Evening star., 1937-02-14
Alleys
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Continued From First Page)
air. Old-faced children. PeeIing
walls. Dismantled houses. Alleys
blocked by swinging grayish laundry,
mute tatterdemalion banners Of futile
living.
THEN the other side OF the picture.
Trim, outstanding little squares
flanked by cheerful white houses.
Neat, warm, clean living rooms, with
sound walls and sturdy floors. Cab
bage steaming succulently in a big
kettle and a smiling colored woman,
her baby pulling at her skirts, stand
ing in the doorway to answer final
question with the utter simplicity Of
deep emotion. How do you like your
new house," 1T sho' is heaven"
I'll try to make you see it as I
saw it.
First, then, we drove to the West
End - that section of Washington
that occupies the lower corner Of the
Northwest, struggling from George
town to the Potomac, in a district
fringing that area of Government
buildings that stretches westward from
the Mall.
1t is one of several alley communities
that lie hidden, bounded by the
squares of respectable streets, in the
very heart of the Capital 1t is an
intricately patterned network of tum-
bling shanties and moldy brick dwell
ings. It is inhabited, as the majority
of Washingtons alleys are inhabited,
by colored population. An occa-
sional inhabitant of the area, leaning
against sunny spot on garage wall
or aimlessly viewing the steps across
the way from his own front-d0or en-
trance, stared at us curiously or sui
lenly as we turned into his isolated
domain
The houses, built in jagged rows,
are low, two-storied dwellings. so mar
row that a very small window-sole
lighting for the front room-and the
entrance door completely occupy the
front wall Of each individual house.
Needless to say, there are no pre-
tensions to architecture. Imagine a
thin block, taller than wide, stood on
end, with the door and window cut
out of the front wall and two bat
tered wooden steps before the en-
trance and you have picture of the
typical dwelling.
~ ~,
sole window they were respondent dra-
peries, indeed, whipped to a mere
thin wEp by the elements that
through the years had beaten against
empty window panes and discolored
by these same hostile agents, aided
and abetted by the cooking opera
tions going on within to a uniform
leaden gray.
Back of each Of the houses was q
leaning clubhouse, the only plumbing
facilities the establishment afforded,
with the exception of an iron, evil
smelling sink in the dark kitchen.
Oil lamps were used in these dwellings
for purposes of illumination, and these
were set upon tables too makeshift to
merit description.
A T ONE end of one of the alleys was
collection of Junk that was as
astonishing as it was varied. Here, be-
side heaps Of old tires, tin cans, broken
bottles, automobile windshield frames
and all the clutter and trash of the
dump heap. stood two old carriages Of
a vintage that flourished in an era
that counted elegance in vehicles by
the amount of brasswork displayed
and size Of carriage lamps. Beside this
dump heap had been constructed a
small colony Of shacks, such as one
sometimes sees where hobo "squatters"
have taken over public lands for tenn
porary occupancy.
Negro men, gathered in groups,
stared at us as we turned the car
about in the narrow alley and be-
tween row on row of these sorry
dwellings made our way to the open
highways Of the visible city.
I drew q deep breath of the fresh
air that blew in from the Potomac
and, in answer to my shocked COM
ment, Mr.. Ihlder commented: There
is nothing new in slums nor slum
tenements. The idea started in Rome
centuries ago, when q member of
Caesars triumvirate conceived the
idea of building rows of dwellings, five
and six stories high, to house the
peasantry that had f1ocked into Rome
when they were no longer able to
make a living in the fields, due to
the importations from Africa, where
slave labor was so much cheaper-as
cheap, in fact, as human life. These
Roman apartments were, in q short
time, the first slum tenementS, as
they became overcrowded and made
quate in their facilities to care for
great numbers of families living in
congested areas.
France got the idea from ancient
Rome, and Edinburgh, in turn. inter-
ested because Of the marriage of Mary
Queen of Scots to Frenchman, and
observant Of French progress, trans
ported the idea to Scotland, building
what were known as 'landes'-com-
munity dwellings II stores high. It
was but q short while before they
became slums in the true sense Of
that word.
England never had need Of such
structures, as they didn't have the
same problems Of population. The