with the occupants, and every window
choked up with human heads, all panting and praying for relief and fresh
air. Sometimes the families living in the close rooms we have described,
take "boarders," who pay a part of the expenses of the "establishment."
Formerly the occupants of these buildings emptied their filth and refuse
matter into the public streets, which in these quarters were simply
horrible to behold; but of late years, the police, by compelling a rigid
observance of the sanitary laws, have greatly improved the condition of
the houses and streets, and consequently the health of the people.
During the past winter, however, many of the East side streets have
become horribly filthy.

[Picture: THE INSIDE VIEW OF A TENEMENT HOUSE.]

The reader must not suppose that the house just described is an
exceptional establishment. In the Eleventh and Seventeenth wards whole
streets, for many blocks, are lined with similar houses. There are many
single blocks of dwellings containing twice the number of families
residing on Fifth avenue, on both sides of that street, from Washington
Square to the Park, or than a continuous row of dwellings similar to
those on Fifth avenue, three or four miles in length. The Fourth ward,
covering an area of 83 acres, contains 23,748 inhabitants. The city of
Springfield (Massachusetts), contains 26,703 inhabitants. The Eleventh
ward, comprising 196 acres, contains more people than the cities of
Mobile (Alabama), and Salem (Massachusetts), combined. The Seventh ward,
covering 110 acres, contains more inhabitants than the city of Syracuse
(New York). The Seventeenth ward, covering 331 acres, contains more
inhabitants than the city of Cleveland (Ohio), which is the fifteenth
city in the Union in respect of population.

The best of the tenement houses are uncomfortable. Where so large a
number of people are gathered under the same roof to live as they please,
it is impossible to keep the premises clean. A very large portion of
them are in bad repair and in equally bad sanitary condition. In 1867
these houses made up fifty-two per cent. of the whole number, and there
is no reason to believe that there has been any improvement since then.
Many of them are simply appalling. They become more wretched and squalid
as the East River and Five Points sections are reached. Cherry, Water,
and the neighboring streets, are little better than charnel houses.

About three months ago