The Washington times., 1906-07-05
DISTRICT POOR MADE POORER
BY BAD BARGAINS, BIG RENT,
AND A DESIRE TO EAT FOOD
Bureau of Labor Issues Statistics of Cost of Living Based
On Investigation by Mr. Forman Of Nineteen
Families.

ture for food IN some weeks would al
most double that Of others. Why2 lie
inquired; and the answer was simply
that ia one week tho producer OF
the family was regularly employed. and
they had enough 20 eat; in another week
he was not regularly working, and they
didn have enough TO eat.
Another family spent 1885 Tor food g.
one week, and OILY S3-sl the fOllOWn =
week. Again. WEyI Because the Ter-
fell due in the later week, and the fiIn-
ily cut down its eating that this mas ht
be paid.
Another family dropped from the lux
ury of a &5-I1 weekly expense for fool
IN one week. 10 The DrivatiOn OF Sc.45 IN
auOJher-and 81 was a family Of sSven
people. 100; the explanation vas tae
necessity TO pay rent. TO meet an Install
ment ON an ola debt, and the misfortune
Of the wage earner's idleness part OF the
time So the family OF seven sustained
life on s2.45 for this lean week
Discusses Food Values.
But Mr.. Formsn finds that the nutri-
ton received is ~ no means proportion
ate to the exper=o. Thus 10 cents will
purchase the equivalent of $50 calories
In energy. WHEN spent for corn meal
while it viii buy only SS5 IN the form
Of eggs. The 70 cents spent for stew
beef VIII produce more than twice as
much nutrition as If spent for round
steak.
The lack Of intelligent selection OF
foods, with reference TO these differences
IN nutritive value, was one Of the most
striking phases brought out. Most Of
the families seem TO have had no idea
.Of comparative food values Thus one
family OF seven, with only IS cents Per
capita per week for food. spend in the
five weeks $3.50 for pies, S2.A for cake
and candies-being more than was spent
for meat This family used no rice, oat-
meal, and almost no COrnmeal or pota-
toes. And it was not exceptional.
Boys Are Expensive.
To raise boys IS an expensive business
for the poor. according to Mr.. Forman.
The poor ought to raise girls. LOoking
into the comparatively high food eX-
penses Of certain families in the list,
he finally accounted for them by the fact
that most Of the children We're boys
healthy grO~-ing boys-and that their
appetites drafted most OF the house
hold income. In one family Mr.. Forman
saws: THE boys were eating the fam
lily out Of house and home. Rent was
in arrears in the latter part OF the Pc
rIod investigated and there was no
money for needed clothing. To save the
situation two Of the boys were sent 20
the Industrial school Immediately after
the investigation was ended.
Sacrificed All for Food.
''In the very next family on the Est
the food was ample and fairly good. But
how? BY sacrificing everything else.
The family lived far on the outskirts of
the city. so far from a school that the
children did not attend; poor clothes,
and absolutely no decent furniture rep
resented other sacrifices TO meet the de-
mands Of the stomach.
Next to food rent was the serious
item with these poor families. The aver
age for the nineteen families was about
81 per month. But this conveys little
idea O. what was secured. because IN
some parts Of the city that expense Will
bry only unbelievable squalor and
vyre tc hedness. while in others. in the
purifeus II will secure a considerable
measures of comfort and convenience
Mt one was a modern house; not one
had a bathtub; one one had running wa
I. =. in most cases water had to be car
red SO Tar as TO preclude It's use in ade-
CONTINUED on Ninth Page.l