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131
First Floor Left—Back and Front Rooms.—Occupied by the
father, mother, sons 24, 20, 18, 14, and daughters 12 and 9 years.
The weekly rent was 6s. The front room was used as a living
room for all the family and was occupied at night by the parents
and the two girls. There were two beds—one was made up on
the floor. The room contained 1,092 cubic feet and was overcrowded.
The back room contained one double bed occupied by
the four sons for sleeping purposes. Its cubic capacity was only
704 cubic feet, so that it was overcrowded. The father was an
"odd man," but had not done any work for nine months. The
mother was an office cleaner at 3s. a week. The three elder sons
were porters earning from 12s. to 20s. a week, and all enlisted.
The youngest son was an errand boy at 5s. a week. It will be
noted that although both the rooms were overcrowded, the family
could well afford to take extra accommodation. It is not an uncommon
experience to find that cases of overcrowding may be
associated with a comparatively high total family income.
Second Floor Right—Front and Back Rooms.-Occupied by the
father, mother, boys 10, 9, 1, and girls 7 and 4 years. The weekly
rent was 5s. 6d. but had not been paid for four months. The
front room, containing 617 cubic feet, was used as a living room
for the whole family, and was occupied at night by the father,
mother and baby. It was overcrowded. The back room contained
one bed occupied at night by the boys 10, 9, and the girls
7 and 4 years. The father was a loafer, and was said "to do
odd jobs when it suited him." The mother sold matches and
begged in the streets, taking the youngest child out with her. To
these practices the other tenants strenuously objected, alleging
that they brought discredit upon the fair name of the house, and
with such effect that the father, thoroughly ashamed of himself,
enlisted, and the mother moved elsewhere.
Second Floor Left.—Both rooms were occupied by one male
adult. The weekly rent was 6s.
It is worthy of comment that from this one house, six persons
enlisted during the early months of the war.