CHAPTER VII.

HOUSING AND LIVING CONDITIONS.

General housing and living conditions-Rent in its relation to standard of livingBoarders and lodgers-Size of apartments occupied-Size of households studiedCongestion [Text Tables 687 to 698 and General Tables 394 to 405].

GENERAL HOUSING AND LIVING CONDITIONS.

In describing household conditions the different races may be classified in three general divisions. The first division includes the native whites, English, Welsh, and Scotch. The second, the Poles, Slovaks, South Italians, and negroes, and the third, the Greeks, Bulgarians, and Macedonians. There are material differences in the systems of living practiced by these three classes.

The greater number of native whites employed in the territory immediately adjacent to Birmingham are skilled laborers. The unskilled labor is composed principally of the South Italian and Slav races and the negro.

Household conditions among the Americans are far superior to conditions prevailing among the Slavs and South Italians, and it is, of course, unnecessary to compare this class with the negroes. Modern facilities for comfort and sanitation are in much more extensive use. The home is more spacious and is furnished in comfort if not in a slight degree of luxury.

In the outlying towns of this locality the proportion of Americans employed in bituminous coal mining and unskilled labor is much greater than in the territory immediately adjacent to Birmingham, and many of the mines are operated exclusively by native white and negro labor. In these environments the home of the native white laborer is frequently devoid of the more modern equipment and sanitation, though there is no lack of material comfort. His house usually affords space for a separate dining room and kitchen, and separate living room, in many instances. The front room or parlor, reserved for the entertainment of guests, is an almost invariable feature of the home.

The boarding-boss system, practiced by the South Italian and Slav races, is unknown to the natives. Occasionally a few boarders on the American plan are found.

Approximately 90 per cent of the negroes employed in this locality live in rented houses. Where company houses are not available the negroes usually settle in that section of the town where, because of the absence of improved streets, water, or lighting facilities, or for other reasons, the house rent is reduced to a minimum. This tendency is also characteristic of the South Italian and Slav races.

Two rooms are usually sufficient to shelter the family, one serving as living room and bedroom, and the other as kitchen and dining room combined. This is frequently used as a bedroom also in the larger families. It is not unusual, however, for an entire family of adults to sleep in the same room. Cheap, unvarnished dressers and bedsteads, split-bottomed chairs, and a cooking stove are the principal articles of furniture in these houses. To a casual visitor the interior of the house not infrequently presents a comparatively neat appearance with the floor cleanly swept and the bed clothing neatly arranged, but the general impression is usually one of shiftlessness and improvidence, the fences, steps, and porch being in a dilapidated condition and the yard littered with rubbish. Modern sanitary devices are practically unknown.

With the advent of the Slav and South Italian immigrant with the boarding boss and his group of lodgers, a system of household economy previously unknown to this locality was introduced. As in other industrial communities, the boarding-boss system flourishes here to its greatest extent in the centers of employment most convenient to the large cities. The proportion of boarders or lodgers to each family decreases in number as the distance from the more populous cities increases, which is indicative of the tendency of the unmarried Slav and South Italian immigrants to crowd in the more important centers of population. In this locality the boarding-boss system is practiced principally by the Polish and South Italian races. In the company houses of one of the larger industrial corporations near Birmingham, South Italian families are found with as many as fifteen boarders or lodgers. Among the Poles the number often exceeds eight or ten. There is very little family life in such households. To accommodate as many lodgers as possible, beds are frequently placed in every room in the house, and the kitchen is often used as a dining room, bedroom, and bathroom. Only a few of the most essential articles of a cheap and inferior grade of furniture are used. The bed clothing is soiled and in disorder and the interior of the house presents an untidy and slovenly appearance.

