The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-03-23

Sunshine. 141 Houston st.; Pales-
tine, Clinton st. near Delaney St;
Apollo Clinton and Delaney Sts.:
18th st. Playhouse. East 14th St..
between Second and Third AYES;
Second Avenue Theatre, and many
others.
Landlord Leads Thugs
The two buildings are at present
occupied by five families and four
stores. When the strike was called
on Wednesday, a committee Of
three, composed of two tenants and
a representative of the local Unem-
pIoyed Council, went to the land
lords Offices at 1860 Broadway, but
they were refused admittance.
On the same evening, thugs hired
by the landlord were sent to the
two houses to teTorize the striking
tenants, who point out that the
wooden stairs leave them unpro-
tected against fire. which could
sweep from basement to roof within
few minutes. The tenants demand
plumbing repairs. new painting. eli
mination of dangerous fire hazards.
and a Is per cent reduction in rents.
In a letter sent to the Daily
Worker, Mrs. Evelyn Hamilton. sec
rotary of the striking tenants at
221 E. 9Th st.. declares that lin
view of the many recent fires in
old-law tenements, we have organ
lied to force the landlord to fire.
proof the house
List Fire Hazards
The building Is an oid-law FIVE
story wood frame one-only the
outer walls are brick. The back
fire-escape has a ladder instead of
stairs. The chinneys are clogged
and otherwise out Of repair. The
stairs are wooden. There are no
bells to warn tenants of fire If seen
from outside the house. The street
door is kept locked at night. The
backyard has no exit to the street
except through the house.
The tenement at 40 z. It'll ST.
which recently burned and took the
lives Of eight people is almost di-
rectly behind this building. More
over, last year there was discovered
in the cellar a fire which might
have taken the lives of many Of
the tenants. This fire was caused
by seven cans Of gasoline and kero-
sene connected by ropes of inf1am-
mable materials, and there were
candles lighted on top Of two Of
the cans. There was tar on the
floor Of the cellar and a heap of
it on some rubbish. Fortunately
the fire was discovered in time. 1t
is understood that the house car
ries insurance to a greater amount
than its last purchase price.
The demands we make of our
landlord, Mr. Abraham Goldberg of
ISL Gerard Ave, the Bronx, are
that he:
"1) Fireproof the stairs.
"t2) FireproOf the chimneys.
"(3l Replace the fire-escape lad =
ders by stairs.
90 Install bells in the veSti-
bule to ring in each apartment, 50
the tenants may be warned Of
Gre. A buzZer TO open street door
at night would allow firemen to
get in without breaking in the
deer.
"(5) Make an emergency exit
from backyard to street.
"(6) Test fire. escapes for their
weight bearing capacity.
"D Come and deal with us.
SO far, the landlord has been in
vited to the only two tenant meet
ings, neither of which he has at
tended, He treats with contempt
our invitations to these meetings
He says he will make repairs only
when the city forces him to.
"The house has a militant or
ganization. The tenants have de-
cided not only to go on rent strike
but to picket the building and to
place rent-strike placards in the
front windows. We are distributing
leaflets to all nearby tenements
calling Joint meeting to take place
Thursday night at O'Clock in front
of 221 E. 9Th St"
Three tenants in this house
were yesterday served with sum
monsss TO appear in Magistrates
Court, at Second Ave. and Second
ST., at 10 q, m. today. They are
charged with interfering with
and obstructing the complainant
in the collection of rentals