View report page

28
5. The baby was a few weeks old, and breast fed. There were
twelve children. The mother worked as a laundress. The lather
had been in the infirmary for four months suffering from some
chest complaint. He had been home for three months, but had
done no work because he thought " it would be a pity to outdo
his strength."
6. The baby was two months old. There were five children,
but three had died. The family occupied one room, which contained
one chair and one bed covered with rags and odds and
ends. The father was consumptive,, had been to a sanatorium,
did not work, and spent most of the day in smoking cigarettes.
The mother was a street flower seller, but was unable to start,
because she could not borrow money, and could get no credit.
7. The family consisted of the parents, four children living,
and occupied two rooms. They had lost six children. The baby
was six weeks old, thin and coughing. The father was a
labourer, and "fed and clothed himself, and just managed to pay
the rent." The mother was a charwoman, and fed and clothed
herself and the four children. One child of five years was
extremely thin, and had a cough, The mother said: "He gets
fat when he's away to the infirmary, but it melts off him when he
comes back home."
8. The family consisted of the parents and seven children, and
occupied two rooms. Two children had died, so that only five
now lived. The baby had no clothes. The mother had no sheets
or nightdress for her confinement. She was given grocery
tickets, and was lent a maternity bag. The husband, an old
soldier, out of work, turned his wife out on to the stairs for five
nights. The family owed 11 weeks' rent.
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. Some of the homes had very little furniture—
perhaps a table, a bed and a chair—very little bedding, and scanty