In addition to the privilege of removing the cottages from the camps without charge,[185] 415, or 61 per cent, of the applicants received money grants from the Rehabilitation Committee. These amounts were given for various purposes, but in the main for furniture, clothing, sewing machines, and other general household rehabilitation. A certain number were granted small amounts for housing purposes in order that they might make improvements on their cottages or, in a few cases, to aid in the construction of new homes.
[185] See [Part I], [p. 85], and [Part IV], [p. 232].
4. HOUSING BEFORE AND AFTER THE FIRE
Only 15 of these families had owned the houses in which they were living at the date of the fire, though seven others possessed real estate for which they received rent. One family claimed to have owned property valued at $5,000. As the majority of the group had lived in rented houses no attempt was made to learn the value of the rented property. At the time of removal from the camps all but four owned the cottages in which they were living. [Table 71] shows the character of their previous dwellings.
TABLE 71.—TYPES OF HOUSES OCCUPIED BEFORE THE FIRE BY FAMILIES RECEIVING AID UNDER THE COTTAGE PLAN[186]
| Style of house | Families living in houses of each specified style |
|---|---|
| A flat or flats | 466 |
| Small houses or cottages | 109 |
| Furnished rooms | 67 |
| Apartments | 15 |
| Basements | 4 |
| Total | 661 |
[186] Of the 680 families visited, 19 lived in other cities before the fire.
It must be borne in mind that the homes which they had occupied were the least desirable in the city. The houses had been used almost exclusively as dwellings; only 24 of the families had had a shop or store connected with their homes. After the disaster but seven had a shop and dwelling combined. The number of rooms occupied before the fire by those who during camp life and afterwards lived in two- and three-room cottages, was:
TABLE 72.—NUMBER OF ROOMS PER FAMILY OCCUPIED BEFORE THE FIRE BY FAMILIES RECEIVING AID UNDER THE COTTAGE PLAN.[187]
| Number of rooms occupied | Families occupying each specified number of rooms |
|---|---|
| 1 | 50 |
| 2 | 111 |
| 3 | 204 |
| 4 and less than 7 | 284 |
| 7 and less than 10 | 12 |
| Total | 661 |