The Detroit times., 1915-04-16

HOMES KILL
JEWELLERS
Housing Expert From
Chicago Says They
Are Deadly
AMERICAN CITIES
BEHIND EUROPE
Legislation Is Needed
to Insure Future
Of Race

Detroit and other large Ameri-
can cities are afflicted with the
same housing evile that Liverpool
legislated against In 1884, said
Charles b. Ball. for the past 10
years chief sanitary inspector of the
department of health OF Chicago, In
the Hotel Cadillac. Thursday morn
ing.
Mr.. Ball was invited to Detroit
by the Detroit Public Health league.
and gave an illustrated lecture
on Homes Of today and citizens OF
tomorrow" In the Detroit Museum
Of Art. Thursday evening.
The Chicago expert submitted his
interviewer to an interview.
What do you make In DetroitT
he asked.
He was given a list of the most
important products of the city's in
dustries. Still he was unsatisfied.
What kind of mep do you
maker" he asked finally. That's
what I'd like to know. That's the
side I'm interested In. What sort
Of housing conditions have you that
are conducive to the making of men
and women?
1T has been proven conclusively
that the one-room house doesn't
produce the same kind Of men ano
women that the four-room house
does. Look here"
Mr.. Ball seized a pile of cards.
and ran through them. Here" he
said, and held out card containing
statistics regarding Berlin, where
one-room houses are occupied by
$4,000 people, whose death rate Is
l63 per 1000, while the death rate
of the $4,000 people living in four
room houses, or larger, is only ga.
81 can give you Chicago statistics
on the same head" ~he continued.
"In the Seventeenth ward. where
the population is LOT per acre. the
death rate of children under one
year Is 37.S. In the Third ward.
where the population is 49.5 per
4 the rate Ouiy 90.
Some day In the near future we
hope to secure an amendment to the
Illinois constitution that will give
us power to enact the housing reg
ulations that are needed The trou-
| BILE with us Is that man building
a dwelling on the prairie, 10 miles
out, is likely to put up the same sort
of building that Is being built on
Halstead-st., In the congested dis
trict. Now In Germany, many cities
have zone system. Where dwell
ings are already crowded together.
they can't do very much; but for
the district beyond this zone, they
can legislate to prevent the build
ing OF house within a certain num-
Der of feet OF the adjoining house.
and for the next district they can
establish a still larger air-space.
Some such system might be adopt
ed by our cities. IL they could get
tie proper constitutional authority.
in Chicago, In the dwellings
built since 1902. for 10000 people.
t.-ere are only 3S5 apartments for
janitors underground. The base
ment apartment is an unmitigated
evil. There ien proper circula-
ton OF air In room where the win
dows are near the ceiling. We used
to consider that janitors were o
class that didn't need much consid-
erhtion. We provided that other
people must have rooms eight feet.
six inches high. but we said that
Easements for janitors need be only
eight feet high. as II a janitor wasn't
quite as good as some other person
'Tn the most congested district OF
New York. II all the people living
in the block should attempt to stand
on the street I'm front OF their
homes, there wouldn't be room for
them. In certain blocks there are
$500 people in the dwellings on
both sides OF the street, and there
isn't standing room for 1000 people
in the street itself.
Detroit IL to be congratulated on
having three housing bodies-the
Detroit Public Health league. the
housing reform committee of the
Twentieth Century club, and the
Detroit Housing association. When
a city has so many bodies to look
after housing conditions. II is sig.
nihcant Of an improved public out.
look
Mr., Ball suggested as program
for housing advance in Detroit Q)
a permanent society with a paid Of
fetal constantly on the job; CD a
census OF tenement conditions; CD
a consistent program az encour-
agement Of the oficial agencies OF