Chapter XXIX: Appendix

STATISTICS BEARING ON THE TENEMENT PROBLEM.

Statistics of population were left out of the text in the hope that the results of this year's census would be available as a basis for calculation before the book went to press. They are now at hand, but their correctness is disputed. The statisticians of the Health Department claim that New York's population has been underestimated a hundred thousand at least, and they appear to have the best of the argument. A re-count is called for, and the printer will not wait. Such statistics as follow have been based on the Health Department estimates, except where the census source is given. The extent of the quarrel of official figures may be judged from this one fact, that the ordinarily conservative and careful calculations of the Sanitary Bureau make the death-rate of New York, in 1889, 25.19 for the thousand of a population of 1,575,073, while the census would make it 26.76 in a population of 1,482,273.

Population of New York, 1880 (census) 1,206,299
" London, 1881 " 3,816,483
" Philadelphia, 1880 " 846,980
" Brooklyn, 1880 " 566,689
" Boston, 1880 " 362,535
" New York, 1889 (estimated) 1,575,073
" London, 1889 " 4,351,738
" Philadelphia, 1889 " 1,040,245
" Brooklyn, " " 814,505
" Boston, " " 420,000
" New York under five years of age, in 1880 140,327
" " " " " 1889
(estimated) 182,770

Population of tenements in New York in 1869[25] (census) 468,492
" " " " 1888[26] " 1,093,701
" " " " " under five
years of age 143,243
Population of New York in 1880 (census) 1,206,299
" Manhattan Island in 1880 (census) 1,164,673
" Tenth Ward in 1880 (census) 47,554
" Eleventh Ward " " 68,778
" Thirteenth Ward in 1880 (census) 37,797
" New York in 1890 (census) 1,513,501
" Manhattan Island in 1890 (census) 1,440,101
" Tenth Ward in 1890 (census) 57,514
" Eleventh Ward " " 75,708
" Thirteenth Ward in 1890 (census) 45,882

Number of acres in New York City 24,890
" " Manhattan Island 12,673
" " Tenth Ward 110
" " Eleventh Ward 196
" " Thirteenth Ward 107
Density of population per acre in 1880, New York City 48.4
Density of population per acre in 1880, Manhattan Island 92.6
Density of population per acre in 1880, Tenth Ward 432.3
Density of population per acre in 1880, Eleventh Ward 350.9
Density of population per acre in 1880, Thirteenth Ward 353.2
Density of population per acre in 1890, New York City (census) 60.08
Density of population per acre in 1890, Manhattan Island
(census) 114.53
Density of population per acre in 1890, Tenth Ward (census) 522.00
Density of population per acre in 1890, Eleventh Ward
(census) 386.00
Density of population per acre in 1890, Thirteenth Ward
(census) 428.8
Density of population to the square mile in 1880, New
York City (census) 30,976
Density of population to the square mile in 1880, Manhattan
Island (census) 41,264
Density of population to the square mile in 1880, Tenth
Ward (census) 276,672
Density of population to the square mile in 1880, Eleventh
Ward (census) 224,576
Density of population to the square mile in 1880, Thirteenth
Ward (census) 226,048
Density of population to the square mile in 1890, New
York City (census) 38,451
Density of population to the square mile in 1890, Manhattan
Island (census) 73,299
Density of population to the square mile in 1890, Tenth
Ward (census) 334,080
Density of population to the square mile in 1890, Eleventh
Ward (census) 246,040
Density of population to the square mile in 1890, Thirteenth
Ward (census) 274,432
Number of persons to a dwelling in New York, 1880
(census) 16.37
Number of persons to a dwelling in London, 1881 (census) 7.9
Number of persons to a dwelling in Philadelphia, 1880
(census) 5.79
Number of persons to a dwelling in Brooklyn, 1880
(census) 9.11
Number of persons to a dwelling in Boston, 1880 (census) 8.26
Number of deaths in New York, 1880 31,937
" " London, 1881 81,431
" " Philadelphia, 1880 17,711
" " Brooklyn, 1880 13,222
" " Boston, 1880 8,612
Death-rate of New York, 1880 26.47
" London, 1881 21.3
" Philadelphia, 1880 20.91
" Brooklyn, 1880 23.33
" Boston, 1880 23.75
Number of deaths in New York, 1889 39,679
Number of deaths in London, 1889 75,683
" " Philadelphia, 1889 20,536
" " Brooklyn, 1889 18,288
" " Boston, 1889 10,259
Death-rate of New York, 1889 25.19
" London, 1889 17.4
" Philadelphia, 1889 19.7
" Brooklyn, 1889 22.5
" Boston, 1889 24.42

[Footnote 25: In 1869, a tenement was a house occupied by four families or more]

[Footnote 26: In 1888, a tenement was a house occupied by three families or more]

For every person who dies there are always two disabled by illness, so that there was a regular average of 79,358 New Yorkers on the sick-list at any moment last year. It is usual to count 28 cases of sickness the year round for every death, and this would give a total for the year 1889 of 1,111,082 of illness of all sorts.

