“An east end police official
this morning informed the press that influenza was still raging among the
foreigners in that section of the city. He said that, with one exception, he
found the disease in every house he had been in during the past few days, and
mentioned, incidentally, that he had been in quite a number.”
Hamilton Spectator. November 06, 1918.
For the policemen working
out of the Sherman Avenue station in 1918, conditions in the neighborhoods covered
with foot patrols were well-known.
In early November, 1918, the
influenza epidemic was raging. One of the policemen stationed at the east end
station, spoke out about conditions in that vicinity, which he considered to be
exceptionally bad in terms of healthfulness.
As a result, the spread of influenza was even worse than it was in other
parts of the city:
“As a reason for the
continued spread of the dread disease among the foreigners, the official
considered it due to the filthy condition in which the homes were kept.
“ ‘Those who never come in
contact with that class of people,’ he remarked, ‘would never believe human
beings could live in such dirt and filth unless they saw it with their own
eyes. It is no wonder the flu continues to ravage the city when people are
permitted to exist as they do.’
“When asked whether or not
the health department had taken action in the matter, the official said that if
it had, there were no apparent results.”1
1 “Live
in Filth : Influenza Said to Be Prevalent Among Foreigners in East End ”
Hamilton Spectator. November 06, 1918.
The day after the policeman’s
observations were published in the Spectator, the matter was brought up in a
meeting of the Hamilton Board of Health:
“Reference was made by Dr.
Roberts to an article in last night’s paper, in which a police officer stated
that many of the foreigners’ homes in the industrial district were very filthy,
and provided splendid breeding ground for influenza germs. He was asked about
the system of inspection by the officers of the board. Dr. Roberts’ reply to
the police statement was that it was liquor in the homes of so many foreigners
that was causing a high death rate as they used whisky to excess and fell
victims to pneumonia etc., and that there were only five officials for this
work, and at present only two were available for daily inspections. It was
asked about the system of inspection of the houses in the slum districts.
“In the course of the
discussion regarding conditions in the poorer quarters in the city, and the
attention given to cases of influenza reported from them. Dr. Roberts stated that,
so far as he could learn, not a single demand made on the S.O.S. or Emergency
Nursing League had not been answered.”2
2 “Will
Life Ban on Saturday : But Lid Will Remain On If Epidemic Spreads : Too Much
Liquor in Foreign Districts”
Hamilton Spectator. November 07, 1918.
The comments of Dr. Roberts,
the Hamilton Medical Officer,
at the meeting, appeared at first to have ended
discussion on the matter. However, one lady Agnes Brown, a frequent writer of
letters to the Spectator continued the discussion, giving a rather hostile, judgmental
and racist assessment of the east end population :
“I would like to say
something in regard to the terrible filth and dirt found in the homes of our
foreigners in the city. Why should it be allowed? They are making good wages,
sending large sums home to Italy and their home countries. Why should they be
allowed to live huddled up in houses to save rent, and causing a menace to our
own people? Everyone who visits or has business in these places says they are
frightful; eight and ten men living or boarding in a house with a wife and a
lot of little children, and these men are sending large sums home all the time.
They should be obliged to board in large and airy rooming houses, and pay for
regular cooks to do the work, and spend some of their money here. They live in
sections by themselves, and no one knows what goes on. Their children are often
cruelly treated, but there is no one to inform on them, because they don’t
inform on each. I was told by a worker that in one section a child was found
crippled from infantile paralysis, a doctor had never been called at the time,
but the child lived, and the boarders went in and out same as ever, and had
quantities of whisky in their home. It is the same now. These dirty people get
diseases, go up to our markets, mingle with our people, and are a constant
menace. Their homes should be inspected regularly, ordered cleaned out, and
kept aired, and if the health officer has not the authority to see that these
places are inspected, he should at once be given the power to have them
inspected, cleaned out, and they should be heavily fined if they do not obey
our laws of sanitation. We will have slums if we continue to allow these people
to live thus, and they mingle on our market and in our stores. They may have
all kinds of contagious diseases and never report. Who knows whether they do or
do not have a doctor? Make them clean up their homes, open their windows, and
live like we do – a few in each house. We could all save by doubling up, but
there would soon be a fuss if we Canadians overcrowded. Our foreigners are
allowed to live as they like; they earn good money here, and should afford to
have decent, clean homes. Water is nearly free, and they should be forced to
obey our sanitary laws.”3
3 “Foreigners’
Homes”
Hamilton Spectator. November 07, 1918.
In that same issue of the
Spectator, an editorial on the matter appeared, expressing many of the same
sentiments as those of Agnes Brown:
“The conditions under which the foreigners of
our city are permitted to exist is coming in for deserved attention. The
statement of an east end police official that influenza is raging among the
foreigners of his district, every house but one of those he had visited during
the past few days containing a patient, and that those who never come into
contact with that class of people would never believe human beings could live
in such dirt and filth unless they saw it with their own eyes is strong enough
to excite the interest, if not the alarm, of every citizen. The letter we print
today, under the heading, Foreigners’ Homes, contains many pertinent questions.
Why should these foreigners be allowed to live under conditions which would
never be tolerated in the case of our native population? They cannot plead
poverty: their wages are high, and they can well afford to conduct themselves
in a manner more in consonance with the standards of their newfound
environment. Is it fair that these people should come into this country and
enjoy the hospitality and all the advantages it affords, yet not be prepared,
when in Canada, to do as Canada does? Overcrowding, neglect of the ordinary
laws of sanitation and health, and the savings thus accumulated sent away to
the land of their origin, to the impoverishment of the country which has so
generously befriended them – this constitutes a real grievance and one that
should not be permitted to persist.
“Hamilton is justly proud of
its beautiful city. It deserves to keep it beautiful, and frames laws to that
end. If these laws are not stringent enough to prevent the evils of
overcrowding, insanitation, unhygienic conditions generally, they should be
promptly amended. Our city is growing rapidly and looks for an increased
impetus in the industrial era ahead, all safeguards should be taken to avoid
undesirable conditions, before it is too late to cope with the menace. Slums
and all they represent are the curse of a city. They should be one of the
things to disappear with the war. In a thriving city like Hamilton, they are
wholly unnecessary, and it is a kindness to those of our alien population who
have in the past been accustomed to standards of living lower than those which
are normal in this country, to lift them up to a higher, healthier and happier
plane. It is unjust to them, as it is it certainly unjust to ourselves, to
leave these people in the sordid discomfort in which, through ignorance, they
are content to exist.”4
4 “Foreign
Quarters”
Hamilton Spectator. November 07, 1918.
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