AUCKLAND SLUMS

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 196, 17 May 1944, Page 5

AUCKLAND SLUMS

Dilapidated Houses And Bad Conditions SOME TYPICAL CASES Dominion Special Service. AUCKLAN.D M«y 16. Though the shortage of houses iu Auckland is causing a great deal of concern, one of The chief problems facing the auth.irities is the state of many existing houses in which families have lived lor several years. The problem is not that has been created by more than ,our years of war, but it Ims undoubtedly become. aggravated by abnormal conditions. There are many bouses practically within a stone’s* throw of Queen Street which, by reasonable standards, are not fit to accommodate oue family, let alone the two or three groups which do use them. Overcrowding in these places has existed for so long that it has become accepted by the occupants as a matter of course, and efforts to have repairs and improvements effected have long been ditfcontinued iu many instances. A typical example of the worst, kind ot slum house practically iu the centre of the city is one in which about a dozen people, Europeans and Maoris, resideSituated in a very narrow street and on the side of a hill, the dwelling presents a tumble-down appearance, which seems to indicate that its days are definitely numbered. The weatherboards and. veranda railings are broken in several places, and panes are missing from two front windows. The house has not been painted for many years, and has a dirty, grey appearance. The interior is cramped, out-of-date, and dirty. Its general condition appears to offer little inducement to the inhabitants to keep it clean. The wallpaper is discoloured with age, and peeling off iu many places, and the kitchen stove is old and cracked. From the back end of a narrow passage a steep, tortuous stairway leads tj the lower part of the building, which is more like a cellar than a flat. Here another broken stove, a sink and bench, a few shelves and a table seem to be all that proclaim it as a kitchen. The whole property is over-run with rats. This house is not alone. It is typical of several in the same locality, which can be described only as a> slum. In some features one or two other houses in the street are worse, aud the whole area is characterized by a strong and unwholesome odour. At nights, particularly, this district and several others in the city present 3 serious problem for the police, and armed forces authorities who have to patrol it regularly. One of the main troubles at present is the fhdjieement for servicemen to frequent these districts. The resulting noise, drunkenness and back-alley fighting, often with serious consequences, have cade heavy demands on the patrol Authorities. Even wqrse than the private dwellings are many, apartment houses, which are dilapidated and often without supervision by the owners. They are mostly old, two-storied buildings, with filthy, badly lighted rooms, broken-down furniture, and a maze of narrow passages and stairways. The conditions prevailing in them have made constant patrolling at nights necessary, qnd have led to many arrests by the civilian a.ud military police.