Where the boarders or lodgers are less in number than the members of the immediate family, conditions are somewhat improved. In some of the smaller towns in this section are many Polish, Slovak, and South Italian steel workers and coal miners living in company houses and in houses rented from other sources than the employer. In these homes where none or only a limited number of boarders are kept, the furniture is more substantial and the interior of the home presents a much neater appearance. It is unusual, however, to find in these homes any but the most essential household necessities. There are no separate living rooms or parlors. The kitchen and dining room are usually combined and this room is frequently used as a bedroom also. Modern devices for sanitation, such as the bathroom and flush toilet are conspicuously absent. The boarding-boss system is not practiced by the English, Scotch, and Welsh races in the Birmingham district. Household conditions among these races compare favorably with conditions among the American workmen.

The Greek, Bulgarian, and Macedonian immigrants in this locality are largely unmarried men; of those who are married practically the entire number have left their wives in Europe. These races, as well

as many of the unmarried South Italian immigrants, have adopted a method of living usually designated as the rooming group system. In the company houses of one of the large steel manufacturing corporations near Birmingham, several hundred of these laborers live in groups, varying in number from two to fifteen individuals. The smaller groups occupy only one room, while the larger frequently rent an entire house, four or five men occupying each room. Where a group is composed of as many as five individuals the most intelligent of the number is usually chosen "boss," who acts as disbursing agent and pays the bills for house rent, light, and fuel, the other members contributing equally to these expenses. Various methods are followed in buying and preparing the food. A member of the group who possesses superior culinary ability will sometimes act as cook for the entire number, his pro rata amount of the grocery bill being paid by the other members as compensation for his services in this capacity. In other groups a common fund is maintained for groceries and each member acts as cook for a certain period. Where a group is composed of only a few members it is frequently the practice of each individual to buy and prepare his own food. Many of the Bulgarians patronize restaurants conducted by members of their race.

Some semblance of order and neatness is maintained in many of the houses occupied by these laborers, but some of the larger groups live in more squalid surroundings than are seen among the Slav and South Italian boarding groups. The furniture is confined to a few benches or chairs and bedsteads and the personal belongings of each individual. These consist of a few cooking vessels and pieces of bed clothing. The latter is sometimes used constantly by both night and day shifts of laborers.

The section dealt with in this report, including the city of Birmingham, Jefferson County, and various counties in northern Alabama, represents industrial activity in various forms, but all related or tributary in a general way to the iron and steel industry, the chief factor in the prosperity which has thus far attended this region. Bituminous coal mining, while an independent industry, is closely interwoven with iron and steel, in the first place through the ownership by these companies of many important coal mines and, second, through their consumption of the product of mines in which they are not financially interested. In discussing housing conditions, it is possible to treat of employees of many of the different industrial enterprises in the same report, as the same general conditions obtain throughout the entire district.

In comparing housing conditions of the different races employed in this locality, a general division is easily made into skilled and unskilled laborers; the skilled laborers are composed principally of the native whites with a very small proportion of Scotch, English, and Welsh, while among the unskilled laborers is found a wide diversity of races, the principal types being South Italians, Poles, Slovaks, Greeks, Bulgarians, and Macedonians. The English, Welsh, Irish, Scotch, and French races are represented in small numbers about equally divided between the skilled and unskilled labor.

Housing conditions among the high-priced or skilled laborers, which class as previously stated is composed principally of the native whites, show a marked improvement over conditions among the immigrant

races; the contrast is especially noticeable between the natives and the South Italian, Greek, and Slav races.

The ordinary type of "company house" does not satisfy the requirements of the skilled American workmen. Many of these are more comfortably housed either in their own dwellings or in privately owned houses, fairly well equipped with modern devices for comfort and sanitation, while in other cases the company provides for them a better type of house. In Bessemer, for example, skilled employees in the rolling mills occupy two-story houses of far better type and construction than the average company house.

