Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-12-18
ALL TENEMENTS
TO Be FIREPROOF
State Commission Will Soon APP
ply for Amendment to Pres
ent Law.
MANY OF THEM NOW ARE
LIGHT FRAME BUILDINGS
Board Also Intends to Enlarge
Minimum Space for Liv-
ing Rooms.
Especial to the Newark start

TRENTON, Dec. Is. - The State
Board of Tenement House Supervi-
sion today presented its tenth annual
Numerous recommendations to make
the work Of the commission more eff
fective are contained in the report.
One of the principal recommended
tons proposes to amend the law so
that the definition of the term "tene-
ment house will read "a tenement
house is any house or building. which
is either rented, leased. let or hired
out to be occupied, or is occupied, or
is intended, arranged or designed to
be occupied as the home or residence
of three or more families, living indie
pendently of each other and doing
their cooking on the premises, and
includes all houses so used. occupied
or arranged to be occupied"
The report says the enactment OF
this proposed amendment would OBJ
viate much of the difficulty now ex-
perienced by the department and
would effectually prevent such eva
sions of the law as one which oe-
Cured recently In Newark, where a
nom tenement house was converted
into a tenement house. The owner,
In this case, was prosecuted and fined
in the District Court, but by the cree
: ton of a partition which prevents
the family occupying the first floor
from using the halls, stairways, or
yard, succeeded in evading the law
while still retaining the occupancy of
his building by three families.
Would Make Penalty SI00.
The commission feels that the full
penalty of $500 should be exacted in
every case where suit is necessary
to compel the removal of violations
and recommends the minimum penal
ty of SIS be done away with and
make the penalty 500 in every case
where the violation is proven by the
evidence submitted to the court. 1t
is also recommended that the law be
amended so that the erection of fire.
escapes on three-Story tenement
houses will be required, just as on
the tenement houses more than three
stories, as a matter of safety for the
tenants. The board also suggests
that the width of outer courts of all
tenement houses constructed after
the passage of such an amendment
shall not be less than three feet and
Six lHcH6S Wlue, LIt Wldlll VI ouSi COdib
to be increased six inches where such
court exceeds sixty-five feet in depth.
The report states that after con-
siderable experience in tenement
house observation, 1t is convinced
that the minimum rooms allowed by
law are smaller than should be per-
mitted. 1t is suggested the Legisla-
ture amend this provision SO as to
make ninety square feet the mini
mum dimensions Of any room in any
tenement house erected after the
amendment.
The board says that while the tene-
ment house law does not prohibit the
use of wood shingles in roofing tene-
ment houses. such prohibition is not
only advisable, but is necessary in
the interests of fire prevention and
in line with the efforts of the State
und local authorities in this direc-
ton. The board will prepare an
amendment for submission to the
Legislature, prohibiting the use of
wood shingles for roofing tenement
houses.
Sink in Every Apartment.
Continuing the report says: The
board has under consideration sew
eral other propositions to amend the
law in the interest of better and safer
housing, one of them being to change
that provision of the law which
makes sink in the halls sufficient in
an old tenement house and providing
that sinks and running water shall
be placed within each apartment,
regardless of such sinks as may be
found in the halls of the old build
ings.
Another housing proposition which
is just now receiving serious consid-
GRAFTON and study in all parts of the
country is one to reqire that all
tenement houses more than three
stories high and designed to be oc-
cupied by more than six families shall
be constructed fireproof throughout,
This would mean that the further
building of four or five-story tene-
ment houses of second-class construc-
ton, as at present, would be stopped
at once The law now provides that
iaIl new tenement houses, six stories
or more in height, shall be construct
ed ffreproof throughout. The law also
prohibits the erection of frame tene-