Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-05-06
A COMMISSION APPOINTED
Small Houses, Alley Shacks and In
side Alleys.
REPORT OF JAMES B. REYNOLDS
Conclusions Submitted After Examin.
ing Between $50 and 400 Tene-
ments in the District.

Through the efforts of President Roose-
welt vigorous campaign is to be con-
Quoted for the betterment of tenement
house conditions in Washington and the
District of Columbia. With this object In
James Bronson Reynolds to investigate the
tween $50 and 400 tenements. shacks and
small houses, and numerous alleys, Mr..
Reynolds has submitted his report to the
commission of fifteen, to be known as the
Presidents homes commission" be ap-
pointed. He has also made the following
suggestions in regard to it:
First. The Presidents homes commits
sion should be COMPOSED of fifteen mem
bers, to include among others real estate
dealer, a practical builder. and two repre-
sentatives of trade unions.
Second. That the commission should be
instructed to ascertain and consider the
results of the best efforts of public enter
prise and private philanthropy to improve
the homes and better the lives of the in
dustrial, classes in other cities in the coun-
try:
Third: It should be instructed to invite
the cooperation of all having interest in
the housing problem and the home problem
in the District, and before presenting its
final report it should give public hearings
ON the main points of its program, SO. that
all just criticisms may be heard.
Fourth. 1t should be advised to recon-
mend, so far as possible, reforms which
may be accomplished by your executive
order or by the action of the District gov.
eminent
Fifth. The commission should serve
without compensation, and all expenses in
CURED should be borne by voluntary con-
tributions.
This report has been approved by the
President, who has made public the names
of those whom he had asked to serve or
the commission. Those appointed are Gen
George NJ. Sternberg, U. 8. A., retired; DR.
George M. Kober, William H. Baldwin
Frederick 1. siddons. Prof. George w
Boardman, Mrs. Arnold Hague, James
Bronson Reynolds. 8. w. Woodward, John
B. Sleman, jr., T. c. Parsons, Emmett L.
Adams, P. J. Brennan and William F,
Downey.
In his investigation Mr.. Reynolds reports
that he found three distinct problems, viz.
Small houses, alley shacks and inside al
leys. The laws and ordinances for the con.
struction of houses for wage-earners, he
reports, are defective and incomplete, and
need thorough revision.
Mr.. Reynolds Report.
Mr.. Reynolds report to the President is as
follows
attention to the housing problem, 1 visited
and examined between $50 and 400 tene-
ments, shacks and small houses in various
sections of Washington and Georgetown
and inspected numerous alleys. / talked
with their occupants and conferred with
many citizens of the District, both white
and colored, including representatives OF
trade unions, to obtain their views regard
ing housing conditions.
I'm my investigation l found three dis
tinct problems-that of small houses, that
of alley shacks and alley houses, and that
of inside alleys. There were some, perhaps
many. good houses for wage-earners in
Washington, but the laws and ordinances
in relation to their construction are de-
fective and incomplete, and need thorough
revision. For instance. one ordinance re.
Quires that every sleeping room in a tene-
ment or lodging house must have at least
400 cubic feet Of space for each occupant
above ten years of age, but fails to place
any Limitation upon the number of occu-
pants under ten years who may sleep In
such room.
Hence, while but four adults might oc-
cupy a room containing only 16OO cubic
feet of space, any number of children un.
der ten might occupy the same room with
out violating the ordinance.
"A second ordinance provides that hall
ways Of tenements shall be properly light.
ed at night, but does not exact that such
Railways shall, whenever necessary, be
lighted during the day. 1 saw many dark
Railways which required light during the
day quite as much as during the night.
IAN ordinance passed by the District
Commissioners, which went into effect De.
cembsr 1, 1905, marks progress in limiting
the building space of an interior lot to "a
per cent Of its area. and of corner lot to
90 per cent. but many otker defects indi-
cate the need Of a thorough revision of the
existing code
II found nearly all the alley wooden
shacks and small brick houses that ]
nod >I,ar
shacks, as a rule. might properly be con-
demned on structural grounds Their yards
were apparently storage places for refuse
and filth, their water supply Inadequate
and badly placed.
II had conversations with the dwellers
in these inside shacks. and the comments
of many may be fairly summarized In
the pathetic remark Of an old colored WON.
an who exclaimed, with reference to heI
neglected. filthy yard:
".Why, my old marsa wouldn't ha' KEEP
his horses stabbed in such a place.
Culture Beds of Disease.
mo argument Is needed to show thai
such ill-conditioned novels are culture beds
of disease, the germs of which may be
carried far and wide by the flies which
feed on the rotting garbage and excreta
Their number should be promptly ascer-
tanned and immediate steps taken for
their complete elimination, and buildings
constructed in their places should have
proper sanitary appurtenances, and should
open either upon a highway or small street
"In few instances the jewellers In these
shacks would probably merit temporary
help in securing better quarters II the
shacks were destroyed but If the abolition
of the shacks should result in driving their
tenants from the city, in most instances
an undesirable element Of its population,
which Is at present an expense to the city
through its police courts and prisons, would
be removed.
THE small brick houses inside the
squares are not usually in as unsatisfac-
tory condition as the wooden shacks, but a
large percentage of them are without ade-
quate water supply and proper privies, and
are often structurally defective.
"A particularly undesirable and menac-
ing feature of the poor quarters Of Wash
ington is the inside alleys. y These alleys
are centers Of disorder and crime and they
make possible the continuance Of small
communities uncontrolled by ordinary
police inspection and unaffected by public
observation and criticism.
Insanitary Buildings Condemned.
I'm my opinion all inside alleys, with the
exception of service alleys, should be abol-