Friday. November 5. ms SCARLET AND BLACK Page Fin View Poverty Des fictions Bottoms direct Shows iiiifly @f life Beneath The Edit?! By JOHN WOLF JEAN VANDERVOORT JOHN PHILLIPS We went to Des Moines last Fri- day not knowing too much about poverty conditions in Iowa’s capi» tat. other than the {act that there weie major “modest” areas. The southeast “Bottoms" area was mh‘ immediate target. This section lies about a mile trom the nculy gilded capitol dome, which THE FIRST WOMAN we ialked to is a prominent feature to the north ol‘ the Slums, In theory, this is the worst slum area, and for some reason has so far been passed up in Des Moines' urban renewal plans. The residents of the district are well integrated—7o per cent white. 25 per cent Negro, and 5 per cent Mexican. They aren't crowded, either; the area has a rural, al- most appealing (at least on a warm fall day), appearance it you ignore certain unpleasant aspects. our approach to learning about the Bottoms area was [0 walh’ conspicuously and gruboily tlii-o gh the streets rind to look tor people who might be willing to talk to lhzee obviol out tiers. t~ t proved unexpectedly l, and 0111' first contact 'lln an old Mexican wnman Whfl had lived l'Cl’ 1.0 years in the house from which she emerged to l‘ . She spoke poor English, but she was glad to answer our questions. "All my children were born and wet: married in this house. NOW both boys are divorced," She said without much concern. Bath her daughters lived up the bl .i. Her daughters' children ap— . cntly were among the old la- dies pleasures in life. she had Halloween decorations, made zit school by her grandchildren, pasted on the windows of her home — probably among the beslrkept houses in the neighborhood. The neighborhood on a whole is quite unlike the pleasant houses that surround our college. About 90 per cent of the homes don't have complete plumbing facilities. Consequently, otithotises, and de- crepit ones at that, add their una painted and ramshackle appear- ances to an area that otherwise is sufficiently drab and run down. Many of the streets remain unr paved, Yards are generally filled with grass and weeds which grow had lived in the same Bottoms—area house since coming to Des Molnex from Mexico 40 years age. over broken machinery and other junk scattered thrnugh the area. But the old Mexican woman didn't complain about her condi- tions. In fact, she claimed, "1 am happy." Happy despite her inabil- ity to communicate easily With her neighbors, who included Nee groes, Italians, and a group which the woman simply called “Amen icons." No one nearby spoke her native Spanish, not daughters. _ Her activities consisted of going to church once a wcclt, going downtown occasionally to eat at a dlmestore, and visiting her husA band's git a. With little more than a tinge oi grief, she said, “The cemetery is my life." Her husband had worked in thc' nearbytmilroad freight yards. She now lived on social security and other benefits. The railroads provide employ; ment tor a number 0! the Bottoms residents. There are manufactur- ing concerns and some packing houses on the southeast part of A FACTORY that males night bags wanted the pipe party of this old Negro women. She thinks she will lell bul doesn't know where she will move. even her ' town to keep nearly everyone in the area employed. Unemplaye ment doesn't seem to be at the base or Des Molnes' poverty. Des Moines seems able to provide each citizen ivtth a job, btit the city can'[ follow tip that achieve ment with commensurate living conditions. As we were about to leave, the lady wondered why they didn’t fix the place tip. and she pointed to the unpaved streets and two anr cieni houses that were fallng a part across the street. She thought maybe the area was being re- served tor a factory sometime in the future. Why pave the streets if you’re gomg to build a factory? .Illlllllllllllllllllllllllllilllllll:llllllllltliillllllllllllllllllllltllllllillllllllllllllll Lives in House Behind Factory illllllllllllllilllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllIIIIlllllllllllllllilllllllliilllilllll We wandered toward a factory that makes the little travel bags you get trom some airlines. Just behind the plant we saw an old Negro woman working in her yard which was the site or a typical area hnmckadded to piecemeal over the years. erratically paint- ed, glassed in with plastic sheets, and just not possessing the uni- fied quality generally associated With a house. The woman disappeared inside beiore we got to the house, so we went to the back door and knocked. In the back was a pump, on Outhouse, and a small coop for chickens. The woman, dressed in denim Coveralls and a wide»brimmed hat, answered our knock and talked rettccntly tor awhile from behind her screen door, and then stepped outside to answer our queries. The woman surprised us when she noted that she was 72 years old. She had lived on the property she now occupies (or 35 years, she said. ii hes Molues, Chicago, urinate The IOWA CAPITOL is only a mile away train the Bot, rains district, where you can find wooded areas — and ouihnuses near home: without plumbing. Now, however, her property had become destrable. The flight-bag tactory wanted it for expansion, “and ii they otter me enough I'll let them have it." She didn‘t have any idea where she would move II she sold her land, but she said he had lots of relatives on the west side of Des Moines. Her parents came from Virgin» la, but she was born in Iowa. Her family moved to Des Moincs in 1917, and her father started the Cafeteria in the IDwa Slate House. We were impressed by her in- telligence and again were stir- prised to learn she had gotten no further In her formal education than one semester at East High School ln Des MDines. Still, she knew a lot about the natural his- tory and geology of the area and was well acquainted with the op erotions of the flightrbag factory. The old Negro woman made a little money trom her chickens, but her main support was from her late husband‘s pension; he had worked at the Burlington Railroad roundhfluse. We asked her if she got water from the pump in h - yard. “The pump doesn't wor was her re- ply. “A neighbor up the road brings me water. I use rain water —sott waterilor doing dishes. Otherwise 1 only use about a buck. or a week." She was very proud oi the fact that in her immediate family “eight boys are in the service, and we have five or siX_ nurses. I don‘t know about the sixth one because she’s only three months old." ' We walked several blocks and (Continued on Page ii)