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10. The father was a glass-trimmer earning 19s. per week.
There were 5 children, including the baby, all living. The home
was a two-roomed tenement, extremely clean, and let at 8s. 6d.
per week. The occupants comprised the parents, 5 children, the
mother's sister, and her illegitimate child—9 persons.
Home Circumstances.—In many of the homes there was
evidence of poverty — sometimes verging on destitution.
Occasionally there was no food, no coke, coal or wood
in the house, and even the furniture was being pawned.
Some of the mothers in the poorer parts were homeworkers,
or took in washing. Many of the tenements were
crowded, sometimes occupied by lodgers in addition to the family.
Nearly all the parents drank ale, or stout; a few drank to excess.
In mean streets, many of the tenements were verminous, but
during the last 2 years there has been a marked improvement in
this respect. The cleanliness of the tenement and its freedom
from vermin depend upon the mother's house-pride and her own
activity. Some of the cleanest homes may be seen in the most
squalid streets.
Illustrative Cases.
1. The baby was seven weeks old, breast-fed and wasting.
There were 8 children, of whom 7 were now alive. The father
was a fish frier doing odd jobs. The mother was thin, and
"half-starved." The furniture was nearly all pawned. The
home was very clean.
2. The family consisted of the parents, 4 girls, ranging trom
13 to 3 years, and the baby, 10 months. The family, the
mother's mother, and a woman lodger, 8 persons in all, occupied
2 rooms, which were dirty, verminous, and overcrowded.
3. The family consisted of the parents, boys 18, 13, 7, 3,
years, and girls 15, 4 years, and a baby 6 months. The father
was a casual labourer. The mother was a bottle labeller in
regular work, and left the baby daily in a creche. It got ill
and was then left at home in charge of the girl of fifteen.