Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-08-17
Ho,p sing In St. Louis.
By Frederic J. Haskin.


vacant Fots and it is expected that a
hundred more Will he ready LOT ocoui'anes
by the end of this year. -
st. Louis is a great home-city and It's
citizehs hre extremely proud OF TINS iact'
ST Louis may not be beautiful and IT may
MOI be Interesting. they are fond OF telling
YOU. but as home-city It rs SHINING
example Thus, you can see no" wy
scarcity of houses. which has been de-
nlorcd hut otherwise ignored by other
communities. would stir St. Louis more
than an, other calamity.
The 81. Louis Home and Housing Asso-
citation Was the result of this agitation
This is a two-million-dolla corporation,
s,,nnorteH by the Chamber of Commerce
and the CITY Commercial Club, ior the
purpose bf building cheap and comiortaple
homes in various sections OF the city ana
country. wherever the need appears
greatest. .ho
1t was originally intended tnaV 'uO
houses wbuld be for the benefit of INDUS
trial workers. the manufacturers sub
scrihinp 10 the fund deciding that, II
would be more practical to club toecther
and build in one group instead OF buiid-
ing in separate groups iof theA
plants.
ykoRKERS DO NOT BUY
As it hds turned out. however tlie We
oarners III st. Louis have not made the
sGabtpst attempt to take advantage OF the
bos,ses so]far provided In spite OF the
fact tho, they are undoubtedly bergans,
atotbo nrJscnt cost of building materials
ond in sniEe of the fact that the working
mon is supposed to be rolling in wealth
tboso dayI. there has been a surprising
iaclI of rrsbonse from the working classes
II s,ems IEcreditable, but the only way TO
oxnlain il is that the working classes
cannot afford to buy the house.
Wage q brriers have only slil'iil o. Ill.,, :,
of capital hnd small wages TO invest IN
roaI rstate'' explained Mr.. Nelson Cum
i;ff ,bo s. Iouisan, who has been placed
in charge III the Home and Housing Asso-
49,, 9loIEhov us,,d 10 buy two-thousand-
JolIar bou1as having SiOO cash and the
balance ovd q long period of years. Now,
with tho cbst of building materials 24O
nor cont bidhcr than il was before the war
: house Which would have cost two
thousand Holars in 1914 costs today
annroximatelv $1,000 or $1,000. This Is
hnrond The means of the average working
man ,a
But the houses are IN great deInanI 1li
anonq tho salaried people the so-cailed
y1;ddIo clasl Of s.. IoIis-who are ANXIOUS
~ vacate flats that have undergone 500
nor cont incEease in rent. For them houses
are a very good proposition
He drew some photographs from the
drawer al his desk They showed the
various tyres OF houses unoeI JoiAs., MI N
tion, most of them coIhioi itaoN'' soii~'
looking brJ Fix domiciles, with attratlvc
fecades ar IA neat back yards extending
~ an elley We have seen many more
at+Tactive-l6oking houses for eight and
T;ne tbomsahd dollars, but that was IN the
East, beford the war
ST. hoUIs LIKES BRICK.
st. Louis not only loves homes out y
loves brick homes, and il has some ngld
buildinc restrictions against the use OF
fraToa tile dr. stucco. OF course, this Is
the canter bf the brick industry, and It
i orsv Ioval 20 keep.the homo fires burn
ing ANY tyav. the houses OF the st.
ToYI;s HoIEinC Association have brick
walls and cbntain five or six rooms. with
hardwood hoors; tile bathroom floors;
modem toilet .and plumbing Fl xtures
and the ubst improved kitchen equip
mont THEW are also located on improved
streets 50 that all costs of improvements
are covered in the purchase price Of the
houses and |do not crop up unexpectedly
later in the form OF special taxes.
The selling price of the houses ranges
from g. 5OO|t to SIS. 900. These prices have
heen made rbossible. according 10 the asso-
citation, only by instltutlng the most rigid
economies In the buving Of land and IN
building. Whenever possible, land was
bought on streets which had been i'm
moved hefoEe the war, for which the asso-
citation Maid S25 a front foot. Building
materials ha I've been bought in huge guam
titles and al cash. so as to take advantage
of all DossiHle discounts. While the asso-
ciation acte as a general contractor and
s,,blefs mos of the items Of construction,
II handles II own carpenter work, thereby
effecting a saving of % per cent on the
lowest contact price.
One of the most interesting features OF
this housinf enterprise is the scheme Of
payment. This calls Tor lo per cent cash
on the price OF the house, ana the palance
in 10 or IL V ears. On the ten-year plan the
purchaser D avs s11.35 per year on every
thousand of the selling price, after the 10
per cent cas- b payment has been deducted.
On the twdlve-year plan, he pays .95
ner thousau id of debt. The association
will not per nit a man TO invest more than
q per ent df his monthly income in one
of their holEses- a feature OF the trans
action whid ID is clearly specified in the
deed.
eve fgll1 1e that man can easily spare
% per cent of his income for rent" saws
MIR. Cunliff land 10 per cent for a good
investment If he spends more than this
on home, the payments are apt to prove
a strain, al hd he is likely ultimately to
prove q bad risk"
UNIo9 ~ FORM OF INSURANCE.
Included in the selling price of the house
is a uniuud insurance feature, whereby
the purchab ber is insured, on a group in
surance plah, Tor the exact amount OF hls
indebtedness to the association during the
ten or TIVE I've yes period Of payments.
Thus, if be purchaser should die or
become tbtally disabled during this
period, the insurance company assumes
his indebte edness, Immediately pays it off,
and the property becomes part Of the
deceased or disabled ones estate. Under
these eirc instances, as the association
points out with dignity, it viii never be
forced TO the distateful task of foreclosing
on widows mortage.
While the chief object Of the St Louis