New-York tribune., 1907-03-17

"incoVs cut into dark rooms. modern plumbing
put IN. fresh paint was everywhere. yet the rsnt
for four rooms. formerly s12 so was now only
S14 80 That's landlord with a conscience
but some haven't any" the inspector said "Tro
meet the worst ones the law should be more
drastic. It's civil penalty now for non-cora-
pliance with an order from the department.. a
me OF $50 1t ought 20 be criminal procedure
with imprisonment as the penalty. But tenants
frequently are aggravating. too; many OF them
make bad conditions worse. Look az that now
II was in another building, and he was gazing
from an upper window into the well OF q closed
court This wouldn't give much light. any
how" he remarked. but the tenants have shut
OF what there was by putting UP all those
shelves outside their windows" The fat jani-
tor came putting up the stairs, summoned BY a
dozen children. more or less THESE snelves
must come down." the inspector told her.
She gave wide smile. "a va We will clean
dem,' she said. making circular motions as with
scrubbiug brush.
'No. knock 'en out: take 'en away" the IN
spect1r reiterated. She looked puzzled. but by
dint of long and careful explanations. illus
trated BY hammerlike gestures with both arms.
ne finally got her to comprehend
Through narrow passage running from OIL
yer street to rear court. the inspector led the
10 some tenements which showed WHAT
holes still exist here and there IN New York
The rooms were empty. the tenants had gone
But they were here four weeks ago; they
lived here all winter" the inspector said There
were great breaks in the walls, through which
the snow drifted; the windows had parted COM
pany with most Of their glass. One small frozen
hydTant in the yard represented the water sup
ply for two houses. Behind it stood a row OF
indescrlbabe vaults OF the oldest type those
which have no arrangement even for periodical
flushing.
Yes. there still remain bad conditions IN New
York, but they are disappearing: they would
disappear faster if the department had more
money" said the inspector. he went his way
TO make reinspection OF house in Catharins
street. 10 see if the new fire escapes. which tho
landlord had been ordered TO put on. filed the
laws requirements.
In every work there are difficulties which do
not appear to the outsider. One difficulty in this
work is that so many houses are in the hands
not OF the owner but OF some who has
, leased the property That frequently makes it
seem hard 70 push an order for expensive alter
ations. One case was a Of a man who sought
the Corporation CounseTs office to protest
against an order for structural alterations q
house he had leased. The changes meant an out
lay Of S3OOO His lease would expire in less
than two years. and he was not at all sure that
he could renew II. He prepared TO resist
the order in every possible way before he would
pay out $1,000 TO enrich the corporation that
owned the house. and would likely control Il
again almost before the alterations were COM
pleted. layman who was present when this
story was told said IL was too bad the wealthy
owners could not be forced 70 malzs the altera-
tOns- But leases being what they are, this was
out Of the question.