Evening journal., 1919-10-03
SETS Up
Fresh WAR VAIL
Wgcs Raised, Cost of Liv-
ing Advanced, Under
nouriShment Prevails
dRTH RATE
is LOWERED
DUBLIN, ireland, Oct, a.-sOmetimeS

DUBLIN, ireland, oct. 3.-Sometimes
lne hears the argument:
ireland Was never so well ON u
didn't feel The War at ALL
Didn't it9 Asw the Irish social work
'crs. Look, they say; at the vital sls-
liistics. People could not AFFORD 70
marry. The already low vitality OF ine
I country grew less. so tuberculosis IN
creased and the birthrste fell. inns
they say, was true OF all Ireland, Dul
especially Of the cities.
Babies certainly got scarcer IN re
land: in 1913 there were, lOD,Osi paDles
horn but in 1917 the number droppeu
10 s6.37O. tuberculosis jumped pe-
fore the war Ireland's tuberculosis ra'c
mt her i'm a class with Serbia, ana
since The war il has increased. Much
Of the tuberculosis is said TO nave De-h
hrourht hack by returned emigrlnls'
and during ihe war the annual frar-
Ves, migration OF 5000 boys and girls
ia England and scotland was Increased
NV a munition migration which tolaled
10000 placements.
Housing. ordinarily is very bad; IN
The proclaimed town Of WestpOrt,
which. like many OF its neighDoring
towns. sends IFS harN est quota abroad,
there are many boys with an English
cold" according 10 Dr. Birmingham OF
Tie WestpOrt Union, these boys ac-
1uire consumption across the Channel
where they sleep on bags in dark, i'll
ventilated barns called paddy houses. -
Whether bad housing Of munition
workers tended to- raise the rate or pot
az In
from a.3s7 to 6.6SO. And marriages
were fewer. The whole country was
said TO be becoming "sligO-like,' for
in certain parts OF Sligo those who did
not emigrate were confronted with the
cost OF subsistence and have never
married. Weddings in 1913 we're 22,2jG
and in 1917 dropped TO 2i,013.
Similar war 'well-bcing" is evident
in ihe cities-only intensified. shortly
before the close Of the war Lionel
Gordon-Smith. social investigator at
plunkett House in Dublin. made an in
curry into the condition Of the poor In
he city. and his findings show the
-rason for the lowered vitality there.
.lc found "a vast number Of people with
insufficient food 10 nourish themselves
snd their families. This was partly
uc 70 unemployment"
Among the organized workers alone
there were 1000 idle in 1917. and IL vas
partly due 10 low. real wages, for
while The organized unskilled workers
weekly wages increased from Sj.S2 to
s6S1. io support a wife and three chill
dren on the poverty food line cost
S122 so Dublin found a little goes
e. i'm
1913 Inc number Of births were 9,635.
and in 1917 they dropped TO 6,91e. And
Nhilc there was a war decrease IN
tuberculosis from lii 10 1911. due to
lhe efforts Of the Woman's Health AS
sociaiion. Dublin still possesses one ef
The largest tuberculosis rates Of any
city in The civilized world
Belfast showed similar war results
but The facts Of too much. not too
little 10 do. Aeroplane linen was want
ed in rush orders or the textile work
crs, the majority are women, and TO
marry and keep on at the MILL is
common occurrence in Belfast Even
in peace the bearing OF children Is
difficult for these women,
and the devastation Of tuberculosis
Or. II. W. Bailie now medical
superintendent officer Of health for
Belfast, says:
premature births are found TO be
frequent among women who work in
mills and factories. Many women who
appear 10 be utterly unable for such
work are through stress Of circum-
stance compelled TO work up 10 the
last day 90 confinement. This would |
account for young and delicate children !
found by health visitors"
tuberculosis comes Oftener 10 the
spnners than TO the other workers. /
Wet spinning is the practice; women
waists. open at the breast hair pulled (
hack tight TO prevent the irritation Of
loose ends on skin made tender by the |
warm, wet air. bare feet on the sloppy
ilOOr-snatch up their shaWls at leaN ing |
time and run Out in the cold or rain. |
Under the war strain. births in Bel |
fast fell from 1926 TO Sis and tuber- |
culosis deaths rose from Sii TO 932
\ peculiar fact is noticeable about /
Dash tuberculosis that is not 10 be OBJ |
served in The tuberculosis rates OF |
really prosperous countries. More |
females than males die OF IT, Dr. An |
drew Trimble, chief tuberculosis Of /
Ger in Belfast. 10 summing up the low |
vitality conditions OF ireland, senses
this fact
In Belfast and in Ireland generally" /
he says. more females than males /
suffer from tuberculosis. I'm Great I
Great Britain the reverse is the case.
In former years, however, they had 1
much the same experience in Great |
Britain as we have here, but it would !
be necessary TO go back over % years 4
10 a point where their mortality from |
tuberculosis among women equaled |
ours. Il would seem that the hardships /
associated with poor economic cOndl- /
lions, insufficient wages and housing.
want OF fresh air, good food and sur |
ilcient clothins-tell more heavily on
the female than on the male. and that .
with better conditions OF living tuber- /
culosis among women is automatically |
reduced. We may hope, therefore. |
that as Great Britain progressed so
shall We"