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105
the reverse of satisfactory from the housewife's
point of view, and frequently a small mountain
of debt incurred through the recent unemployment
of the breadwinner, which has to be paid off bit by
bit before anything new can be bought for the
house or children.
Where it appeal's that the father is in fault, a special
visit is paid to see him, even if it means an evening
visit after office hours, and an effort made (which is
usually successful) to bring him to a sense of his
responsibilities, in the shape of getting him to
provide sufficient and clean bedding and better
clothing for the children.
I find old flock beds a great source of nuisance; they
are happy hunting grounds for vermin and have a
knack of retaining offensive smells; as a rule they
are highly treasured and it requires a lot of persuasion
to get the mothers to substitute clean straw
for the old flocks; where this can be managed they
express satisfaction afterwards at the improvement
and the freedom from vermin.
It is to be regretted that Sanitary Authorities have not
been given more power to take summary proceedings
in persistent cases of neglect to provide proper and
wholesome bedding for children; as the law stands
at present, the Sanitary Authority may disinfect
the bedding, &c., time after time, and, as long as
there is no refusal to allow them to carry out the
disinfection, it is most difficult to obtain a conviction.
The parents are often in such a verminous
and dirty state themselves, that the bedding and
children quickly become re-infested; there is unfortunately
no law or regulation to compel the
parents to cleanse their own persons.