Evening capital and Maryland gazette., 1913-02-13
THE UNFAIR SIDE
OF OUR FAIR CITY
SIums in the Capital City Of
Maryland.
DISEASE BREEDING SECTIONS
The Anti tuberculosis Crusade Can
Begin in the First Ward Of An.
napoIis.


cations for this paper viii be given II asked
| Tor at his ofiice.-Ed
In current Issues of the metro
politan papers and magazines, we read
every day of the wonderful movement
for civic cleanliness that is sweeping
the country frcm North to South ana
from East to West
A good many of our fellow-citizens
in Annapolis read, with justified in
dignation, Of the terrible conditions
that prevail in large cities Their
better feelings are aroused when a
campaign Is made here to organize
against the ubiquitous house fly.
With horror they point out the un-
healthy mode of living of our negroes,
and the unsanitary surroundings in
their homes that are such excellent
breeding grounds for tuberculosis and
any other diseases.
All good aud well, and far be il
from my mind to find fault with such
an awakening of the feeling of civic
possibility amongst our people.
But why look only ystowards the BLACK
Belti" Do our public-spirited citi-
zens thiak that these terrible con Ii
tions are a monopoly of the negroes.
Have we not q perfect replica of
these conditions-in the poorer WHITE
Districts of the city?
Are damp houses and back yards
in filthy neighborhoods to be found
only in the West End, and some of the
back allies in the East End occupied
by negroes NoI If you wish 10
find out whether we have slums for
white people in our town, follow me
few moments:
We will start from the Eastport
bridge, through Compromise street.
where the street bed itself is a mass
of corruption and filth. / will point to
you the low, damp houses squatting
on the ground, their back yards hid
den by an hsdge from fashionable
Gloucester street, but in which drain
all the vacant land that slopes from
this last thoroughfare to the waters
edge
Farther on this same street, few
filthy huts, occupied by negroes, then
a few more houses occupied by hard
working, poor, white people, in which
the 'front.' room downstairs is unhabit-
able because in very heavy rains or
high tides the Water in the street is
flush with the floor. From here we
will walk around the City Market to
the foot of CornhilI and Fleet streets,
with wide open gutter in the GEN.
ter of the stree t, a dangerous ice pond
in winter and lake of putrid water
IN warm weather.
We will now proceed to two little
streets that are practically unknown
to our well-to-dC people Except those
who collect the rents therefrom. J
One, at the end of the City Dock, and
the other leading from Holland street
to the water front. Do you know
wnere the fiiesssthat infest the City
Market and Fish Market are bred?
We are coming to their breeding
grounds. First, let Us ask anyone of
the tenants of houses on either of
these two streets permission to visit
his back yard. We find there open
cess pools, swarming with flies and
corruption too vile to describe.
These flies that travel all over
town. these very flies that, notwith-
standing your screened doors or win
dows, are going to invade your kitch-
en- and dining room in a few days,
when Spring brings warmer wealth
er. These flies insist on lasting
every particle of food set on your.
tablesl When this time comes, re-
member whore they come from; think
Of the things thsy have crawled on
before entering your homes.
When the herring and crab sea-
son opens, go visit some OF the
wharves and packing houses where
these Maryland food staples are
handled. But before going there,
be sure to take with you a strongly
perfumed handkerchief. You will
need iC.
At the foot of johnson Place and
also of Dock street, there are pack
ing houses that handle thousands of
fishes and crabs every year. Let some
members of our Civic League and
/ City Council (tbose who ars not blind
ed by partisan politics, and who have
the public welfare as their aiml 90
there this spring, or Summer. and
they will know where the flies and the
diseas - they carry along, come from.
On Holland street, ] will show Won
a house that is now unoccupied. but
thaC was so infested with rats when
it was tenanted, thac baby girl. two
years old, was bitten through the hand
while lying in her cradle, b. one OF
| the hungry rodents.
/ Inquire from our health officers anc
find what has been the rate Of infan
tile mortality in that neighborhood
during the year 1912. can cite two
cases, possibly three, where person,
lay sick for months and died from tn
berculosis in houses in that distric
and where new tenaucs moved in i'm
mediately without the house beini
even whitewashed, al this in lat,
years.
! have lived in this neighborhoo,
myself and speak from actual expert
! ence. Although have very firm cen