Approximately 90 per cent of the whole number of employees of all races live in rented houses. Where company houses are not available, these laborers usually congregate by races in the outskirts of the town most convenient to the place of employment and occupy houses which can be obtained for the lowest rent. In one community there is a small colony of Slovaks employed in bituminous coal mining who have purchased homes and are living in small three and four room frame cottages, but property owners among these races are as a general rule very infrequent. The type of company house most frequently seen in the focality adjacent to Birmingham is a onestory frame building containing from two to four rooms, the fourroom houses being frequently divided into two apartments. The buildings are usually provided with a small veranda in front, are weatherboarded and finished with dressed lumber, and sometimes whitewashed. They are usually devoid of any modern conveniences, such as bath or flush toilet, and in consequence of being built in close proximity to the steel, iron, or coke yard in which the laborers are employed are without a yard or garden plot. A fairly accurate impression of housing conditions among the unskilled laborers employed by the most important industrial corporations of Birmingham may be obtained from a description of the houses provided for employees at the steel plant at Ensley, Ala. Ensley is situated a few miles from the city of Birmingham proper, but within the corporate limits by virtue of a recent legislative enactment. The conditions and races represented here are fairly typical of conditions throughout the territory adjacent to Birmingham.

The company quarters here are located on a slight elevation in the outskirts of Ensley, adjoining the yards of the steel plant which separates the quarters from the principal business and residence district of the town. The races represented are South Italian, Polish, Greek, Roumanian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, and Negro. A public road separates the quarters of the negro and immigrant races. Occupancy of company houses is not a condition precedent to employment, but in selecting a home the immigrant is usually governed by three considerations, viz, house rental, presence of fellow countrymen, and proximity to place of employment. The first of these usually exerts the greatest influence and has resulted in approximately 75 per cent of the immigrants occupying the company houses, which are customarily rented to them at a lower rate than houses obtained from other sources.

The houses occupied are of the familiar type, painted, weatherboarded, frame structures of one story, divided into two apartments of two rooms each, finished with dressed lumber, and provided in front

with small porches. Provision for heat for each apartment is made by a chimney erected in the center of the building. Water is obtained from hydrants outside the house, one for every three houses. Water-closets built of rough lumber are placed in the rear of the buildings, one closet being provided for every twelve houses. These closets, which are flushed by running water, are divided by partitions into twelve stalls or sections. A public bath for the use of the employees is also maintained. A monthly rental of $10.50 for each house, or $5.25 for an apartment, is charged.

Among the Polish and South Italian races where the boardingboss system prevails, one family frequently rents an entire house and sometimes two houses, the extra space being used in housing lodgers, who vary in numbers from ten to fifteen to a family. The Bulgarians, Roumanians, Greeks, and Macedonians are practically all single men and live in groups, varying from two to twelve individuals, each group occupying one or two rooms usually, but sometimes an entire house, the members sharing equally in the house rent. In the company quarters occupied by the negroes, the houses are smaller and less substantial in construction. Many are finished on the exterior with rough lumber, to which a coat of whitewash is applied. Only dry closets are provided and there is no public bath as in the immigrant section.

In the outlying coal and iron-ore mining towns there is a greater diversity in the types of shelter provided for employees-the buildings varying from substantial four and six room houses to nondescript clapboard shacks and cottages designed to satisfy the requirements of transient and migratory class of laborers who value their wages more than the comforts of a modern home involving increased rent. The American devotes more attention to material comfort than does the immigrant and usually provides himself with a comfortable home. Even where the same type of building used by the immigrant is occupied, it presents a more attractive appearance than the house occupied by the South Italian or Slav laborer in the same grade of employment.

RENT IN ITS RELATION TO STANDARD OF LIVING.

The rent payments of the households studied in the Birmingham district, as in the case of other localities, have an important bearing upon the cost of living, but owing to the crowding within the immigrant households in order to reduce the rent payment per capita, these payments are chiefly significant in the index which they afford as to standards of living and general living conditions. The first table submitted in this connection shows, by general nativity and race of head of household, average rent paid each month per apartment, per room, and per person.

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