Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1917-12-29
Honolulu, Familiar aud Unknown
NO. THROUGH THE TENEMENTs

thlS building which has been under
The suspicion OF social workers and
others for alleged sheltering OF vice
are now al least four large families
fresh from the plantations The four
families found on this trip included
l. children. OF whom there appeared
10 be five girls between 10 and l..
They are living among obviously
vicious people. The house is visited
regularly by men. the night vista,
tons being suggestive that it is used
tor immoral purposes:
All OF the plantation families were
Spanish and all hoped t get to the
coast but were without passage
tickets.
Buckle Lane, About a dozen fam
lilies have recently come from the plan
tations to various cottages and tene-
ments in this immediate vicinity.
Mostly Spanish. Some Portuguese
and Porto RiCans. Many single Fill
pinos Here were found 10 people in
three small rooms. The cottages are
clean and fairly comfortable but the
children are very close to vicious
neighborh- DDS and influences and this
section is haunted by men Of evil de-
signs.
Camp No. 2. Vineyard street: This
well-known place contains some Of
the worst instances OF overcrowding
as we'll as some of the most danger.
Gus vice. The buildings are in very
bad condition, veritable firetraps, and
1t appears that the sanitary code reg.
n
lanalS is violated with impunity, as
many instances were found here and
elsewhere
In this building the Filipinos have
hiVed in the looseSt fashion. One room
houses five Filipino men and two
women; another had seven Filipino
men and one woman, though they de-
clared the woman did not live there
regularly.
Many children live in this block;
many others nearby. The whole
neighborhood shows the congestion
Of population, with the usual situation
Of families from the plantations, with
their children exposed to evil associa.
ticns.
Turning to the left, up Nuuanu
stream, were found several tenements
and cottages where the same condi-
tons Of overcrowding exists, though
no new families have moved in, so
far as could be learned. In one of
these tenements were half a dozen
Filipino women who, we were in.
formed, are prostitutes.
All of these places were visited in
the day time, when a large part of
the tenants are absent. At night the
overcrowding and the carousings are
even more apparent"
Sudden Influx from Plantations.
The acute situation now existing is
caused By the sudden influx of plan.
tation families and their concentra-
ton in tenements already crowded
They have been paid their bonus
money and have wild dreams of sud-
den wealth to be acquired elsewhere.
Ultimately most of these will go back
to the plantations. 1t is what will
happen to their children, especially to
the young girls, which is of special
concern to Honolulu.
Crowded into these filthy tenements,
forced by circumstances to live next
door to all manner of vice, night and
Cay seeing drunkenness and things
worse than drunkenness, the young
girls and boys are exposed to evil
which threat ms to engulf them, par.
ticularly when the fathers money
gives out and the families are in want.
Various agencies are talking of rem
edial steps. The AID club has commit
tees at work and has presented Ger.
tain suggesti' ms to the supervisors. At
best these suggestions will improve
but not eliminate conditions. So long
as these ramshackle old tenements are
allowed to exist there will be conges-
ton of population in them.
1t would be a godsend to Honolulu
it, without loss of life, another big
fire should destroy the worst of these
sreat buildings. That is, it would be
a godsend if our authorities would
thereafter prevent the erection of
more tenements to take the place of
those burned down.