Number of deaths in tenements in New York, 1869 13,285
" " " " " " 1888 24,842
Death-rate in tenements in New York, 1869 28.35
" " " " " 1888 22.71

This is exclusive of deaths in institutions, properly referable to the tenements in most cases. The adult death-rate is found to decrease in the larger tenements of newer construction. The child mortality increases, reaching 114.04 per cent. of 1,000 living in houses containing between 60 and 80 tenants. From this point it decreases with the adult death-rate.

Number of deaths in prisons, New York, 1889 85
" " hospitals, New York, 1889 6,102
" " lunatic asylums, New York, 1889 448
" " institutions for children, New York, 1889 522
" " homes for aged, New York, 1889 238
" " almshouse, New York, 1889 424
" " other institutions, New York, 1889 162
Number of burials in city cemetery (paupers), New York, 1889 3,815
Percentage of such burials on total 9.64
Number of tenants weeded out of overcrowded tenements,
New York, 1889 1,246
Number of tenants weeded out of overcrowded tenements,
in first half of 1890[27] 1,068
Number of sick poor visited by summer corps of doctors,
New York, 1890 16,501

[Footnote 27: These figures represent less than two hundred of the worst tenements below Houston Street.]

POLICE STATISTICS.

Males. Females.

Arrests made by the police in 1889 62,274 19,926
Number of arrests for drunkenness and disorderly
20,253 8,981
Number of arrests for disorderly conduct 10,953 7,477
" " assault and battery 4,534 497
" " theft 4,399 721
" " robbery 247 10
" " vagrancy 1,686 947
Prisoners unable to read or write 2,399 1,281
Number of lost children found in the streets, 1889 2,968
" sick and destitute cared for, 1889 2,753
Found sick in the streets 1,211
Number of pawnshops in city, 1889 110
" cheap lodging-houses, 1889 270
" saloons, 1889 7,884

IMMIGRATION.

Immigrants landed at Castle Garden in 20 years, ending with 1889 5,335,396 Immigrants landed at Castle Garden in 1889 349,233 Immigrants from England landed at Castle Garden in 1889 46,214 Immigrants from Scotland landed at Castle Garden in 1889 11,415 Immigrants from Ireland landed at Castle Garden in 1889 43,090 Immigrants from Germany landed at Castle Garden in 1889 75,458

--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+-------- | 1883. | 1884. | 1885. | 1886. | 1887. | 1888. | 1889. --------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+-------- Italy | 25,485 | 14,076 | 16,033 | 29,312 | 44,274 | 43,927 | 28,810 Russia} | 7,577 | 12,432 | 16,578 | 23,987 | 33,203 | 33,052 | 31,329 Poland} | | | | | | | Hungary | 13,160 | 15,797 | 11,129 | 18,135 | 17,719 | 12,905 | 15,678 Bohemia | 4,877 | 7,093 | 6,697 | 4,222 | 6,449 | 3,982 | 5,412 --------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------

TENEMENTS.

Number of tenements in New York, December 1, 1888 32,390 Number built from June 1, 1888, to August 1, 1890 3,733 Rear tenements in existence, August 1, 1890 2,630 Total number of tenements, August 1, 1890 37,316 Estimated population of tenements, August 1, 1890 1,250,000 Estimated number of children under five years in tenements, 1890 163,712

Corner tenements may cover all of the lot, except 4 feet at the rear. Tenements in the block may only cover seventy-eight per cent. of the lot. They must have a rear yard 10 feet wide, and air-shafts or open courts equal to twelve per cent. of the lot.

Tenements or apartment houses must not be built over 70 feet high in streets 60 feet wide.

Tenements or apartment houses must not be built over 80 feet high in streets wider than 60 feet.

Transcriber's Note

Incidental inconsistencies of punctuation are resolved silently. The following list contains other textual issues that are encountered. If there were no other correct instances of misspelled words (in current usage) they were allowed to stand.

p. 74 disenfecting _sic_

p. 77 loadstone _sic_

p. 82 caravanseries _sic_

p. 107 tha[t/n] Corrected.

p. 256 tantilizes _sic_

End of Project Gutenberg's How the Other Half Lives, by Jacob A. Riis