The answer given by the table is that the foreign born family was older than the native born, whether it had had rehabilitation aid before applying to the Associated Charities or not. The facts indicate that the courage and resourcefulness of comparative youth whether of the foreign or of the native born, tended to make men under forty wait until all other resources had failed before appealing for aid.
The number of children shown in [Table 103] gives but the approximate number of living children of the different families. Though data were fairly complete for children, minor and adult, living at home, there were probably many instances in which children who were married or no longer members of the household, were not named on the statement card. The count, however, tells facts sufficiently interesting to a student of dependency to warrant its inclusion.
TABLE 103.—NUMBER OF CHILDREN IN FAMILIES HAVING CHILDREN APPLYING FOR RELIEF FROM ASSOCIATED CHARITIES, BEFORE FIRE AND AFTER FIRE
| Number of children | FAMILIES HAVING EACH SPECIFIED NUMBER OF CHILDREN | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Per cent | |||
| Before fire | After fire | Before fire | After fire | |
| One | 263 | 1,204 | 32.4 | 32.7 |
| Two | 205 | 989 | 25.3 | 26.9 |
| Three | 150 | 608 | 18.5 | 16.5 |
| Four | 85 | 370 | 10.5 | 10.0 |
| Five | 58 | 255 | 7.2 | 6.9 |
| Six | 26 | 130 | 3.2 | 3.5 |
| Seven | 9 | 69 | 1.1 | 1.9 |
| Eight | 9 | 36 | 1.1 | 1.0 |
| Nine or over | 6 | 21 | .7 | .6 |
| Total | 811 | 3,682 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
In the first period only 6 per cent of these families applying had more than five children; in the second only 7 per cent. Seventy-six per cent of the families in each period had three or a smaller number of children. Large families evidently played a small part in the dependency situation. It is true that the cases which presented serious problems of treatment were often those with a large number of children, but the actual number of such cases was small. The high average age of the applicant and the likelihood, therefore, of his having unrecorded children living away from home must, it is reiterated, be borne in mind.
The applicants in 75 per cent of the cases of the second period, mentioned in [Table 104], were found to be suffering from two or more disabilities. The classifications were taken from the case records.
TABLE 104.—CAUSES OF DISABILITY AMONG APPLICANTS FOR RELIEF FROM ASSOCIATED CHARITIES, BEFORE FIRE AND AFTER FIRE
| Disability | CASES IN WHICH THE CHIEF DISABILITY WAS AS SPECIFIED | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Per cent | |||
| Before fire | After fire | Before fire | After fire | |
| Death | 31 | 111 | 2.0 | 1.9 |
| Illness | 493 | 1,366 | 31.8 | 23.0 |
| Old age | 56 | 344 | 3.6 | 5.8 |
| Accident | 94 | 264 | 6.1 | 4.4 |
| Unemployment | 302 | 1,532 | 19.5 | 25.7 |
| Laziness | 26 | 184 | 1.7 | 3.1 |
| Desertion or divorce | 90 | 151 | 5.8 | 2.5 |
| Vicious habits | 143 | 295 | 9.2 | 5.0 |
| Other disabilities | 315 | 1,704 | 20.3 | 28.6 |
| Total | 1,550 | 5,951 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
The largest single disability for the second period was unemployment. Of those who applied to the office between June, 1907, and June, 1909, 1532, or 25.7 per cent, came for the alleged reason that they were out of work. The greater percentage of illness before than after the disaster is also noteworthy. Included in the other disabilities or handicaps that led to application for relief should be mentioned unsanitary surroundings and overstrain, the latter a term used to describe a general break-down of nerve due to the conditions following the disaster. Under the caption “vicious habits” are included all cases in which drunkenness, the drug habit, brutality, licentiousness, or professional mendicancy had played their part in bringing persons to be a charge upon a charity office. Add to those classed as having vicious habits those who were recorded as being lazy, as having deserted or divorced a partner, and 49 of those reported under “other disabilities” who had been neglectful or had served a penal term, and we have a total of 679 persons of the second period who may be said to have come to make application, or caused others to apply, by reason of the effects of wrong living. As this count does not include those whose illnesses resulted from evil practices or those whose unemployment resulted from disabling vice, it is not complete. It indicates, however, that dependency after the fire did not come in an exceptionally large number of cases as a result of evil living. Before the fire vicious habits were reported as responsible for 9.2 per cent of all the cases of distress.