r lines housing conditions must be made
better. Because of the high cost of materials and labor incident
to the war, because the taxation system still does not encourage
improvements and because of investment attractions other than in
realty, few houses had been built and practically no improvements had
been made. This was most strikingly apparent in the poorer sections of
the city. In the negro sections, for instance, there had been almost
no houses added and few vacated by whites within the previous two
years. The addition, therefore, of thousands of negroes just arrived
from southern States meant not only the creation of new negro quarters
and the dispersion of negroes throughout the city, but also the utmost
utilization of every place in the negro sections capable of being
transformed into habitations. Attics and cellars, storerooms and
basements, churches, sheds and warehouses had to be employed for the
accommodation of these newcomers. Whenever a negro had space which he
could possibly spare, it was converted into a sleeping place; as many
beds as possible were crowded into it, and the maximum number of
men per bed were lodged. Either because their own rents were high or
because they were unable to withstand the temptation of the sudden,
and, for all they knew, temporary harvest, or perhaps because of the
altruistic desire to assist their race fellows, a majority of the
negroes in Pittsburgh converted their homes into lodging houses.

Because rooms were hard to come by the lodgers were not
disposed to complain about the living conditions or the prices
charged. They were only too glad to secure a place where they
could share a half or at least a part of an unclaimed bed. It
was no easy task to find room for a family, as most boarding
houses would accept only single men, and refused to admit
women and children. Many a man, who with his family occupied
only one or two rooms, made place for a friend or former
townsman and his family. In many instances this was done from
unselfish motives and in a humane spirit.[128]

How the negroes are employed will throw more light on their situation.
The Epstein investigation showed that

Ninety-five per cent of the migrants who stated their
occupations were doing unskilled labor, in the steel mills,
the building trades, on the railroads, or acting as servants,
porters, janitors, cooks and cleaners. Only twenty, or
fou