The Wilmington morning star., 1940-07-28

;ne+a1,ed electric lighting, as
ou % g ner cent, are almost one
tn;rd If al tenant occupied UNITS.
Over 81 per cent of all unit rea0 ~
for less than S. a montn' anu a.
most g. per cent of those rentlng
fnr u. from S. to $40 a month, r not
IL. for electricity. The $lo TO
SIS rent group, which contains the
greatest number of units IN ule
eitv. reports 27.7 per cent or over
eno fourth of it's number, without
electric lighting. In all, ~ per cent
81 +hose dwellings which rent Tor
less than SIS a month 40 not nave
installed lighting.
.aThree hundred and fifty, or 81
nor cent of all dwelling units lack
Installed heating of any kind only
n 2 percent have installed 1urnace
heatine equipment, and the great
nst n,,mber of units, $3.50, or SOL
n rs cent of the city's total, rely
N .other Installer heating faclh-
t;as such as freplaces, oil burn
ers. wood and coal stoves etc;
While less than n percent OF all
dwellings, renting under $2O a
month have furance heat installed,
the proportion of dwellings, o.
eo,,inned rises tremendously with
each successfully higher rent
oro,1n. It is therefore likely, on the
basis of evidence of other lacks IN
adequate housing among those
same low rent groups that climate
is not the only factor responsible
for the absence of modern hea1lng
equipment
Half Lack Plumbing
1.-THE presence of plumbing facl-
lilies is one of the most incontro-
vertihle standards of adequacy IN
housing. The fact that 48.5 percent,
or almost half of Wilmlngton's
dwellings, lack adequate sanitary
facilities represents a serious pro
blem in terms of the general well
fare of the city.
"Included in the 4,646 unit
which do not have a minimum o.
one private indoor toilet and
bath are 2,1O2 dwellings, or 2l.s
per cent of the total, which have
la toilet but no bath; GIT units,
or 9.6 per cent, which share tolle'
facilities; 1873 units, or IA per cent
which have running water but &c
not extend that utility for tolle1
and bathing purposes, and l,49z
: units, or 1876 per cent, which have
neither running water nor private
: indoor toilets and baths.
THE distribution of sanitary ia
>. c%ilities by occupancy reveals ina
among owners 26.1 percent repor
, less than the minimum standards
while among tenants 58.4 per cent
are inadequately equipped. a
other factors have to be dealt witt
: when considering the high lncld
ence of inadequate facilities is at
tested by the fact that over nal
of the plumbing inadequacies II
Wilmington (56.2 percent) occur Il
, units which are either in need O.
major repairs or unfit for use.
5 GAS with other undesirable as
poets of housing, the lack of ade
: quate sanitary facilities is prepon
derant among the ~low-renting units
S Thus, over SO percent of tn o
t dwellings which u under s.
month are ill-equipped, 95.5 per
S cent of those renting between 5
and $40, and 65.8 percent of thos
r renting between $40 and SIS
n month are similaly without prope
6 facilities. Here again, as rent va
r ues rise, the incidence of dwelling
f inadequately equipped decline
sharply
t Race Distribution
{ At the time plans for erectio
of white and colored loW-rent hous
ing projects in Wilmington Wer
announced by HACOW there wa
some question as to why the pro!
ect for negroes was larger tina:
). that for white people. The ansWe
is found in that section of tn
real property survey report dea
t ing with race distribution.
: "Although the proportion of owr
| ership among negroes compare
: favorably with that among white.
: the report comments, 1.-The differ
I ence between the races in the de
gree of structural inadequacies, a
S well as other undesirable housin
e characteristics, is very marked fo
n both owners and tenants.
y "While for the city as a Who'll
) 31.7 per cent of all occupied unit
! are in the poor condition categol
J les, co., per cent of the negr
y dwellings fall into these groups, a
q ! compared with only 1879 per Ger
. of the white. Although the whit
occupancies in the city excee
:. those of negroes by 2,075 unit!
!, negro dwellings not only show
; greater proportion in poor repai
) than do the white, but they ais
) outnumber the white occupants Ii,
5 ing in such condition groups b
1903 units"
Figures cited by the report ind
1 cate a consistent difference in cor
dition between the race groups &c
both types of tenure.
I "While So per cent of white own
ers live in dwellings in poor cond
5 ton, 4O.6 per cent of the negro owl
q ers live under similar circun
stances. White tenants report 18.