The father had left the Sanatorium of
the South Dublin Union on hearing of the mother's delicacy. He hoped to
earn a little to support the family that had been driven to such a state
through illness that, houseless, it had had to sleep on stairs. The only
regular income was $1.12 a week earned by the eldest girl, aged 16, in a
factory. Owing to want of food and unhealthy surroundings, she was in so
run down a condition that it seemed certain she would become tubercular if
not at once removed."
The Irish wage can't buy the "good old diet." Milk and stirabout and
potatoes once grew rosy-cheeked children. But bread and tea is the general
diet now. War rations? Ireland was not put on war rations. To regulate the
amount of butter and bacon per family would have been superfluous labor.
Few families got even war rations.[7] Charitable organizations doubt if
they should give relief to families who are able to have an occasional meal
of potatoes in addition to their bread and tea. In a recent pamphlet[8] the
St. Vincent de Paul Society said: "A widow ... who after paying the rent of
her room, has a shilling a day to feed herself and two, three, four or even
more children, is considered a doubtful case by the society. Yet a shilling
a day will only give the family bread and tea for every meal, with an
occasional dish of potatoes.
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