I talked with a woman who was representative of that type which has been jerked out of its little out-of-the-way streets and has started on the fatal fall to the bottom.Her husband was a fitter and a member of the Engineers' Union.That he was a poor engineer was evidenced by his inability to get regular employment.He did not have the energy and enterprise necessary to obtain or hold a steady position.
The pair had two daughters, and the four of them lived in a couple of holes, called 'rooms' by courtesy, for which they paid seven shillings per week.They possessed no stove, managing their cooking on a single gas-ring in the fireplace.Not being persons of property, they were unable to obtain an unlimited supply of gas; but a clever machine had been installed for their benefit.By dropping a penny in the slot, the gas was forthcoming, and when a penny's worth had forthcome the supply was automatically shut off.'A penny gawn in no time,' she explained, 'an' the cookin' not arf done!'
Incipient starvation had been their portion for years.Month in and month out, they had arisen from the table able and willing to eat more.And when once on the downward slope, chronic innutrition is an important factor in sapping vitality and hastening the descent.
Yet this woman was a hard worker.From 4.30 in the morning till the last light at night, she said, she had toiled at making cloth dress-skirts, lined up and with two flounces, for seven shillings a dozen.Cloth dress-skirts, mark you, lined up and with two flounces, for seven shillings a dozen! This is equal to $1.75 per dozen, or 143/4 cents per skirt.
The husband, in order to obtain employment, had to belong to the union, which collected one shilling and sixpence from him each week.