Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 2.djvu/504

 490 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

HABITATIONS.

In a sparsely settled portion of L, Kansas, dwells, or -. a familv for more than twenty years well known to the benevolent people of the town. The house (Fig. i) is made of loose boards and scraps of tin and sheet iron rudely patched together. In summer it is a hot and uncomfortable shed, in winter a cold and dreary hut. The main room or living room, 14 x 1 6, contains a meager supply of scanty furniture and soiled and even filthy bedding. A small shed or " lean-to" attached to this room serves as kitchen, storeroom and chicken house. One small window allows the light to show the scanty furniture of the room and to exhibit its untidy appearance. The walls of the room are decorated with cheap pictures and bits of bright- colored papers. Among the larger pictures is that of Abraham Lincoln, which makes one pause for reflection, as his benign countenance beams upon the observer in these unpleasant sur- roundings. This small house is, or rather was until the num- ber was increased as stated below, the home of seven indi- viduals. For the use of the land on which the house stands they pay a nominal rental of twenty-five cents per month.

Another habitation (Fig. 2) used by a branch of the family is situated on P - street. It is a board house of a single room 12 x 14, which is the home of three persons. This single room serves as living room, sleeping and cooking room, and for the entertainment of guests. The same scanty and cheap furniture is here as in the other habitation, and squalor and filth abound. The evidences of poverty and wretchedness charac- terize the surroundings. The rental paid for this habitation is $1.25 per month. It protects from the heat of summer and the cold of winter somewhat better than does habitation No. I, but otherwise it has much the same appearance in the interior. The difference in rent is an economic problem not completely solved. There is no drainage connection with either habitation, and no water supply. But of water the occupants apparently have little need. Between these two homes the various members of the two families pass daily to and fro.