Evening star., 1949-06-24

New Home After Mas!
Apartment Eviction
| A mass eviction that took ever
the judge who ordered it by sur
prise had 20 families looking fol
new homes today.
! Victims of a rent dispute be.
tween the landlord and a sub
landlord. the families were ousteo
by United States marshals yester.
day from a two-and-a-half-Story
building at 62l Rhode Island ave.
nue. NV.
The tan brick building houses
80 units. one and two rooms ir
size, running of a narrow centra
hall on both floors, The room:
are arranged for housekeeping ant
the residents considered 1t ar
apartment house rather than I
rooming house.
The eviction was obtained BY
| the owner of the property. Leof
Enterprise Corp. Inc. because o.
$278.28 in back rent owed by the
lessee of the building. Solomon
Mcdowell.
Municipal Court Judge Georg,
D. Nelson. who granted the eyic.
tion judgment about two week!
ago. said he had no knowledge
however. that some 40 subtenant.
were housed there. 1t wasn't
brought out in court hearings or
the eviction suit. he said.
sympathy Is With Tenants"
My sympathy is all with the
tenants" Judge Nelson said. But
he added there is nothing he can
do about 1t now.
Possessions OF the ousted ten
ants stretched. fer a block along
Rhode Island avenue yesterday
afternoon as the Salvation Army
and other welfare agencies hast
lily stepped in to help them fino
temporary shelter.
BY late last night all had
found sleeping quarters with
friends or relatives, according to
Salvation Army officials, who took
furniture Of five of the families
into one of their warehouses for
storage. Earlier. the organization
had offered to take care Of 10 oil
the men and three mothers and
their children.
Extra marshals had TO be sum-
moned to preserve order when
some of the tenants showed sign,
of unwillingnes sto leave late ir
the day. Maj. George Ribble OF
the Salvation Army. reported.
No Notice Of Eviction.
Several tenants complained they
had been given no notice of the
eviction. They said they had made
efforts to pay their rent to Mr.
Mcdowell, but that he had refused
to accept it or could not be located
Mr.. Mcdowell. who occupied q
room in the building. was roI
found by reporters or Salvation
Army officials yesterday.
Mrs. Daisy Byrd. who said she
has lived in the building II years
said her first notice OF the eviction
came when the movers walked In
as she was cooking breakfast and
started carrying out her furniture
Land. 1t just makes me sick. ]
have no idea where me and my
three children viii 60" she de-
clared.
At 5 pm. Mrs. Connie Arnold
arrived home from work and found
her things in confused piles on
the sidewalk. She had had tele-
phone call to come home earlier.
but couldn't get away. she said.
TIVE Families on Relief.
Several tenants complained the
movers kicked open their doors
without knocking and one man
said his radio was smashed. Pleas
addressed to the marshals met the
reply that they were only carrying
out orders and knew, nothing
about the situation. the tenants
said. Two Of the families are on
relief. Mai. Ribole said. All are
colored.
IL was q phone, call by Mrs
Byrd to the Red Cross that eventu-
ally brought aid. Referred 10 the
Legal Aid Bureau. a United Com
munity Services agency. the plea
then went to Miss Dorothy Wilk-
ins, welfare worker NJ Judge Nell
sons court. and finally 70 the
Salvation Army.
N HM~