The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1944-04-13
Civ Council ASSailS
Faulty Home Inspections

annually to guarantee effective
sanitary inspection. AS an ex Of
ficio member of the Board Of
Health he pledged his efforts to
see that effective action results.
Mr.. Cameron explained that he
had not been appraised of the lack
of sanitary conditions here until
he participated IN the housing
tours.
Goldstein's alley, considered by
the police department as one of
the most serious crime spots in
the city, was described by one
council member as 1.-The worst
place I have ever seen" and was
termed "a nest of vice and cor
ruption." Under recommendation
of City Building Inspector Gilbert
F. Morton, and with the approval
of other city officials, all houses
beyond repair and in a state of
dilapidation on the street will be
leveled.
The alley runs east from 816
North Third street to Fourth
street. and lies between Bladen|
and Brunswick streets. The ma
jority of the Negro dwellings are|
said to be owned by one person.
A complete list of the. premises
ordered to be demolished includes:
8 and 10 South Second; IL South
Second, II South Second, 103 South
Second. 905 South econd, 406 Will
lard, Ala Red Cross, 706 IL North
Fourth, I'll North Fourth, 713 North
Fourth, 1875 North Fourth, 312-324
Goldstein's alley, 319-331 Gold
STEMS alley. BIG North Third, and
918 North Third. Condemned for
repair were the buildings at 113
South Second and 815, North Fourth.
The mayors letter to DR.. Elliot
protesting the evidences of insani-
tation, and under date of April II,
follows:
Il have had occasion recently to
60 out on two inspection trips for
the purpose of viewing and con-
demning property in Wilmington
that the committee considered I'M
safe for human habitation. I found
conditions very bad at numerous
places. From a sanitation stand
point I think the conditions reflect
badly on our health department.
"On our first trip we found sew
ers emptying on the ground. Con-
ditions in backwards were terrible
ard l think criminal. This morn
ing we happened to have Gold
STEMS Alley on our list. When we
went into the alley the stencil al
most took our bres tbs. The toilet
accommodation in this area were
inadequate and I think should have
been condemned a long time age
by the health department. l had
Mr.. Nichols write you letter aft.
err our first inspection and the
answer was not satisfactory. The
City of Wilmington is contributing
a large amount of money to health
work and sanitary inspection and
from my observations on two trips,
inspecting about twenty pieces OF
property, the average was bad from
a sanitary standpoint.
II am writing this letter in ad-
vance of our next Board of Health
meeting as l intend to complain
at that meeting concerning the I'm
sanitary conditions l found on these
inspection trips. AS member of
the Board of Health l think a
better job could be done even
though conditions under which all
public works are being administer
ed are hard. If there is a lack
of ordinances that would keep our
health department from requiring
people to clean their premises then
we should put such machinery in
force at once. 1 don't see how we
can nave healthy city with con-
ditions existing such as I saw this
morning"