Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 15.djvu/403

 GREEKS IN CHICAGO 389

for her, paid her bills, and finally with some help from his friends purchased tickets for her and the children to go back home. The woman was not a very good mother or sister and the man had little affection for her but he knew that he would have been disgraced in the eyes of the Greek colony if the "sacrel tradition," as Professor Andreades calls it, had not been upheld.

The women are good housekeepers. The Greek houses are almost uniformly clean and comfortable and the women and children neatly dressed. Even in non-family groups the houses are often well kept and the food well prepared by the men them- selves. Still, as it is usually only after the Greek has accumu- lated a little money and is somewhat prosperous that he sends for his family or marries, the living conditions of the family groups are better than those of the non-family group as the following table shows :

TABLE SHOWING CONGESTION OF GREEKS IN CHICAGO

Faxnily Groups

Non -Family Groups

Number of groups having less than i person per room. ..

Nimiber of groups having i to ij persons per room

Nvmiber of groups having i^ to 2 persons per room

Nvmiber of groups having 2 to 2\ persons per room

Number of groups having over 2^ persons per room

84 91

IS 6 2

16

61

8

8

12

Total

198

105

According to this table 42 per cent, of the family groups average fewer than one person per room while only 15 per cent, of the non-family groups are as well situated. On the other hand only i per cent, of the non-family groups average more than 2.5 persons per room, while 11 per cent, of the non-family groups average over that number.^®

The non-family groups living above bams and feed-stores were the only ones found in dangerously unsanitary conditions. The men who live in this way are usually peddlers who keep their horses in the barns. Over one such bam there were fifteen

"The following table giving rents paid indicates the same difference between these two groups.