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5.—The family consisted of father, mother, five girls, 14, 12,
7, 4 and 2 years, and 2 boys, 9 and 10 years. They occupied a
two-roomed tenement, but had only two chairs and insufficient
beds and bedding-. The second girl, 12 years old, was phthisical.
The father was an odd man earning 9s. or 10s. per week : the
mother was a homeworker making children's coats and costumes
and was thin and ill with bronchitis, the eldest girl had just left
school and the head teacher had offered to obtain a situation for
her as a domestic servant. This offer was refused. The rooms
were overcrowded.
6.—A family, consisting of father, mother and 9 children—boys
17, 15, 13, 11, 9, 7, 5 and 2 years, and a girl 8 years—occupied
a four-roomed tenement. The mother was out at work and not
expected back until 6 p.m. The father was at work and came
in to dinner daily, went out to work again, and returned late
in the evening. The boy 13 years had phthisis, was in rags, had
no boots ; the boy 7 years had sore feet and no shoes or stockings ;
the boy 5 years had no shoes or stockings ; the boy 2 years was
naked except for a woollen vest and was sitting on a chair in
front of the fire. The two eldest boys were working. The boy
13 years stated that he had been taken to the hospital by his
mother, but when asked for his out-patient's letter, he produced
an unused one and then admitted that his mother had not taken
him to the hospital because she had no clothes to put on him.
This boy with phthisis had been excluded from school for 12
months, and meantime nothing had been done for him.
It is quite usual to find that when phthisical children are
excluded from school, that they are kept at home by their parents
and made to do the house-work, to look after the other children
and sometimes to help their parents street trading.
It is not uncommon to find that school children with phthisis
and sometimes adults with phthisis go " hopping " in August and
September, and, when they return, express themselves as being
much improved in health.