A Social Study of the Russian German 28 
preserved in the colloquial speech of the people, who speak of the 
north settlement as the “ Norker bottom” and the south settle- 
ment as the “ Franker bottom” and who denominate the various 
churches not by their confessional names of Lutheran, Reformed, 
or Congregational but as the “ Kukkus,” “Balzer,” “ Norker,” 
“ Beideck,” or “ Franker ” churches. Again within the settlements 
the people from each village live in groups, and whole streets will 
be occupied by former residents of one colony, and other streets 
by those from another colony. This is especially true of the 
new immigrants, although not confined to them. 
Ill. Dwellings and Families 
Housing conditions among the Russian Germans in the settle- 
ments present some distinct contrasts to those in the rest of the 
city. They are neither as bad as in the poorer sections nor as good 
as those of American people in the same financial circumstances. 
Ordinarily the dwellings are small, because the people economize 
in fuel, and consider extra or unnecessary rooms a useless waste. 
The average house is a one-family dwelling of three or four 
rooms located on a twenty-five or thirty-five foot lot. A very 
few large houses have been built to accommodate undivided 
families such as exist in the village communities in Russia; but 
the rapidity with which the family in America dissolves and 
leaves such houses a financial loss, has fortunately discouraged 
their erection. Some of the few which have been built have 
been divided into two or three parts and sold to be remodeled 
into small residences. 
The following table shows the number of rooms per dwelling 
for the houses within the settlements. Since the size of the houses 
varies materially in the two sections the figures are given for both 
districts. The four-room house is the most popular in the north 
settlement, with the five-room dwelling but little ahead in the 
south. Of the houses in the north side, 23.7 per cent., or almost 
one fourth, are two room dwellings while in the south side, but 
17 The Russian German population living in Lincoln outside the two set- 
tlements is not considered in the study of housing conditions because the 
people conform entirely to the American communities in which they live. 
149 
