The Clerk read, as follows: Dsriiarxssr or Mnrirorouriiu POLICI. Orrlcs Sursaisrssnnsr. 483TENT]! Wssnisoros, STREETWEST. March 6, 1866. To the board of Police., GENTLEMEN: I have the honor at this time to submit a report. basedruiiinly upon personalinspection. of the sanitary condition of certain localities in the city of Washington inhabited by colored people. mostly known as "contrabands ” togetherWith certain (lather factse onnectedWith the condition of theso people. the 1stlocalit visited is known as“Murder Bay." and is situated etvreen 13th and 15th streets west, below Ohio avenue, and bordering In the Washingtoncanal. Here crime, filth, and poverty seemto vie with eachother in acareer of degradation and death. Whole families. consisting of fathers. mothers, children, uncles, and aunts. according to their own statements, are crowded into mere apol ogiesfor shiinties.which are Without light or ventilution. Darin storms of rain or snow their roofs afford but slight protection: while from beneath a few rough boards used for floors the miasmatic ofllu via from the most disgustingly filthy and stagnant water. mingled with l 10 exhalations from the uncleansedbodies of numerous inmates.renders the atmosphere within these hovels stilling and Sickening in the extreme. Their rooms are usually not more than 6 or 8 feet square.with not a wmdow or evenan opening. except a door, for the admission of light. Someof the roomsare entirely surrounded by other rooms, so that no light at all reaches where persons live and spendtheir days and nights. In a space about 50 yards square I found about 100 families, composedoffrom 3 to tenpersonseach. living in shautics one story in height, except in a fewinstanceswhere tenementsare actually built on the to s of others. There is a distance of only 3 or our feet separating these buildin from each other not even as convenient as anordinary 3feetalley. These openings lead in so devious a course that one with difficulty finds his way out again. Thus pent up, not even these paths are purified by currents of fresh air. In one building visited 17 families were found upon the ground floor. consisting of from 2 to 7 persons, one restaurant, and onc boarding house. The2ndstory is a large dance hall, where these people nightly congregate for amusement. Near y all of these peoplecame from Virginia during the rebellion. an someof them proposeto return wheneverthey are assured that the can get work to do there and willbewell treated. twus found that from 5 to 8 dtlan per month are paid for the rent of these miserable shanties, except in some in stunce s wherea mound rentot 3 dollars permonth is paid for a little spot covering a few square feet thero seine of the more enterprising have created cabinsof their own. These, also, are in equsll close proximity to each other, so that. it is with difficulty that one can crowd betweenthem. On the west side of 14thstreet, near the samelocality. are a large numberof small buildings, which, however are kcptiii it somewhat more cleanly condition, and are opened to light and ventilation. llere someof the occupants of houses boast of small backyards, but so low and wet.are their surfacesthat they are ii.curse rather than a benefit. Filthy water hero accumulates. from which, with the advent of warm weather. the seeds of disease must spread amongand destroy the wretched people. In eachof theso localities there are no properprivy accommodations, and those that exist are in a leaky and filthy condition generally. Nor can the sanitary laws be properly enforced against delinquents, for they have no means wherewith to pay fines, and a commitmentto the work house is no punishment. I can see no efioient modeof remedying this evil, except that scavengersbe employed at the public expense to visit these localities, though by far the best remedywould be.to require that these buildings be razed to the ground. Under the best sanitary laws that can be enacted. stringently enforced, these places can be considered asnothing betterthan propagating grounds of crime, disease and death; and in the caseof a prevailing epidemic the condition of theselocalities would be horrible to contemplate. Asimilarly crowdedlot of shanties exist on RhdIsland avenue, between 10th and 11th streets. though as to fresh air and cleanliness itsomcwhat better condition of things exists. Here in aspaee some 200feetsquare 213 personsreside, mosttyknown as “eontrabands.” There are several other places equally crowded within the city limits, which I have not yet had time to visit and inspect personally, for which purposeI respectfully ask tor further time. A. C. RICHARDS. Superintendent. T. A. LAZENBY. Secretary. Attest: Adopted March 8, 1866.