Evening star., 1930-06-04

from the street. A sentinel posted at
the entrance can give warning of the
coming of a policeman in plenty of
time.
The Southwest alley situation has i'm
proved since the, war and, according to
Capt. Cornwell of the fourth precinct,
eventually it may solve itself That is,
If left alone, the houses will deteriorate
until they become uninhabitable, the
tenants will be forced out and more
space will be taken up with store
houses and garages. But this will take
long time. Most of the people will
not move until they have to- Owners of
the buildings. in the face of legislative
uncertainty. will not spend money i'm
proving them.
Average Is Persons to House.
The colored population has sup
planted the white in all the Southwest
alleys but one, Wonder court, bounded
by B, G, South Capitol and First street
Here there Is still a mixed population
which occasionally gives the police con-
siderable trouble. The largest of all is
Dixon's court, between Third, Four-and-
a-Half, H and streets, which had "A
inhabited houses at the latest count
Clarks alley, at Four-and-a Half, Sixth,
M and N streets, also has a. houses
average population of 16 to house
There are some old colc-ed families
held to the alleys by tradition. There
are more who have gone into these
hidden villages to get out of sight. One
can live for a long time in the Inner
city" without a name or an address, so
long as he does nothing to attract at
tention.
One of the worst alleys in Washing
ton has been almost completely eradi-
cated-Willow Tree alley, between
Third, Four-and-a-Half, B and c
streets, where the old houses have been
torn down and a playground installed
for the neighborhood children. But
two or three alley houses still remain.
Willow Tree alley and Willow Tree
playground illustrate the disappoint-
ment that often follows partial or half
hearted efforts to reform. 1t was here
that Jacob RiiS, the author OF How the
other Half Lives" and friend Of PreSi-
dent Roosevelt, made a discovery that
later enlivened a Senate hearing. He
was describing the novels he had visited.
One had seemed to him particularly
bad. Its occupants were riddled with
disease and one far gone with tubercu-
losis.
In that room," said Mr.. Riis, ct saw
the towels of the Senate barber shop
drying" Congress at once decreed that
those novels should go and a playground
cerned about its laundry and only
secondarily about recreation, Congress
provided the new playground without a
street frontage. So a hidden play
ground took the place of hidden alley
| community. Willow Tree playground
| has achieved a national reputation as
! an outstanding illustration that play
grounds also should be open to public
view
Week Ends Bring Excitement.
The alleys of Southwest Washington
are peaceful enough in the daytime
the only danger being from the SOP
| buckets which tenants are accustomed
to empty from the chamber windows
without much regard for any one pass
ing below, so long as it isn't police
man. But the restlessneBs reaches It's
height evenings and on Sundays. Boot
Logging is reported frequently, and there
are many fights.
Capt. Cornwell insists that the alley
situation today cannot be compared
with what it used to be when ne was
/ a patrolman in the same section on an
alley beat. Only the populous alleys
give trouble Those which have been
reduced to two or three houses are
fairly peaceable. But he stresses the
desirability of getting the folks "out on
the street." with a more sanitary en-
vironment, where their behavior can be
watched. And a recent survey showed
that the rent OF the street houses gen.
orally is only from so cents to a dollar
a room a month higher than that o.
the alley novels. But folks don't con-
gregate In the alleys necessarily be-
cause the rent is cheap. The deeper
reasons why they are there will keer
them there until something Is done tC