PLAGUE SPOTS IN CITY

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIII, Issue 10136, 26 November 1918, Page 6

PLAGUE SPOTS IN CITY

VICIOUS EMVSROfIMEPJT "WHAT THE EPIDEMIC HAS REVEALED. ONENESS OF THE COMMUNITY. A very common phrase to-day is "Sections of tho community." This phrase, like so many current, in modern times, rests upon a fallacy. A community is a whole, an entity. Tins is its essential characteristic. Divided into sections or classes, it is no more a community, and has about as much meaning as a section of a man. This truth is being brought home to tho mind, of citizens by tho dread scourge now taking toll of tho community as a whole. The poorer members of tho community may bo more subject to tho disease owing to then- less favourable environment, but that tho community is one and indivisible has been clearly proved bv the toll taken by the influenza Carlyle, in his characteristic way, mentioned the case of a poor Edinburgh widow who proved she was tho sister of her wealthier neighbours by giving them typhoid fever! home such experience as this is being gone through in Wellington, whore the existence of conditions appalling to ©yery sense of decency and civic pride, and a disgrace to a civilised community exist at a time when an epidemic disease is rampant, not m any one "section" of tho community—an artificial arrangement not recognised by the'influenza—but ■•throughout the entire community. A '-Times" reporter, seeking firsthand information on the subject of overcrowding and the filth and diseasebreeding conditions engendered thereby, visited some of the wor&t localities in 'the Mount Cook district yesterday. He had with him a volunteer sanitary inspector, Mrs Terrill, who has done good work in shedding much-needed light in dark places, and supervising the cleansing of some filthy hovels, the existence of which the ordinary citizen could hardly imagine, and would not believe unless he saw them with his own eyes. A NOISOME SLUM. One of these insalubrious regions is Tui street, off Tory street. It would be hard to find anything worse than Tui street in the civilised world. A row of mean, old, dilapidated rookeries, their external appearance is infinitely better than the noisome interiors. One of .these dark dens of filth, onlv comparablo to a pigsty, was cleared out by Mrs Terrill the other day. It took two men three days to collect the accumulated filth and throe gallons of fluid to make it tolerable. Four and a half loads of rubbish were taken from this human habitation, which for some occult reason has not been condemned by the authorities. The first hovel entered in Tui street gave the writer a feeling of nausea. A pale, under-sized woman appeared, surrounded by six dirty children. The rooms were almost destitute of furniture, and most of the floors were bare. The windows were closed, and the rooms stank. This poor, unfortunate woman seemed steeped in hopeless squalor and poverty. An addition to tho family is in prospect. "What hope is there of children being reared decently in such surroundings? They were damned from birth, destined, unless a miracle happens, to be a danger to and a charge upon the community. Contemplating this distressing aspect of life in the Empire City, the writer was reminded of tho saying of Huxley that he would prefer the life of a South Sea Islander to that of a denizen of a slum. Certainly there can be no question as to which of the two is the more human, more sanitary, and more happy. Anyone who doubts it can look up Tui street and be convinced. It is only fair to this insalubrious spot to say that there was one of the {cottages in whiqh poverty had not killed self-respect. Tho housewife was busy cleaning up, and a look inside revealed conditions in marked contrast to those of her neighbours. She is looking forward to going up country, where her husband has views of a job. Certainly, any change from Tui street could'hardly bo for the worse. There is but one cure for this pestiferous lane, and that iB a clean sweep of it into oblivion. SAGE'S LANE. Near bv is another offshoot From Tory street, known as Sage's lane. In thi3 wretched, narrow allev the writer was conducted (to the filthiest place he had ever seen, doinjz dutv as a human habitation. In one room was an aged woman, dirtv and diseased, resting on a chair. All around her was filth indescribable. The place looked like a lumber room. The window curtains were covered with erime. One bedroom was filled with old dirty clothes and the smell was proof positive that fresh air and sunshine were never allowed to entor. All tho windows were shut. One of them looked as if it had been broken by an exasperated sanitary inspector who despaired of getting ventilation by any other method. Tho place had been sprayed the day before, but nothing Bhort of a fire would sweeten such a plague spot. Tho washhouse waa heaped up with rubbish, chiefly iu tho shape of dirty clothes. VISIT TO HALNLNG STREET. This notorious quarter of the city has undergone a cleansing process retently which makes it a, contrast to Tui street. Tho houses, of course, are dilapidated hovels, which have no lawful excuse for existence, but a look round some dozen of them made it clear that tho elements of sanitation had been given effect to by their yellow occupants, all of whom gave tho visitors every facility for a thorough inspection of their premises. A noticeable feature was that in most cases tho bed linen was clean, and in many cases new. Tho Chinese, however, seem to have a mortal antipathy to fresh air, although some of them liad an idea of tho need for ventilation, and none of thern resented a hint that windows should bo kept open. There was an absence of disagreeable smells, although it was apparent that the '-Johns" were not expert housekeepers. Some of them had. great fajth in the powers of the visitors and made complaints as to leakv roofs and other defects. In two or threq cases rooms could he seen

