POVERTY AND SQUALOR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19727, 29 August 1927, Page 12

POVERTY AND SQUALOR.

FAMILY'S WRETCHED HOME. " INDESCRIBABLE " SYDNEY CASE. Salvation Army officers in Sydney lately found what they described as one of the worst cases of destitution seen in their 40 years' experience in that city. Becoming interested in three small boys who attended the mission Sunday school, Captain J. Sloan visited their home—a small, old-lashioned building at Paddington. Here the three boys were found living with their mother in indescribable conditions of poverty and squalor. The only food m the house was a small quantity of sugar and a half-filled tin of treacle The kitchen was a wilderness of old utensils, empty preserving bottles, newspapers and rubbish, and was in an incredible state of filth. The only furniture in the living and dining room was a table, three rickety chairs, a deal boA and one or two pictures Papers served as a covering for the table, on which were a few unwashed dishes, empty tins and a parrot in search of food. Old newspapers, many of them spotted with grease, littered the floor. A narrow, steep flight of stairs led to the tiny attic rooms used as sleeping quarters. Here the ceilings were so low and sloped so much that it was impossible for a person of average height to stand upright anywhere except in a small area in the centre of the box-like space. In one of the rooms stood a tumbledown double bed, its only covering a dirty, worn-out mattress, a rug, and various articles of old clothing. In the middle slept a cat. The only other piece of furniture was a washstand covered with dirt and grime. In the second room there were two single beds, one covered with rubbish; the other, used by the throe boys, spread untidily with a dirty eiderdown and a motley collection of old clothing. Between the two beds was an old chest of drawers, also littered with rubbish. Every room was pervaded with a musty, foul odour. The mother, it was stated, does washing by the day. During her absence the eldest boy, aged 10, looks after his two brothers, aged six and (two respectively. They spend their days in the streets. Their food, they told the Army officers, consisted of bread and treacle three times a day, with an occasional meal of soup. Although their hands and legs were caked with dirt, and the two younger ones were libera,lly marked with sore", all three boys appeared to have robust constitutions. The father, it was said, died three or four years ago.