Evening star., 1933-06-11
BY ARTHUR CAPPER.

gnittsd States Senator from Kansas .,.T. and
tee on the District Of Columbia.
- EvERAL weeks ago the Senate
District Committee held hear
ings on the bill to eliminate
~ alley dwellings in Washington.
Mrs. Gertrude H. Bowling, direc-
tor Of the Visiting Nurses Association,
appeared to give what information she
had about health conditions among the
alley people. The members of her as
sociation are probably in a better posi-
ton to know how these people are liv-
ing than any one else. Many of the
Inhabitants of the alleys are engaged
In one form or another of Illegal
activity, so that the appearance of
policeman or any one who looks to
them like "the law" is the signal for
some of them to disappear and for
others to hide, as best they can. their
occupations and conditions. But they
feel that the nurses come only to help
them.
So the visiting nurses have access
to their homes. In Shows court there
is child Ill with advanced tuberculosis.
Because of the darkness of the small
house the mother puts the child's cot
out into the alley for sunlight and air,
dIlQ OLllCI COlIiC dlf0 pay WioAA
the one on the bed. In Locust court
there are three families, totaling IA
people, living In one house. In another
family, whose members suffer from a
mental disorder, the Oldest child was
born in ST. Elizabeths Hospital some
OF the children are in the District
Training School, there Is a prostitute
living in the house, the mother is liv-
ing with man who Is not her husband,
and an 8-year-old girl is growing up
into what sort of citizen one can only
guess. In Southwest Washington there
is four-rocm house in which four
families are living. paying 50 week
rent for each room. The man in one
of the families is victim of advanced
tuberculosis. In one home a woman
has been forced to leave because of
crowded conditions, she is sleeping on
the floor at the house next door.
Death Rate High.
The death rate from tuberculosis
among the alley dwellers Is 208 per
loo, 900 persons, compared with So per
100000 persons outside of the alleys
Venereal and other contagious diseases
are rampant The numbers racket
fiourishes, as do bootlegging and pros
titution. The houses have no inside
sanitary arrangements, but are fur
nished only with outside water hy-
drants and toilet facilities Some of
them have dirt floors. In the two
story buildings, popular flrst-foor
plant provides for two rooms. one be-
hind the other. The room at the back
is the kitchen. but 1t frequently con-
tains bed and must serve as a Sleep
ing room, and through it the stairway
rises to the second floor.
Members of the Visiting Nurses As
sociation are familiar with poverty
stricken homes, of course, as IS per
cent of the cases they treat are among
the destitute They report that peo-
pie may live In ignorance and In entire
dependence on charity, and may still
keep, If not their self-respect, at least
their moral code, but that crowding
together, such as is found in our al
leys, where all privacy is lost. seems
to be the final factor which produces
breakdown of all morale.
At present there are In the District
of Columbia 1873 alleys with a popu-
lation OF 10000. mostly colored. If
these poor were the only ones who
suffer from the necessity to live in the
alleys, the situation would be serious
enough. But, Of course. that Is not
the case. for they 60 out to work all
over the city, as servants of various