in conditions in this quarter is be-
yond description. Only month OF the Low ad-
had 9ass9d s when ta the s WHOLE &
eeIWhere becae quite obscure give vo v
word that since one month of the reform govern
let me give you precise Illustration of what that
IVA Tas n the rea S1 h days lays
time a day. Eight times daily then passed Nos
NJ noon a1'o and n night was soci5ed by the women
standing in front Of these houses You may i'm
when suddenly, one month otter election, the whole
Let me- take a more specific illustration At No
4s DeIancey-st there used to be disorderly house
EsPt by that qn did have ben 'e 9 h hoass in in
the old days when have seen. seen as ma many as nine
was in partnership with another man Just at
money to buy out the partners share and the.
house his own l never heard of such a dis =
party came in and the final cleaning up was or
dered His house closed. Twelve cadets who
hair hon rarrpr wit m nd biS