were reported but they had no racial significance and would be of little interest in this report.

Pulmonary tuberculosis is most prevalent among the Finns and Swedes, and, as is claimed by the physicians on the ranges, is chiefly imported. Scarlet fever, diphtheria, and smallpox are

common

among all races; natives as well as persons of all foreign races are subject to them. Trachoma was reported to be endemic among the Montenegrins, Servians, Slovenians, and Croatians. A physician in Eveleth stated that many persons among the Montenegrins and Croatians were trachomatous in that town. Physicians in the towns of Gilbert and Virginia made substantially the same report. The health commissioner of Biwabik has noticed trachoma among the Montenegrins, which he claims is the result of filthy living conditions, the disease being brought into the country in a dormant state. In the town of McKinley the disease was reported as existing among all Austro-Hungarian races in the McKinley district. The chairman of the board of health of Hibbing stated that there were a great many cases of trachoma among the southeastern European races, and that the lax immigration regulations on the Canadian border were responsible for the spread of the disease. In this connection a mining superintendent on the Mesabi Range stated that in his opinion the immigration officials, both at the ports of entry and on the Canadian border, were responsible for the introduction of trachoma in the iron region by allowing persons affected with the disease to enter the country.

Every doctor questioned on the ranges in regard to venereal diseases stated that all races, native and foreign, were affected. Gonorrhea is prevalent, and especially so among the Austrian races; syphillis is common, and confined to no one race or group of races.

CHAPTER VII.

HOUSING AND LIVING CONDITIONS.

General housing and living conditions-Methods and cost of living on the Mesabi Range Rent in its relation to standard of living-Boarders and lodgers-Size of apartments occupied-Size of households studied-Congestion-[Text Tables 111 to 122 and General Tables 70 to 81].

GENERAL HOUSING AND LIVING CONDITIONS.

Housing conditions on the iron-ore ranges are varied, but about the same in every settlement; or, in other words, in Hibbing, for instance, will be found conditions among certain races which will differ from those found among others, giving in total a multiplicity of conditions, but which will be found duplicated in Virginia, or Eveleth, or in any other town in the region. To describe the housing conditions in one or two settlements will be sufficient to understand, in a general way, the conditions existing throughout the region, and no treatment of each individual community is necessary. On the Vermillion Range the only two towns of any importance are Ely and Tower, and the general housing conditions in these places are excellent. Nearly all immigrants live in their own houses or in houses that are rented from the mining company. There are no "camps," as they are called on the Mesabi Range, in which the more recent races live, due to the fact that there are very few of the far southern and eastern European races on the range. The races composing the population, of which the Finns and Slovenians make up the greater portion, are permanently settled and take an interest in their homes. The houses are frame dwellings, one and two stories high, and contain from 4 to 6 rooms each. A few boarding houses are owned by the mining company, containing about 20 rooms each, which are rented at the same rate as the smaller cottages to its employees. A flat rate of $5 a month is charged by this company for all of its houses, irrespective of whether they contain 6 rooms or 20 rooms." There is little congestion, even in the boarding houses which are conducted by Slovenians. Water is obtained from the lakes of the Vermillion chain and is run through filters into storage tanks, from where it is delivered by underground pipe systems to the homes of those living in the towns. Persons living beyond the reach of the municipal water supply get their water from wells driven 30 to 40 feet into the drift. The municipal sewage is disposed of by emptying it into the lakes a good distance down the current from the intake points for the municipal water

The general superintendent of the mining company stated that the company also rented employees land on which to build their own homes for 50 cents per month with the right reserved by the company to abrogate the contract at any time should the land be needed in the mining operations.

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supplies. The sewage enters the lakes raw-that is, without first passing through septic tanks and is emptied below where the water is gotten and carried off by the lake current, which has an average flow of 3 to 4 miles an hour. The sewage of one town is not very likely to pollute the sources of drinking water of the next, even when the second town is located down the current of the lakes, for it is eliminated by dilution and sedimentation very soon after being emptied into the water. Not all of the houses in the towns are connected with the municipal sewer system, however, and a large number of dry closets are found located in the yards. They are located at a distance of from 20 to 100 feet from the houses and are kept in fair condition.

The homes of all races have small gardens and flower beds around them, and in passing through the streets of either Ely or Tower the visitor is struck with the general cleanliness. It is hard to distinguish the different races in regard to the living and housing conditions on the Vermillion Range, as they are all very clean, but the Scandinavians and Finns can possibly be placed above the Slovenians in this respect. In brief, the conditions are good, and much superior to those encountered on the Mesabi Range.

