[187] Of the 680 families investigated, 19 failed to supply information relative to the number of rooms occupied before the fire.
The congestion during camp life was probably more undesirable though not so extensive, crowding being excessive in comparatively few instances.
Where the trade winds blow
In full view of the Pacific
Camp Cottages at Hill Crest
In 379 of the 680 families who lived in camp cottages there had been not more than one person to a room; in 260, not more than two to a room. The large number of cottages erected made it necessary to place them close together. In the parks regular streets were laid out on which the cottages fronted with very little space intervening between the buildings. The compact housing of people meant that in some cases respectable people were compelled to associate to a certain extent with the less desirable. On the whole, however, the general moral conditions were not bad, the statements of some that the camp environment was bad for young people being offset by those of others that they had been able to maintain their accustomed moral standards. Naturally, the families whose living conditions had been most favorable before the disaster were the ones most tried by the abnormal camp life.
The housing condition before the fire was, in some instances, not only inadequate but unhealthful. It is certain that only 197, or 29 per cent, of the families had the use of a bath. When the cottages were moved from the camps, in 425 cases they were occupied as permanent homes with few if any important additions. However, 245 of the families had made improvements, 60 by adding rooms, 160 by adding front or back porches, others by adding windows or doors or making other minor improvements. The houses as a rule were placed on wooden foundations. A few were shingled, but in most instances cracks were sealed with strips, or covered with building paper inside. With their original coat of green paint they appeared much the same as when erected in the camps. Some persons who were fortunate enough to secure two or more cottages joined them to make one good sized house.
The re-visit in 1908 disclosed the fact that only 16 bath tubs had been put into the removed cottages, and that only 40 per cent of the cottages had been connected with the water mains. The occupants of the remaining 60 per cent, perhaps because they were financially unable to connect their houses with the regular water supply, had to draw their water from hydrants in adjoining lots. The location of some of these cottages upon the high hills characteristic of the city made them difficult of access, and in some instances the daily supply of water had to be carried 50 to 100 feet up steep hills.