Year: 1872

= Haunts of the Hunted.


The Investigations into the condition OF the tene.
Ment houses in the city that were commenced on
Monday by the Assistant Health Inspectors and the
HERALD reporters were continued yesterday, when
the following houses among number OF others,
we're visited-


No. 10 Cherry street. 1t is good sample Of
that class OF dwellings in the lower portion Of
the city into which the poor are huddled.
There are two houses. one front and one rear, on
the ground originally intended for one dwelling and
yard, and two more unwhoesOme or dangerous
barracks could with difficulty be found In the city.
The rooms are crowded almost to suf0cation every
night with the poorest classes OF people In the
ward, and how they find air enough to breathe Is
one OF the mysteries Of the locality. Many
Of the families who rent apartments take In
dodgers, who pay from one to five cents for accom-
mediation, and they lie on the floors or on benches,
boxes or in any corner that may be left uninhab.
tied. The late arrivals into these two dens have
great difficulty in finding passage into the nte-
Yiors of the buildings, the Railways and corri-
doris are covered with people lying on the floors.
In rooms Nos. and s, In the front
house. the plaster has fallen from the walls
The landings and floors near these rooms are
worn into holes and are extremely dangerous.
The bansters are insecure, and have frequently
been the cause of accidents to children and old peo
pie who trusted to them for assistance in going up
or down the rckety stairs. The cellars in both
houses are filthy to degree, and the stencil from
the accumulated rubbish, dirt sweepings, ashes
and garbage heaped up in them per-
vades the entire structure. The open spaces
ct the side and rear of the rear house
are filed with piles of filth from the adjoining
houses, particularly from 800 Pearl street, and the
atmosphere Of the district is poisoned on every
side by


RorTING REFUSE


hung out Of the houses by the inhabitants. Num-
bers Of steps have fallen away from the stairs OF
the rear house, the plaster has dropped from the
walls, and general decay seems to have set in
upon the place.


The premises on the south side OF West Thirty
ninth street. known as g Abattoir place, are occu-
pied by three families, two Of whom take In
lodgers The nous. n ullAliuSiel wo0dei. Gt~rc-
ture, built upon the bulkhead line Of the river
verge ct the foot Of the street and close to dock
A more unhealthy situation, or one more dangerous
to life, could scarcely be discovered on the line
Of the water. There is constant food
ening in Its effect. The water that flows to and about
the house contains the sewer refuse OF the pipes
Of other and
0oThood This nth Is principally ofal thrown
this refuse is unbearable before It Is
place ls scarcely ever nee from some dangerous
nth, and only few minutes exposure to the heat
deals out death to human life most rapidly. The
surface and bed OF the river are always dirty and
ssn Ss usnes ns wSss sar is intensely sS 9s s foul
yapors that enclrcle them In addition to
these outside causes the house itself provides many
mi Of diaaQ IL
are far nom clean what house dirt Is not directly
In the rooms until the stencil from it becomes
bad that they tsS are Ht last Tos compelled n,sea
has beeS @ squenty reported ts' to the aunortes
end nom time to time efforts have been made BY
Of things for the benet OF the people but by some
means or other the old nastiness has been allowed
to return and the poor people at last have begun to
thing diiferent to the universal dirt they
are at present groanlng under. The great
and, although the most rigid inspections are being
constantly made by the Health Inspectors, these


TO vOMr FORTH THEIR FILTH,


20 the danger Of the lives Of hundreds eds Of people:
houses are in an apparently good condition when
they visited by the Health Inspectors, but It is
the erect OF these places upon the nnat
from this, however, and the surroundings Of the
district the house in question is not suitable for
human habitation, and 1t is to be hoped the Board
OF Health will order It's permanent vacation at the
next meeting: Another, pesthouse, in thorough
GUS Gus TO- to life s' and ''ne Health, 'UA ne objections
Character as in the S Others Being in better
locality and removed from the water the destruc-
tive elements the people complain Of here are o not
In the former house; but the stencil emitted from
the closet which seems to hang upon everything
house sse Is double tenement WHIT WITH cears
and every hole and corner in the place
cellars are are crammed with nth Of the most often,
sive description, that has been lying rotting In
landings are in a similar condition. and there can
be very little doubt that the rooms Of the people are
no better kept The water pipes are out OF repair,


No. e25 Third avenue is one of the very few
Three families persisted in the place. and 1t Is in
Just as bad condition as any Of the notorious
the very worst description OF house iIth, and the
people in the building, instead OF making any
EFFORT to decrease the nuisance, continue TO
partially covered with flooring OF boards, In
which numerous holes have been eaten by
pipe empties itself into wooden trough which has
no cover, and the sides Of which are so decayed as
to allow the dirty water to escape and soak into the
soil around the trough. This basin is open about
eight ieet ana then passes beneath the surface,
w se e eeo sewer % N, There % are traps
the water from the basin into the sewer and
IL has been frequently shown by DR.. Morris that
pipes not properly secured with traps conveyed the
sewer gases into the houses and were the causes
of the death OF hundreds OF people every year all
over the city. The trap Is simply joint In the pipe
constructed to prevent the return OF injurious
gases after the water has passed through. They
hold q small portion Of the water, Just enough to
make the stoppage perfect, and where they are
neglected In the waste pipe


THE MOST DISASTROUS CONSEQUENCES


follow. Many physicians not really understand
the nature OF levers that caught by poor peo-
pie from these sewer gases and IL Is only recently,
since the HERALD has given DR.. Morris experience
10 the community, that medical men have begun
10 look alter these most malignant diseases.
The stencil coming up out OF q sewer through
which is passing the liquid filth of thickly popu-