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As a consequence, a man who lived in the same house on a
higher floor when he knew of this, forced his own wife to go
and do likewise.
In another house lived a mother with a baby 2 months old.
The mother was phthisical. The father was an odd man and
earned very little money. The mother stayed at home brooding
over her condition. It was suggested to her that she might get
her mind off herself, be less introspective if she obtained a little
light work to do at home. This course she declined—alleging
that " if she once started working—her old man would never
let her leave it off again."
Some of the mothers were ill, consumptive, overworked and
overdone with childbearing. Some were drunken, slatternly and
slovenly.
Some were extremely clean and tidy—even in the streets like
Bastwick Street or Lever Street, where one would least expect
it.
Some of the mothers made all their children's clothes : some
were in receipt of parish relief or obtained free dinners.
Many mothers resent very much being advised to enter a poor
law institution, even though they may be admost destitute, insufficiently
fed and clothed.
Illustrative Cases.
1. The father was a casual labourer, ill with phthisis, and
had been frequently in the poor law infirmary. The baby was
3 months old. The mother had had 8 children, all save baby had
" wasted away." When the home was visited, the mother was
clad in a skirt and blouse only. There was no food in the cupboard,
there was no coal or coke in the house. The mother
was given tickets for free dinners.
2. The baby was 2 months old, fat, but dirty and verminous.
The father was a carman in casual employment, and earned from