The Washington herald., 1918-10-10
LANDLORDS AID
EPIDEMIC BY
REFUSING HEAT
May Be Compelled by D. c.
Authorities to Meet
Needs Of Tenants.
BAN PUBLIC MEETINGS
Commissioners Take Step
As Number of Deaths
Here Increases.

Landlords refusing to furnish
heat for their tenants are directly
contributing to the spread of the
influenza epidemic, District health
authorities declared yesterday.
AN average temperature of 6S
degrees Fahrenheit should be
maintained throughout the day."
DR.. w. Fowler, District health Of
hcer, stated. I'm cases where
members of the household are
either old or invaIids the average
should be raised to u degrees"
1t was intimated at the health
office yesterday afternoon that
landlords refusing to heed the
warning Of the authorities may be
forced to comply. Capt. Julius L.
Peyser, acting chief of the hous-
ing and health divisions of the
War Department, wrote to Com
missioner Brownlow asking that
some action be taken. He stated
that many people in the various
boarding-houses and apartments
throughout the city were acutely
suffering from lack of heat
"shnmeIess Pronteering.-
Shameless profiteer" was the term
applied to such landlords by Commits
sioner Brownlow.
Il cannot understand how even the
most hard-hearted and shameless
profiteer would take upon himself the
responsibility Of peyhaps sending sew
eral tenants to untimely graves by
refusing to furnish heat to save a
dollar or two on his coal bill"
Even the most parsimonious land
lord will not need more than the pub
lie warning conveyed through the
newspapers, Mr.. Brownlow believes,
to start his furnace fires and keep
them going so that the tenant may
have sufficient heat.
One case was reported to the health
authorities yesterday OF a landlord
who had refused to fire his furnace
even when requested to do so by ten
ants suffering from the disease. 1t
was stated that one hospital in the
city had neglected to heat the build
ings sufficiently during the last few
cold days.
Outdoor Meetings Forbidden.
An order forbidding the holding Of
public meetings, gatherings and rallies
of all kinds, both outdoor and indoor,
was issued by the Commissioners yes
terday. The order reads as follows:
Whereas. the epidemic of influenza
in the District OF Columbia continues
to spread, and. whereas, the Surgeon
General Of the United States Public
Health Service and the health ofioer
of the District of Columbia have ad-
vised the Commissioner of the Dis
trict of Columbia that public assem-
blages, both indoor and outdoor, con-
stitute a public menace at this time !;
therefore be It ordered by the Com
missioners of the District of Column
bia, that all public meetings, both in
door and outdoor, be discontinued
from and after IL o'clock. midnight,
Of this day, October 9. 1918, until fur
ther ordered by the Commissioned 4"
In referring to the order yesterday
afternoon. the following statement
was made at the office of the Com
missioners:
This order means that outdoor
meetings as well as indoor meet
ings must be discontinued. with re-
spect to churches 1t means that all
public services must be discon-
tinued. The church doors may be
kept open to admit persons desir-
ing to enter the churches for their
private devotions, but on no ac-
count must public services be held
or congregations be permitted to
gather. A public meeting which is
prohibited by this order is defined
to mean any assemblage of persons
indoors or outdoors who are gath
cred for any common or pre-ar-
ranged purpose. 1t does not, of
course, extend to the work of COM
mittees or other ordinary and nee
essary business functions which are
not public in their nature.
The issuance of this further or
der has been made necessary by
the continued spread of the epi-
demic. The Commissioners appre-
ciate heartily the cooperation that
has been given them by the people
in their efforts to lessen the effects
Of the epidemic and ask the further
co-opera tion Of every citizen in
carrying out the letter and the
spirit of this order"
~ Deaths In Day.