Democratic Sentinel, Volume 10, Number 31, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 September 1886 — The Slums of Berlin. [ARTICLE]

The Slums of Berlin.

The slums of London and Paris are bad enough, but it appears that the slums of Berlin are, if possible, worse. Das Echo has published some interesting details on the subject. There are about 40,000 houses in the Prussian capital. A small number are inhabited by one or two families, but the great majority are divided into several distinct lodgings. Two thousand five hundred contain from 16 to 20 lodgings, 20,000 from 20 to 30 lodgings, and 10,000 over 30 lodgings each. Seventyfive thousand of these lodgings are composed of one room only, and inhabited by no fewer than 270,000 persons, which is an average of nearly four persons per room; 75,000 other lodgings are composed of two rooms, and occupied by 360,000 inhabitants, while the remaining 30,000 lodgings are formed of three rooms, inhabited by 140,000 people. These figures will suflice to show the promiscuous way in which the masses of the Berlin population are lodged. The houses in the poor quarters, often five or six stories high, are built so close to one another that they are nearly totally devoid of both light and air. Mr. G.E. Reardon, Baltimore, Md.,Commissioner of Deeds for all the States, suffered for a long time with rheumatism, which yielded promptly to St. Jacobs Oil.