Evening star., 1925-01-14

| witnesses appearing last night was
| that rents have been advanced great
| ly in recent months-since the court
| decision which practically made the
| Rent Commission imperative; that
! service in several apartment houses
had deteriorated greatly, particularly
in Clifton Terrace and in the Plaza.
Plea for CoIored Tenants.
| An especial plea to the joint COM
mittee was made on behalf Of the
| colored tenants of the District, par
| ticularly those of the poorer class, by
Rev. John Milton Waldron and Rev.
c. A. Devaughn. They described the
| conditions of the alley dwellings in
the District In which so many colored
people live, and declared that huge
| increases in the rents for these di-
lapidated buildings recently had been
demanded by the owners.
The first witness last night was
| Mrs. Margaret A. Hampton of the
Vancouver Apartment, 1920 K street,
owned by c. c. Maher. Mrs. Hampton
| complained of lack of heat. She made
no protest against the rent. For the
| last six weeks. she said, she had been
so i'll and uncomfortable that she
| scarcely had been able to speak She
is employed in the Children's Bureau
of the Labor Department. and said
| that such conditions made it difficult
Tor Government employees to work ef-
| iciently.
What excuse did the landlord give
for not providing heat?" asked Sen
ator Jones.
Enough to make me dizzy" re-
piled Mrs. Hampton. Lack of proper
coal, engine out of order, etc"
Rent Was Doubled.
Mrs. c. v. Hyde, 519 Stanton place
6a6 no
she had been paying for her apartment
had been increased since 1917 from
S41.50 to SIS. The Rent Commission had
fixed the rent of the apartment at $40.
She said that she refused to pay more
than $40. and that when January l
came around she had been notified the
rent was sS5 and she received an eyic-
tion notice.
Mrs. Hyde said that she was a Gov
ernment clerk at $3.50 a month; that
she has four children and a sister, who
lives with her and keeps house. One
OF her sons has recently become a mes
senger at $50 a month. Her apartment.
she said, contained six rooms and bath
She said that she had tried to find
another place. but everywhere ran from
500 to $3.50 for similar space
Mrs. Margaret H. Worreu Of East
Clifton Terrace, employed as an attor-
ney In the Interior Department, told the
committee that the rent for her apart
ment before the war had been $3.50,
had been raised to S4S, and since Maui
rice Baskin took over the apartment,
had been further raised to s65. She
had refused to pay the increase and had
been served with a notice of eviction.
She had two rooms, kitchen and bath
Mrs. Worrell testified that she had been
unable to find any other place at a rea-
sonable rental. She told the committee
or cases of other tenants who are being
compelled to pay high rents.
Tells of Crowding..
Mr.. Blanton protested that this was
mere hearsay testimony Mrs. Wor-
rell insisted that Government clerks
are afraid to say anything. She said
that in some cases conditions are so
bad that five or six girls are living
together.
Senator Jones asked where i've or
six girls were living together in a
room.
II can't tell you offhand.' replied
Mrs. Worrell She said she would
supply the Information.
Another tenant of East Clifton Ter
race, Miss NJ b. Nails, then took the
stand. She testified that the rent on
her apartment, which had been $3.50
in 1915, had now been raised to s55,
| an increase of 100 per cent. She con-
| tinued to send the rent she had been
| paying of $40 month and received
an eviction notice along with a let
| ter saying that her money would be
| held in trust until she got out. She
| told the committee that the service,
which had been very good when Mr..
| Wardman owned the apartment, now
| was terrible; that hot water was
| obtainable only once day, and that
| mail and packages for tenants were
| thrown in helter-skelter.
! She testified she was employed in
| department store.
What is your salary?' asked Mr.
| Blanton.
| Salary Is "Nobody's Business"
I "I think that is nobody's business
| but my own" replied Miss Nails.
Senator Ball and representative
Hammer expressed the opinion that
| the witness did not have to answer
| this question if she did not wish to
do so.
"She comes here voluntarily, and IL
! she wants her testimony taken seri-
| ously she should answer pertinent
questions" said Mr.. Blanton.
DO you own an automobile?" asked
Mr.. Blanton.
NO, 1 can't afford one" said Miss
Nails.
A moment later Mr.. Blanton asked
Miss Nails what department store she
| worked in. She declined to answer
| and1eft the stand.
| DIR. u. w. Schwartz of the Plaza
Apartment, at Washington Circle, en-
ployed in the Bureau of Chemistry at
$4,000 a year, told the committee that
| his apartment rented for $40 before
| the war and now $50 was being de-
| manded. 1t contains three large
rooms, d small breakfast room and
! Kitchen. The service, he declared was
very poor and the place was cold at
Ncss--sfcX