The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1911-05-01
FOUR OF EAST SIDE
REVEALS MA NY
FILTHY ALLEYS
lied With Dirt and Rubbish and
Foul.Smelling Decaying Garbage
They Constitute Serious Menace
To Health. =
ewish Charities Doing Splendid
Work In Cleaning Up Back Yards
In the Ghetto.

In his recent address on housing
bnditions in Detroit. before the
tuilders and Traders exchange,
yabbi Leo NJ. Franklin, OF Temple
eth FL. characterized some OF the
leys in the congested districts Of
be east side as an abomination, and
eclared that they should be closed
p. An investigation by The Times
p the Ghetto and elsewhere, fully
hstifies the strong language used by
be rabbi
The alleys inspected were, for the
post part, unpaved, and. at the time
the inspection, the ground almost
Invariably was damp and, in some
Rses. muddy, although II had not
aimed for several days. They were
filtered with ashes, tin cans, flying
pts OF paper and rubbish OF all sorts.
khile the odor from decaying gar
lage and other vegetable matter was
lmost sitting. That these alleys
ire q menace to health Is a fact not
kpen to discussion.
The yards, in some cases, are al
host as filthy, but there has been
treat improvement In this regard the
last few months, especially in the
fhetto, thanks to the efforts OF the
United Jewish charities. One of the
Conditions imposed on those who re-
|eive help from this organization is
hat they must clean up" and the
esults have been very gratifying.
An instance OF this kind was found
Il No. 129 Napoleon-st., where man
Ind his wife and four children 1.-Two
"a four rooms. The husband is Ill
With consumption, but manages to
Dick up dollar or two now and then
by sitting up with the dead. With
Ihese meager earnings and the help
bf the Jewish charities. he Is able to
tupport his household after fashion.
Having no shed In which to store
his fuel. tools, etc, he must, OF
necessity keep them in the yard, but
they are piled neatly in one corner
Ind the yard. otherwise, presents
heater appearance than the back
Yards OF many families in better cir
eumstances.
On Winder-st., near Hastings. in a
little, tumble-down frame cottage.
hwells a woman and three small chill
kiren, one of whom is deaf and dumb,
hnother feeble-minded and the third
b cripple. Her husband was killed
|n an accident. three years ago, and,
until very recently. she made her
living by dressing chickens for the
market. The refuse was thrown on
the ground, where such of II as was
not consumed by the horde OF rats
and cats drawn there by 1t, was al
lowed to decay.
When the case was brough to the
attention OF the Jewish Charities
these conditions were promptly rem
edied. and the woman is no longer
dressing chickens for living The
yard IL still far from attractive, but
it is decided Improvement over -
former condition.
The house where this poor woman
dwells Is one of the four similar
on a 30-foot lot, all used
for residence purposes The crowd
ing together OF homes In this fashion
all using a common yard, ID one OF
the conditions the Detroit Housing
Is seeking to remedy. be-
cause of the great fire peril and the
unhealthy sanitary conditions that In
evitably result from such overcrowd-
ing.
These Ghetto homes are paradise,
however, compared TO some OF the al
lev tenements OF the east side, and II
Is not necessary to go far from the
heart of the city to find them. In a
dark. tumble-down shed in the rear
OF No. 3l6 Montcalm-st. east, an aged
Negro has his habitation. The larger
part of the floor space Is piled with
broken furniture, rags. waste paper,
bottles, ETC., which explain how the
old man makes his living. Over In
the darkest corner OF the shed. where
there Is no ventilation whatever, are
his "1iving apartments" occupying
n space about 4 by 10 feet, curtained
of from the rest Of the shack An
other curtain divides this space into
two rooms" socalled by courtesy,
one serving as his bedroom and the
other as kitchen, dining room and
sitting room. The shed backs up on
one of the filthiest alleys In the city,
10 what little air manages to find it's
way into the place Is polluted
This IL one of several similar places
that has come to the attention OF the
Detroit housing commission and was
unearthed by Secretary Lovejoy In
one of bis recent surveys. Mr.. Love-
toys report, when completed, will be
q most interesting document and IL
will contain some startling facts about
Detroit that will come as q surprise
20 many very respectable folk. who are
now living almost next door to filthy,
oyercrowded tenements and are not
aware OF the conditions existing there.
Mrs. Nellie stackbefn, wife OF Henry
o. stackbefn, cashier I'm the Penfn-
suiar Sayings bank branch, Chene-