City health dept. orders stop to reoccupancy of some nihonmachi houses

CITY HEALTH DEPT. ORDERS

STOP TO REOCCUPANCY OF

SOME NIHONMACHI HOUSES

Japanese Praised as :

Good Housekeepers

By S. F. City Official

Orders to stop the reoccupation

of sub-standard dwellings in San.

Francisco's Nihonmachi were-given.

Wednesday by Homer P. Thyle, chief

of the housing division of the ci

department of health.

Thyle who praised the J apanese

as good house-keepers acted after

conferring with Dr. J. C. Geiger,

city health director. - at

A supervisor's committee was

scheduled to meet late Thursday af-

ternoon with government represen-+

tatives on the matter and the S. F.

JACL chapter officials indicated

that league members will attend the

; meeting.

Six men under Thyle are making

_a house to house inspection of 24

blocks in the Japanese area. Their

| report will not be ready for Dr.

Geiger for several days, but Thyle

related some of their preliminary

findings.

Not all the houses are substand-

ard, but if families of other races

start doubling up in some of those

substandard houses, then slum con-

ditions will exist, Thyle said "We

will not tolerate such a condition,"

he declared to The Nichi Bei.

"On the whole, the Japanese have

been good housekeepers. They have-

n't had much to work with in some

of those old houses, but they have

kept them neat and clean.

"We will stop the reoccupation of

the substandard buildings by refus-

ing to issue permits of occuparicy,

which are required for dwellings

housing three or more families.

"In the case c0x00B0 single dwellings

we'll have to follow a different

course, but we have the authority to

prevent occupation."

The health department's power

stops there, however. It cannot com-

pel owners to make improvements

or tear down old buildings.