which were blight and tidy and attrac-tive-looking, ono especially _ showing signs of a housewife's hand, the occupier of whic-h boasted a white wife. One house contained half a dozen Hindoo?, one of whom lav ill in bed. Those poor pariahs are bottle-gatherers, and it. is sad to think that men of the great Aryan rnco. to which the Briton and tho Maori helonir, followers of Buddha, should be condemned by Fa to or a . shoddy civilisation to herd together in such sordid conditions. Still, bad as it. is. Haminc street at the present moment, bore out Mrs Ten-ill's claim that it is superior to tho European slum. POVERTY AND DISEASE. Poverty, disease and dirt aro an unholy combination. Thev aro evils which are amenable to human control. Uncontrolled they play havoc with any community. Thev are • uneconomical. No sane community can afford to tolerate them. In one case seen yesterday, a home which might have been decent necessitated the wearing of a respirator on tho Part of the visiting scribe. In one room death had claimed a victim in tragic circumstances. A rednosed man was the only occupant. His wifo and children were in hospital. Squalor and dirt were the leading features of this place, which had a decent sized section of land in front of it, on which some attempt had been made to grow vegetables. Further uo the street, behind .1 dingy, secondhand store, was found a stricken family. A poor woman, living apart from her husband, was found jn a miserable outhouse sitting before a washtub. Obviously sho was ill. Misery was written on her faco: she was nothinc but skin and bone., . Sho is a type of the deserving poor. A palefaced boy with intelligent features was by her side. JL.ast week when the vistors called they found her four children lying ill and the place in a filthy state. Major McCristell supplied bedding. This poor woman, a picture of misery and worn to tho bone, told the pressman she had to go out working by the day for a living and earned something: like 2-5 s a week. Even in her normal state hard work would be beyond her. She had lost a son at the war and drew 10s a week pension. The boy will be sent to a home and something done for the struggling mother. Mrs Terrill gives great-praise, to two West Indian helpers. These men get 143 a day for their work, and hold themselves readv to bo called up at night. She herself is a woman of groat resourcefulness and determination of character and is doing splendid work without fee or reward, except the consciousness of doing good. She spends herself and her resources without stin*, which is all the more creditable as she is a working woman whoso home is in the South Island. THE HOUSING PROBLEM. The views expressed by Mr W. Foster in the article appearing in Saturday's "Times" were fully endorsed by .Mr Parkinson, officer in charge, of tho Newtown district. He said that Mr Foster's statement was by no means exaggerated. The lesson the community had to learn was that care must bo taken that lives aro not allowed to be lived in such -unsatisfactory conditions and risky environment. The people who lived in the houses were of more value than tho houses. The war and the epidemic together had taught them that human life must be taken better care of. There was no sense in bringing children into the world and letting them grow up. in a starved and stunted Bad environment made for bad citizens, bad morals, bad manners. Referring to Newtown and the overcrowding problem, Mr Parkinson said that there are a few parts of" the district that should be taken in hand at once and remedied. Ho was in a house the previous day which had a frontage of 6ft. Ono of "the 'worst houses in the district was one owned by tho City Council. TYPICAL CASES. ■ Some typical specimens of the conditions in which tho citizens of the Empire City live were detailed to the reporter bv an officer of tho Wellington North district. A place, visited on Sunday was found to contain six inhabitants, three adults and three children, living in one room. This human lair is street, and it is not surprising to learn that the occupants looked as if they had not had' a bath for months. A house in Hawkestone street was found to be so open to the elements that there were fourteen kerosene tins and a zinc bath in tho passage to collect rain water, which at times reached a depth of three inches. Needless to say, tenants were down with the "flu." They wrote a letter to the officer saying they were flooded out, and tho matter was specially reported to tho Mayor. Tho coiling of this pervious property was sagging with the water threatening the lives of those who lived on the lower floor. Another very bad case of a ruinous house tenanted by decent people' Is to be found in Tinakori road. The husband is a shearer, and the wife has six children to look aftor. Ono of them had tho "flu." The floors of this "house" are falling away from it from sheer decay. The place, in the opinion of the volunteer sanitary inspector, should be condemned as unfit for human habitation. The tenant states that the landlord will do nothing to remedy this state of affairs, as ho knowß the tenant cannot got another place. ■ ■ - ~ - As in most other districts, the trouble in Wellington North is overcrowding. Along Thorndon quay, from tho tramsheds to tho'"faflway" station, many of tho dwellings aro let as apartment houses. The "Times" informant states that if the volunteer workers ..had not got to work tho way they did, half the population would have been dead. The majority of the people did their best in tho circumstances, but overcrowding was a serious menaco to tho health of tho community that demanded instant attention and radical treatment. There should bo twice tho number of sanitary inspectors, and half of them should be women. The result of tho day's investigations mako it clear that drastic powers aro required to clean up tho city, and that nothing should bo allowed to stand in tho way of cleansing the Augean Stables of tho city. Existing powers aro too limited to allow of this, and a determined effort should be mado to have necessary legislation passed this session to allow of the evil being coped with at onco. It is not unlikely that an effort will be made in this direction, and it is certain that it will not be made too soon. Liglil. n.>ots fer Sumiwf■ «•;■•;;•?.—r.Vtodata shapes, i'lis. Ld. Z>s Cd, -7s Cd vp. Geo. Fowjds, Ltd., Manners street, *