Discontinuance of Alley Dwellings in the District of Columbia; Hearings ... on S. 2675 Feb. 21, 1922 Volume 96 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1922 edition. Excerpt: ...perhaps, the voice of the Capital would be heard in terms that would admit of no further delay in the attacking of this grave problem and a provision of means for its solution.--The Washington Star, July 11. 1910. BREEDING PLACES OF DISEASE AND DEATH. The mortality records for Washington for the year 1909 are of a kind that are calculated to cause its citizens to blush, rmt not with pride. We are third in the list, but it is at the wrong end of the column. With a death rate of 19 in every 1,000 persons last year, there are only two cities in the 100,000 class having a more unfortunate record--Fall River, with 19.1 per 1,000, and New Orleans, with 20.2 per 1,000. The statistics give St. Paul the record for health, with a mortality rate of only 11.4 for each 1.000 inhabitants, while Cleveland and Columbus are second and third, respectively. There is no need to go further. The slums are to the city what the fly is to the apothecary's ointment. They are the breeding places of disease and death, responsible not only for the appalling record of mortality wrought among those who dwell therein, but also in no small measure for many deaths beyond their limits, just as the felon in the old London docks carried jail fever to the judge on the bench.--Washington Post, October 14, 1910. INTEREST IN ALLEY SLUMS. FromvPresident Taft's message to Congress. A recommendation that will strike a responsive chord among Washingtonians is that concerning the alley slums, a subject in which President Taft shows sincere interest. His discussion of this question and his recommendations concerning elimination of the slums follow: "Among other items for permanent improvements appearing in the District esti mates for 1912 is one designed to substitute for Willow Tree...