great men, heroes and masters, spring from it and
make the world better by having lived.

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 forth
coming, 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 innutri-

[[48]]

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v?