128 
Indiana University Studies 
There are a few houses in which more than 2 families live 
and in which some of our 50 families live. There are 3 of 
these which deserve special mention. Probably the worst in 
this class is an old brick commonly known as “the old Poor 
Farm”. It is a rambling old place composed of 7 large rooms 
all on the ground floor. At one time there were as many as 
7 families in that house alone. The place is not really fit for 
human habitation. The windows are broken, the floors are 
bad, the roof leaks, and the doors sag. The house is damp 
and even the soil in the yard is too sour and moldy to raise 
grass. This is due to the hundreds of tubs of soapy water 
which have been poured out of the doors into the yard. The 
building seems to be a haven for immoral women and de- 
serted wives with families. Most of them rent only 1 room 
and live there in squalor and misery. All the families are 
more or less dependent on charitable agencies of the town, 
and some of them have no other means of support. In 1917 
the house was full with not a man living there. They all went 
out to wash and clean each week, but none of them could make 
an entire living. Three of the women were immoral, but evi- 
dently did not try to commercialize their vice. 
An example of the small town tenement is a house which 
has been known to hold 1 family per room. It is a small frame 
house which looks fairly well on the outside and is located 
among good homes. At the present time 2 of the families are 
Albert Jones and his wife, Angeline Hancock, who have 2 
back rooms, and John Hancock, who, with his father Harvey, 
have another room. The 2 other families in the house are 
unknown. 
The condition of the houses as structures has already been 
described. The condition of the home is quite a dilferent 
thing. It depends largely on the ability of the one responsible 
for the making of that home. In the large tables the condi- 
tion of the home has been indicated by means of digits. 1 
means that the home is kept immaculate; 2 means good; 3 
means poor, and 4 means that it is kept very poorly. ( See Table ^ 
XIV.) This is not a very satisfactory way of describing then 
homes for it depends too much on the personal judgment ofn 
the field worker. This in turn is based on her impressions n 
and observations. This is the lowest level of scientific meas- 
urement, but it is better than no measurement at all in then 
present case. 
