CONTENTS

CHAPTERPAGE
I.THE DISTRICT[1]
II.THE PEOPLE[8]
III.HOUSING[21]
IV.FURNITURE—SLEEPING ACCOMMODATION—EQUIPMENT FOR COOKING AND BATHING[46]
V.THRIFT[66]
VI.BUDGETS[75]
VII.FOOD: CHIEF ARTICLES OF DIET[94]
VIII.BUYING, STORING, AND CARING FOR FOOD[104]
IX.ACTUAL MENUS OF SEVERAL WORKING MEN’S FAMILIES[113]
X.AMOUNT SPENT A HEAD ON FOOD—PER WEEK, PER DAY[132]
XI.THE POOR AND MARRIAGE[146]
XII.MOTHERS’ DAYS[159]
XIII.THE CHILDREN[176]
XIV.THE PEOPLE WHO ARE OUT OF WORK[195]
XV.THE STANDARD OF COMFORT[211]
XVI.THE STATE AS GUARDIAN[223]

ROUND ABOUT A POUND A WEEK

CHAPTER I
THE DISTRICT

Take a tram from Victoria to Vauxhall Station. Get out under the railway arch which faces Vauxhall Bridge, and there you will find Kennington Lane. The railway arch roofs in a din which reduces the roar of trains continually passing overhead to a vibrating, muffled rumble. From either end of the arch comes a close procession of trams, motor-buses, brewers’ drays, coal-lorries, carts filled with unspeakable material for glue factory and tannery, motor-cars, coster-barrows, and people. It is a stopping-place for tramcars and motor-buses; therefore little knots of agitated persons continually collect on both pathways, and dive between the vehicles and descending passengers in order to board the particular bus or tram they desire. At rhythmic intervals all traffic through the arch is suspended to allow a flood of trams, buses, drays, and vans, to surge and rattle and bang across the opening of the archway which faces the river.