Year: 1879




The Rev. DIR. Il. II. Newton presided at the meeting
held at the Anthon Memorial Church, Forty-eighth
street and Sixth avenue. There large gathering
of ladies and gentlemen to listen to the ad-
dresses. DR.. Newton in calling attention to the
cause of the meeting. described at length
the terrible condition of the tenement houses
throughout the city and read extracts descriptive
of the average building of this character. One six
story structure contained 92 persons, of whom 10
We're males, - females and 81 children. In
another had been found 1S2 persons, of
whom l22 were males, 81 females and 33
children. This discouraging manner of life
saps the health and the morals Of the people and
fosters vice and crime. 1t is the duty of the Chris
tian community to consider the gravity of this ques
ton. There should be earnest effort made to i'm
prove these structures and to better the con-
diiion of the thousands who live in them
Other large cities have grappled with the evil and
done much toward an improvement Better houses
may be made Possibly the rapid transit travel may
draw off to the country many who do not live i'll this
way. Possibly the churches may build large houses
to accommodate the poor in their districts, and in
this and other ways the philanthropic purposes
in view by the Christian community be brought
about


OTHER SPEECHES.


DR.. Stephen Smith, formerly of the Board Of
Health of New York. next addressed the large gath
ering. lie said that the tenement house system is
disease OF many complications, and ii required a
peculiar treatment The Legislature the municipal
government, the Board Of Health, the men of
wealth, the railroads, the wealthy corporations and
the Christian people all do their share toward
the eAd in view Superior, however, to these agencies
was the WORK that woman can do, both in individ
ual and organized capacity. One-halt the deaths of
the city Of children under five years Of age.
Since 1872 the deaths in New York have been 80 6l7
OF whom ld.lss were under five years. The NOR
tally is not the sum total of the damage. Where
there is one death there seyenty-iive of
sickness. No alarm seems to be caused by the great
number of children that annually die in our
midst The indifference long manifested in this
particular is not very crediable This waste of life
is preventabe. Foul air diseases kill oae-half the
children. The spring and summer months mark the
deaths of twothrds Of the children July and August
are the most fatal months. one-half the entire
number dying at this period OF the year. The heat,
bad food and filth agencies that bring about the
great mortality Of the young. On the floors,
on the walls, in the beds and in the clothes
of the poor in tenement houses the
germs OF disease. Vermin abound every
whore. Some mey be harmless but many are
poisonous. The vegetables they buy stale the
meat they procure unwholesome and neither
properly cooked. The children never bathe, and
they never can be found in our parks. Ii the poor
children could be taken to Central Park two
three times week during the pleasant
months a great good would be accomplished:
carboc acid will cleanse dirty walls the floors can
be dry scrubbed, food can be properly cooked
and ventilation made better The Board of
Health can give relief in some cases. but the
domestic relations of home beyond its power
to improve This alone be done by earnest effort
on the part Of Christian women. The field is
vast There might be Central Ladies' Sanitary AS
sociation with branches in every church in the city,
Each church might have its dstAct
to look after and there might be a
sanitary Sunday regularly set apart when
discourses bearing the work demanded could be
made and collections taken for it's promotion. The
made in aid of the hospitals, has been
found to work admirably. Regular visits should
be made to all the houses in each district.
The people should be educated in the matter of
ventilation, how lime and carbolc acid can be used
to dry-scrub hoors to wash bedcothes properly
how to select and cook food and how and when to
bathe children. Mothers should be made to know
parks with their little ones is imperative


THE QUESTION MORALITY.


Mr.. Dorman Il. Eaton referred at length to the
question of morality the subject presented. A
Christian community had right to turn deaf
and Indifferent to the vice and decentralization
which the results of the present tenement
house system. The spectacle of fifty or
to meet this question of practical life q
great step in the right direction. Life in tenement
house is not consistent with purity to the extent
which Christian community demands. There can
be but little privacy and delcacy in house
25 by 100 feet in which hundred
men, women and children live Such existence
is fatal to all the elements OF refinement. Crime
known in other portions OF the city. Grog shops
are numerous, and the men and boys visit them be-
cause their homes not attractive No attack on
property is Intended in this movement II New York
cannot be made habtable it ought not to grow any
larger. The officers of the Board of Health should be
strongly supported and encouraged. Political in
trgue in the interests of rich and graspng landlords
should be looked after.


The Rev. John Cotton Smith and others also made
m addrpsses.