expect it of them? But, indeed, they do not, are not required to. Clean, airy drawing-rooms and reading-rooms the saloons brilliant with lights reflected many times from glittering mirrors, surround this and other lodging-houses, and here the homeless, the hobo, and the tramp spend their evenings. And shall we blame them?[1]
The 10-cent house is in many respects a little better. Beds are arranged in the same way, and real mattresses, blankets, and pillows are used. Less dirt, though still in abundance, is in evidence. Occasionally a bath-room adds, in name at least, to the respectability of the place. There are in the city, however, a few 10-cent lodging-houses which are all that could be asked for the money. The Salvation Army has tried successfully the experiment of giving good, clean lodging for that price. The "Harbor Light," the best of these houses, contains 201 beds, bunks of iron frame. The bedding is comfortable and kept clean. The floors are kept swept and scrubbed. Toilet conveniences are good. There is a reading-room, in which about thirty men may be found at any hour of the day until 12 at night, when all must retire or leave the building. That the beds are all occupied, and an average of twenty-five are turned away daily, testifies to its popularity. The captain takes great pride in the neatness of his lodging-house. The others, three in number, vary only in that they furnish, in addition to the bed, a bowl of soup at night, and a cup of coffee and a roll in the morning. Games are here also provided. These others lack in neatness, however. Enforced baths are a novel feature of these places. The entire house is fumigated once a week, and the clothes of each lodger every night. As the captain quaintly expressed it: "They come in a thousand strong and go out as one man." The encouraging feature is that some of these are making 8 per cent., while on the average they just meet the expense, and save enough to start another house in some other needy quarter. In passing I cannot refrain from a word in praise of the social department of
- ↑ Three months later I visited this place in the daytime, just a few days after the health inspector had made his demands upon them. There were now real mattresses, sheets, and pillows, but the amount of dirt and uncleanliness was undiminished, and the poisonous fumes continued to issue from the foul water-closet.
