TABLE NUMBER IV
Rents Paid in Rooming Houses by 305 Roomers
| Percentage | |
|---|---|
| 168 paid $1.50 per week | 55 |
| 103 paid $1.75 per week | 34 |
| 13 paid $2.00 per week | 4.25 |
| 14 paid $3.00 per week | 4.25 |
| 7 paid Over $3.00 | 2.5 |
| 100 |
The rents paid by these roomers are shown in [table number IV]. They varied from $1.50 to $3.00 per week, and in a few instances were as high as $4.00 per week. In a number of cases, the men also board in the same place in which they room, paying from five to seven or eight dollars per week for food and shelter.
TABLE NUMBER V.
ONE WEEK’S COST OF BOARD PER MAN
The situation in the camps is not better than that in rooming houses. In one railroad camp visited, the men were lodged in box cars, each of which was equipped with four or eight beds, or they were quartered in a row of wooden houses two stories high, each room of which contained from six to eight beds. It is true that the rents charged in this camp were only the nominal sum of five cents per night, or $1.50 per month, but the men had to buy their food from the camp commissary, using company checks, and also had to prepare it themselves. Practically every man interviewed complained of the high prices charged, and that this complaint was not altogether groundless was evident from the scanty purchases being made by these men at the time of the investigator’s visit. In another railroad camp, located near Pittsburgh, which was visited in the early spring, about one hundred men were lodged in one big “bunk-house”, containing about fifty double-tier beds. Although there were adequate toilet and shower bath facilities, the beds were unclean. This company also boarded these men, making a flat weekly charge.
Box Cars in a Railroad Camp in Pittsburgh used as Living and Sleeping Quarters.