Cambria City, which is composed of the two most populous wards of Johnstown, has the third highest infant mortality rate, 177.4. It has a large foreign element, as is evidenced by the fact that 90.6 per cent. of the mothers interviewed were foreign born. It is situated along the river, between the hills of Minersville and Morrellville, and somewhat to the north of Prospect. The sewage from other residential sections and from the steel mills above them empties into the river at this point. In warm, dry seasons the river is low, flows slowly, and forms foul-smelling pools.
Sewer connection is possible for most of the houses in Cambria City, although all are not connected. Some, on the streets bordering the river, have private drain pipes that empty out into the stream. Others have their kitchen sinks connected with the sewer but still retain yard privies, which, of course, are not sewer connected.
There is considerable crowding of houses on lots, rear houses being commonly built on lots intended for but one house. Density of population and house congestion are greater here than elsewhere in the city.
The streets of Cambria City are somewhat better graded and more generally paved than those of Woodvale, but muddy streets and unpaved sidewalks nevertheless exist here. Broad Street, however, which is the business thoroughfare and runs through the center of the section, is the widest and best constructed street in Johnstown. Bradley Alley, on the other hand, running the length of Cambria City and parallel to Broad Street, is the most conspicuous example in the city of a narrow lane or alley used as a residence street. A number of small dwellings, generally housing more than one family, have their frontage on this alley, which is 19 feet 10 inches in width and without sidewalks. It is unpaved and in bad condition, generally being either muddy or dusty and littered with bottles, cans, and other trash. (See Plates F. and G.)
Homerstown has an infant mortality rate of 156, ranking fourth among the several sections of Johnstown in this respect. It has a fairly prosperous and somewhat suburban appearance, but its comparatively high infant mortality rate can perhaps be partly accounted for by the bad street conditions and the fact that refuse of all sorts is dumped into the shallow river at this point.
Minersville is a district where a high rate would be expected from prevailing conditions. The rate is 125, or less than the average for the city but more than double that for the most favorable sections. This ward is built on a hill and so located that the rising clouds of grit-laden smoke from the steel mills envelop it much of the time. Only one street in this section is well paved, and this is seldom clean. Houses on some of the streets near the top of the hill are not sewer connected, and streams of waste water trickle down the hill and give rise to unpleasant odors. (See Plates H and I.)
Conemaugh Borough, with an infant mortality rate of 117.6, ranks sixth in this respect among the sections into which Johnstown has been divided. It comprises wards 9 and 10 and begins at the edge of the down-town section and spreads upward over the hills to the southwest. Some of the houses on streets near the top of the hill are not sewer connected, and streams of water constantly trickle down the numerous alleys and streets that descend the hill. (See Plate J.) This section makes a very unfavorable first impression because of the open drainage and of the many dirty, badly paved streets. (See Plate K.) Unlike some of the other wards, it has a rather evenly distributed population and is without the vast uninhabited areas and acutely congested spots found in some other sections. On the whole there is little crowding on the lots and there are many good-sized yards. One-third of the population is foreign born. Of these the Italians are the most numerous. Despite certain ugly spots this section has not the unwholesome atmosphere that characterizes Woodvale and to a lesser extent Prospect, Cambria City, and Minersville.
The infant mortality rate of 117.6 per thousand in Roxbury is the same as that of Conemaugh Borough. For reasons not plainly apparent the rate here is higher than in Moxham, Morrellville, Kernville, or the down-town section, although it appears to be as favorably conditioned as these sections are from a social, economic, and sanitary standpoint. Here, as in all these sections, however, are many conditions not conducive to health. For example, parts of Franklin Street are in bad repair. The roadway is full of ruts and holes; the street, which is seldom sprinkled, is dusty in dry weather and muddy in wet weather, and in front of good houses along one section of this street runs an open ditch that receives house drainage.
Moxham has the eighth highest infant mortality rate, it being 89.2. Conditions here are generally rather favorable, although there is some complaint that at “high water” the sewage received by one of the runs in this section backs into some of the houses and then the sinks and water-closets overflow. Some of the homes here, near the city limits, are not supplied with city water but are still dependent upon wells and springs.
One of the three wards constituting Morrellville (ward 18) has a rural appearance; there is little house crowding on lots, big yards are common, and the streets are not paved. It is, however, marred by an offensive open-ditch sewer. Ward 19 of Morrellville has a more finished, less rural appearance. One of its objectionable features is that house drainage and the bloody waste of slaughterhouses are emptied into a shallow stream that flows through it. Ward 20 adjoins ward 19, and although it spreads out into a suburb it appears for the most part to be a comfortable and busy little village. Strayer’s Run winds about here and receives sewage. The fact that it is without a guardrail in some places and that the railing is inadequate in others makes it a source of danger, and according to common report such accidents as children falling into the stream have occurred. The infant mortality rate for Morrellville is 82.5.