Los Angeles herald., 1910-02-03
CHINESE DENS
OF FILTH AT
LAST INVADED
ALMOST UNBELIEVABLE CON-
DITIONS FOUND
MEN ARE FOUND DYING IN VERIT-
ABLE cHARNEL HOUSE
Board of Health, Under Leadership Of
Sergeant Sebastian, Gets First
Hand Evidence-changes
Are Planned

Behind the glamor and Oriental
splendor of the joss houses that the
tourist sees on a trip through China
town, the board of health last night
found scenes of squalor, filth and dis
ease that made even the inspectors
who accompanied them, Injured as they
are to the worst aspects of the seamy
side of life, turn pale and rush for
fresh air.
The tour of inspection made by the
board of health last night was the
preliminary step toward cleaning up
Chinatown from a sanitary point of
view. The inspection party was COM
posed of DR. Sherwin Gibbons, Prof.
/. j. Stabler of the board of health,
DR.. L. M. Powers. health officer: Dr..
1. r. Bancroft, assistant health Off
Ger; Lodging House Inspector West and
Smoke Inspector Potts. Sergeant Ed
Sebastian and Patrolman Mcintyre Of
the Chinatown squad guided the
party.
The principal object of the trip last
night was to learn of the lodging ac-
commodations of the Chinese and the
necessity of immediate action to cor
rect the bad features in this regard was
brought home to the health officers in
a forceful manner.
Conditions Appalling
At 33S Apablassa street eleven men
were found sleeping in room sixteen
by twenty-five feet, and with only one
little window two by two feet, which
was closed. The ceiling in this room
was only seven feet high and some Of
the Chinese had been smoking opium
so that the room was full of the
poisonous fumes. The beds in this
room were made by raising a platform
on the floor and packing grass mats as
close together as they could be placed
There were no mattresses or blankets
for the Chinese to sleep on. The mat
they use is no thicker than a carpet
and the bed is nearly as hard as the
bare floor.
In the house adjoining, at $40 Apa-
blassa street, eight Chinese were found
sleeping in a room still smaller. The
window in this room was a mere hole
in the wall. covered with glass and
there was no attempt at ventilation.
The ceiling was so low that Dr. Glib
bons, the tallest man in the crowd, had
to stoop to get inside.
With few exceptions every Chinese
lodging house on Apablassa and Ma
pier streets and on Ferguson and Mig
ger alleys were inspected by the health
officials. With one or two exceptions
the state law that requires 500 cubic
feet of air for each person was vio-
lated. The most notable exception
was the house maintained by the
Mock Ting and Lung Kong societies at
313 Napier street. This house is mod
ern in nearly every respect and each
Chinese had a separate room. This is
the highest class lodging house in
Chinatown. but the beds were the
same as those in the cheaper places,
hard platforms covered with a grass
mat.
In every house the officials found
a community kitchen and in every
kitchen was a toilet. In some cases
the toilet was in the pantry. This is
a gross violation of the city's sani-
tary laws and will be Immediately cor
rected.
The Chinese hospital in a common
at the end of Apablassa street was
the most distressing feature the Of
ficials found on their trip. This is a
square brick building about fifteen by
twenty feet and the interior was in
an indescribable condition of filth.
Four Chinese patients were in the
hospital, two of them in the last stages
of tuberculosis and one blind. The
fourth had been assaulted by another
Chinese and his face was lacerated.
Don't Want Help
The board of health has condemned
this building and when the Chinese
were told last night they would have
to be moved to the county hospital
for treatment, they pleaded to be left
where they are The blind Chinese
shed copious tears and clung to the
clothes of Dr. Gibbons. When he
was told through an interpreter that
he would have good care and plenty
to eat he dried his tears and appeared
much relieved. At this hospital the
patients have no medical care at all
and are dependent on the charity of
their friends for what they eat.
Sergeant Sebastian, who has worked
among the Chinese so long that he
knows nearly all of them by name,
told the health officials that they
would have no difficulty in making the
Chinese live according to sanitary
laws, if they would only let the Chin
ese know what is expected of them.
The officials talked with a number of
the more intelligent Chinese and ex-
planned that the sleeping rooms we're
too crowded. The Chinese agreed to
correct the evils at once if the board
would define the number that could be
permitted to sleep in one room.
This the board will do at its next
session, but before they meet again
another inspection will be made. The
question of a sanitary cleanup is so
difficult to solve that it is hard for
the board to determine just where to
begin first.