The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-05-12

smoke and dust through which light and
air must filter made housekeeping c
travesty in many neighborhoods; and
every phase Of the situation was inten-
SIZED by the evil Of overcrowding-o
houses upon lots. Of families into
houses. Of people into rooms"
The highest death rate IN the world
from typhoid fever is found in Pitts
burg, the underlying cause being the
lack OF pure drinking water. With the
stamp Of death upon so many labor
ers. their wives and families one
might naturally suppose some Of these
miIHonaires would come forward with
plans and funds for ameliorating the
horrible conditions, providing better
system Of drainage and sewage, purer
water. more habitable dwellings, etc.
Not so. When approached on the mat
ter they say,
we don't want to go into the hOus-
ing business. We are manufacturers,
not real estate dealers. We may be
forced to build houses in certain new
d stricts in order TO attract and hold
labor. but in an old, settled community
let the laboring man take care of HIM
self. We don't believe in paternalism. "
As 70 the children brought up under
such conditions, the report states that
few Of them are up to the mental
standard. and an increasing percent
age are imbecile. The schools are de-
scribed as follows:
THE school buildings are in many
cases crowded. dark. dirty, often Of
three stories, and bad fire risks. The
condition Of the children in these
schools good and bad, rich and poor.
may be known by the large proportion
having defective teeth, reduced hear
ing. imperfect vision. An excessively
large number of them are mouth
breathers, partially so because they
are unable to breathe through their
noses in the smoky ar OF Pittsburg,
and a very considerable number are
below the stature and the weight &c
termined for the average child In a
large percentage the defects Of teeth,
nose and throat bring them below the
physical normal. These are the chill
dren that wear out in childhood.
This is the answer to the plea that
the workmen are protected by the
tariff on steel. But the whole story has
not been told in the article quoted.
While the laborers and their wives and
children show mental, moral and ply
steal decay. the possession Of unbound
ed wealth is Transforming its greedy
nossessors into beasts instead Of hu-
man beings. The following dispatch
recently appeared in the Philadelphia
North American:
Pittsburs. May Scandinavian Pitts
burg is about to attract the country 5
attention again through the exposure OF
degradation and Shame when mas SURE ~
the CITY as it never has been strEed pc,
fore Three arrests have Deen Hdue' anu
more are to come -
The reported extent Of crime in Pitts
burg indicates that something in the ma
ture Of a wave OF degeneracy IS sweeping
The worst Of che situation is to De ex-
plcded when the police have tralled Inc
members and visitors 10 various CLUB
houses throughout the city. These, Il IS
said form the hotbed Of the singular vices
which are shocking Pittsburg as Germany
was shocked by the round table, and
England by the arrest, punishment ana
subsequent Punishment Of Oscar Wide.
Young street boys are gOssiping and
Juggling the names OF prominent men win
"a liberty that is appalling.
The police admitted tonight that sew
eral warrants have been issued.
Some Of the revolving details Of the
above dispatch have been eliminated,
but enough can be gathered from read
ing It TO show the depths Of depravity
into which some of the citizens of the
center OF the steel industry. founded
upon the tariff system. have fallen. II
the holy writ is to be believed. brim-
stone and fire descended upon Sodom
and Gomorrah for the very crimes
practiced in Pittsburg today.
Yet the Aldrich bill proposes to con-
tinue the burden upon the backs Of the
people OF the whole country n order
that the workman may continue to toll
twelve hours a day for his pittance,
while living in filth and squalor, while
his employer becomes a stencil in the
nostrils Of the civilized world