SIZE OF APARTMENTS OCCUPIED.

Of the total number of households studied the table which follows shows, by race, the per cent of households occupying apartments of each specified number of rooms.

TABLE 521.-Per cent of households occupying apartments of each specified number of rooms, by general nativity and race of head of household.

(STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.)

This table includes only races with 20 or more households reporting. The total, however, is for all races.]

From an examination of the table above it is evident that the type of apartment or house most generally occupied by races of recent immigration in the mining localities of the South contains 4 rooms, 41.1 per cent of the total number being of this size. On the other hand, 35.3 per cent of the total number of households have apartments of 3 rooms. Only 2 households live in 1-room apartments, and 22, or 5.5 per cent of the total number, occupy 2-room apartments. At the other extreme it is found that 13.3 per cent of the total number of households have apartments of 5 or 6 rooms, and less than 2 per cent have apartments containing 7 or more rooms.

As regards the tendencies exhibited by certain races as to the size of apartment occupied, the North and South Italians, together with the Poles, Slovaks, and Germans, seem inclined to secure apartments of small size. About one-tenth of the South Italian households and a few Germans, Poles, North Italians, and Slovaks have 2-room apartments. On the other hand, about the same number of the races mentioned above have households occupying apartments of 5, 6, or more than 6 rooms, so that the bad showing in one direction is counterbalanced by the favorable showing at the other extreme. As regards the smallness of apartments, the Polish households make the worst exhibit, with the Slovaks not far in advance. Of the Polish households 68.1 per cent and of the Slovak 52.4 per cent have apartments of 3 rooms or less; 59.4 per cent of the Polish and 47.6 per cent of the Slovak households occupying apartments of 3 rooms. Of the Magyars 37.8 per cent, of the South Italians 25 per cent, and of the Germans 42.9 per cent also have apartments of 3 rooms only. Moreover, if the standard of the average immigrant households be considered a 4-room apartment, the South Italian, Slovak, and especially the Polish households are seen to be below the general average,

while the German and Magyar households are slightly above the general standard, and the North Italians are far in advance of any other race, as four-fifths of the North Italian households have apartments of 4 rooms.

SIZE OF HOUSEHOLDS STUDIED.

The number of persons living in apartments of each specified number of rooms is of much significance in forming a conception of general living conditions and the degree of congestion existing in the households of recent immigrants. In this connection the following table sets forth the conditions which prevail in immigrant households in the coal-mining fields of the South, showing for each race the per cent of households of each specified number of persons:

TABLE 522.-Per cent of households of each specified number of persons, by general nativity and race of head of household.

(STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.)

[This table includes only races with 20 or more households reporting. The total, however, is for all races.]

Twelve and six-tenths per cent of the total number of households of all races are represented by 10 or more persons, 27.8 per cent are of 8 or more persons, 41.1 per cent of 7 or more persons, and 53.1 per cent have 6 or more persons. A more detailed analysis of the tables shows some striking differences in the number of persons per household.

CONGESTION.

The conclusion from the data at hand is that all rooms of the apartments occupied by the recent immigrant households are not only congested but that the sleeping rooms are overcrowded and taxed to their utmost capacity to accommodate the persons who are assigned to them. From a sanitary standpoint the sleeping rooms are wholly inadequate. This statement becomes even more apparent when the following series of tables is studied. The first shows the average number of persons per apartment, per room, and per sleeping

room.

TABLE 523.-Average number of persons per apartment, per room, and per sleeping room, by general nativity and race of head of household.

The above table is clear in itself and needs very little comment. It is well worth while to note, however, the high average of persons. per sleeping room for all households of recent immigration and the tendencies exhibited by the Slovaks, Magyars, Lithuanians, Germans, Poles, and South Italians, which races, with the exception of the last two mentioned, are in excess of the average for all races in the number of persons per sleeping room. The same tendency holds good in the relative showing as to the average number of persons per apartment and per room.

The table which follows presents data relative to the number of persons per room.

TABLE 524.-Persons per room, by general nativity and race of head of household.

Considering the total number of households of foreign-born head, the table above shows that 90.3 per cent have one or more persons per room, 39.8 per cent have two or more persons per room, and 7.4 per cent have three or more persons per room. As regards the several races, the Germans indicate a comparatively small amount

of congestion, 76.2 per cent of the households of this race having one or more persons per room, and 28.6 per cent having only two or more persons per room. An even better showing is made by the North Italian households, of which only 20 per cent have two or more persons per room. On the other hand, 47.8 per cent of the Poles, 43.4 per cent of the South Italian, 42.9 per cent of the Slovak, and 41.9 per cent of the Magyar households have two or more persons per room. Four and eight-tenths per cent of the Slovak homes have an average of three or more persons per room. Of the South Italian households, 7.9 per cent, 9.5 per cent of the Magyars, and 4.3 per cent of the Poles have an average of three or more persons per room. Of the South Italians, 2.6 per cent, and 1.4 per cent of the Magyars have an average of four or more persons per room. A considerable proportion of the households of all races have three or more persons per room.

The prevailingly crowded condition of practically all households of recent immigrants in southern coal communities having thus been made manifest it will be profitable to inquire how far the congestion is limited to the general living conditions and how far it affects the sleeping and other household arrangements. An interesting light is thrown upon this question by the following table, which, as compared with the preceding table exhibiting number of persons per room, shows the number and percentage of households having each specified number of persons per sleeping room.

TABLE 525.-Persons per sleeping room, by general nativity and race of head of household. (STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.)

Upon examining the table it is seen that 91.3 per cent of the household's of all races have two or more persons per sleeping room, 56.3 per cent have three or more persons, 23.6 per cent have four or more, and 8.4 per cent have five or more persons.

None of the German households have less than two persons to a sleeping room. Fifty-seven and one-tenth per cent of the households of this race have three or more persons per sleeping room, and 33.3 per cent have four or more persons to a sleeping room. In the case of the North Italian homes, it is a striking fact compared with other races that 20 per cent of the households have on an average less than two persons sleeping in a room, and while 24 per cent of the

households have between four and five persons to a sleeping room, none of the households have more than five persons. On the other hand, 19.7 per cent of the South Italian households have four or more persons for each sleeping room, and 7.9 per cent have five or more persons. It is worthy of note also that 56.8 per cent of the Magyar households have three or more persons sleeping in a room, 24.3 per cent have four or more persons, and 14.9 per cent five or more persons. A greater proportion of the Polish households also have three or more and four or more persons per sleeping room, but not so great a percentage have five or more sleeping in a single room as in the case of the Magyars. The Slovak households in general make somewhat the same showing as do the Polish.

An added significance, however, is given to the foregoing showing with regard to congestion, when a more detailed examination is made of the relative use of rooms and the extent to which the rooms of the households are used for sleeping or for other purposes. In the following table, which shows the number and percentage of rooms not used for sleeping, the real situation as regards crowding and living arrangements in the immigrant households in the South is made manifest.

TABLE 526. Number and per cent of households regularly sleeping in all except each specified number of rooms, by general nativity and race of head of household.