In the towns on the Mesabi Range the natives-English, Irish, Scotch, and Scandinavians-will be found living in the most substantial houses. They nearly all are frame dwellings, two stories of 4 to 8 rooms, with flush closets in the houses and water-piped inside. The Finnish and Austrian races live in small cottages in the larger towns, while in the smaller ones they are found in log cabins and tar-papered shacks. In both large and small towns they will be found living in boarding houses of 10 to 20 rooms. In the mine locations or colonies will be found groups living together in what are called "camps." A "camp" is generally a shack or cottage where an unusually large number of persons live together under a boarding-boss system, and are very common among the Servians, Croatians, Montenegrins, and South Italians. The congestion in such places is pronounced. Boarding houses are common in both towns and mine locations, and are found among the Scandinavians, Finns, Slovenians, Croatians, English, and Americans. The conditions found among the English, Americans, and Scandinavians are good in regard to boarding houses, but among the Croatians, Slovenians, and Finns the boarding houses are often badly congested.

In the mine locations the cottages and "camps" are owned by the companies, as a rule, and are rented to the employees for $6 to $12 per month; but in many such communities the companies rent the land, on which the employees are allowed to erect shacks of their own, for 50 cents to si a month. The companies under such arrangements reserve the right to move the builder off at any time should the land be needed in the mining operations. The boarding houses are rented for $15 to $30 per month, according to their location; but one mining company rents such buildings to its employees in some of its districts for the same amount as a 4-room cottage is rented. In one district a uniform rate of $5 per month is charged for all of its houses, irrespective of size. The superintendent of this mining company stated that although a uniform rate, or $5 per month, is charged in his district, the oldest employees of the company are given the best houses, and

that the system is in reality a merit system by which men are encouraged to remain in the service of the company.

As in all other industrial localities throughout the country, there will be found living conditions on the iron ranges of Minnesota that are revolting; and again conditions will be encountered among races which are generally thought to live under abnormally low standards that are models of cleanliness and sanitation. The southern European races, such as the Montenegrins, Croatians, South Italians, Servians, Bulgarians, Greeks, and Syrians, normally live under the most congested and filthy conditions. The Slovenians, Poles, and Finns will be found living under much better conditions, while the Scandinavians, English, and other older immigrant races are found under the best. In some of the towns many persons will be found living over stores and saloons. Hebrews, Finns, Slovenians, and a few Americans and English are the races. living in such a manner.

Drinking water on the Mesabi Range is obtained from the four following sources: (1) Mine drainage shafts, (2) shaft wells, (3) driven points, and (4) natural lakes. All of the water on the range is soft and excellent for drinking purposes. In the mine locations, beyond reach of the municipal water systems, water is gotten by the same methods as those mentioned above according to local conditions. From the storage tanks the water is generally delivered by gravitation through pipe lines to the houses. In the towns neighborhoods will be found in which persons of different races live where the water is not piped inside of the houses, but is gotten from hydrants conveniently located for a group of families. The water is distributed in Gilbert by a municipal tank cart which makes two deliveries a day. Many of the isolated "camps" have no water connections, and the mining companies owning them haul water from the nearest points two and three times a week and store it in covered barrels provided at the "camps" for the purpose. There will also be found communities in which the water is stored in a centrally located reservoir from which the inhabitants get their supply. In all communities, whether a municipal sewer system exists or not, will be found many houses which have only open or dry closets. Few of the mine locations have anything but dry closets, while some will be found in which one or two houses each have a cesspool into which they empty their sewage. By a cesspool is meant a shaft 5 or 6 feet in diameter sunk into the sand and gravel to a depth of 40 to 80 feet. The sewage emptied into these places is taken care of by percolation and micro-organisms, as the well constructed cesspool is in reality an intermittent filter. Garbage in the towns and mine locations is required to be placed in cans or barrels, from where it is collected by Scavenger carts at regular periods, in most places daily. In the camps " inhabited by Montenegrins and South Italians, and which are outside of the towns and mine locations, refuse of all kinds is generally thrown on the ground immediately adjoining the buildings without regard for cleanliness. The living conditions in such places are often fearfully congested and under such filthy practices they are excellent breeding grounds for diseases.