Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1905-03-21
lcopyright 1904, by Frederick upham Adans.l
.HE first estate outside the coun-
ty Of London purchased by the

ME first estate outside the coun-
ty of London purchased by the
council was in Norbury. The
site is thirty-one acres in extent
and it situated mile and quarter be-
Pond the county boundary. On this
tract the council is erecting 762 cot !,
tages with accommodations for $500
persons. The rents will range from
S1.60 to $2.75 week.
The greatest progress has been made
with the Tottesdown fields estate, in
footing. On this tract of thirty-nine
acres nearly 800 cottages have been
completed and are occupied, and the
plans call for total of 1,244 cot
tages. In this venture the London
county council is investing $2,00O,O0O.
The cottages are built of brick and
stucco, with the roofs and chimneys
surmounted with the inevitable Eng
lish chimney pot as, Of course, you
know, there is not wooden structure
In England.
The cottages of footing are built to
stand for hundreds Of years, with little
or any external repairs. The streets
are paved, and when an Englishman
paves a street his grandchildren need
not replace it. Let us enter one OF
these cottages.
We will first inspect one which rents
for II shulings week, or $2.SS in oul
money. This Is corner house, Will
Light on three sides. In the rear IL {
yard and garden plot SO by IS feet
Garden truck grows all the year arount
in this climate, and many Of the ten
ants Of footing have no difficulty u
raising the vegetables required TO
their personal use. The housewife ha
| all Of the rooms needed in which t,
hang and dry clothes, and her husband
can indulge his Unborn desire to keep |
dog. All Of this space is their own t,
do with as they please. The clothes ar
not covered with SCOT, and the dog 4
| monarch of all that he surveys.
The cottage Is two story one, witt
five rooms and a kitchen. The lvinI
room is IL by 13 and the parlor 8 by 1
feet The kitchen is about by 10, an,
the three bedrooms average 100 squar
feet. The floors are Of hardwoo'
throughout, and the same is true Of tn
other woodwork. The walls are pa
pered and the ceiling calcimined. TIL
interior work compares with that Of
New York or Chicago fat which rent
| at from $40 to $40 month. All Of tn
rooms have an abundance Of light an,
ventilation.
John Jasper, blacksmith, and hi
wife, mother and four children i've 1
this cottage. It was a holiday, an
most Of the men folks wsre home. Th
blacksmith came to the door and bad
us welcome
Glow do you like It hersT I aske
when we had looked through all Of tn
rooms and listened to Mr.. Jasper
j plans for combined dollhouse and do
kennel.
II like it." he said. looking out I
where his children were playing In til
open air. Its all new to me, but
would be like going to jail to have I
go back to the barracks where we live
In Lambeth. Never knew what it Wa
to be clean or to breathe fresh air Il
we came out here"
4 docs it cost you moro for rent tina
| It did when you lived in tenemer
house7"
ut costs Just the same" he sait
"but, bless you, look at what we ha,
now and what we had then. new
thought when was a boy that II
time would ever como when / woul
live In a house al to myself"
| The housing work Of the London coul
ty council Is under the direct charge {
s. G. Burgess, who has served as maj
ager since 1901. There is no civil ser,
ice-in the American sense Of the wo1
| lin England. Therefore when tt
county council formed housing d
partment and wished manager the
advertised for him. For twenty yeal
Mr.. Burgess had been actively engage
In the construction Of middle ella.
dwellings. He had served with dtstin
ton as manager Of three great pr1va1
companies. The London county counc
decided that he was the best man 4
the place. They therefore offered NJ
Burgess certain salary, and after d,
consideration he accepted their offe
He had just completed the constuctie
Of five large lodging houses for Lol
Rowton, designed for providing bett,
accommodations for 1850 men. The.
structures are Of the same type as Il
Mills hotels Of New York, which a,
occupied by about 1900 male lodger
Mr.. Burgess is an acknowledged a
thority on architecture and constru
ton, man Of decided executive abili
and great energy.
He has never been active in polite
He has no political pull Thousands
men work under him, but he Yields ,
political influence. Millions upon m
lions of dollars pass through his hand
but there is not the shadow Of susI
cion that one penny OF 1t sticks to b
fingers. He receives $4,000 year
salary. No partisan faction or indivi
ual aspires to s,persede him. If
chooses, the position is his for life. IT
great municipal enterprises Of Lond,
and other cities in Great Britain a
filled by men OF this type.
In the course of long interview NJ
Burgess thus epitomized the work III
plans under his charge:
J "At an expense of about $4,000
we have demolished tliirty-six acres /
dllapidated and insanitary building
. Which were occllnied hv 1R h5l nel.snn