FEW POOR PEOPLE.

Taranaki Daily News, 5 January 1921, Page 4

FEW POOR PEOPLE.

YEAR OF MUCH SICKNESS. HIGH PRICES A BURDEN. Work among the poor and needy in New Plymouth during the past year was referred to by a Salvation Army officer in the course of an interview with a Daily News reporter yesterday. He stated that in New Plymouth there was a certain scope for the work, but taking the town right through it was very prosperous, and in the population of about twelve thousand there were not many cases of really genuine hardship. During the year the Army had distributed between sixty and seventy parcels of clothing to deserving cases, and thanks were due to those people who had sent the donations. Sickness of the breadwinner often cast a burden on a family, in which ease some relief was welcome. The year had been noted throughout the Dominion for the amount of sickness which had been encountered. The shortage of housing had been responsible for many cases of overcrowding, and where two or three families are compelled to live in the same house there is a detrimental effect on the home life, which has not been for the general welfare of the children. The high price of clothing had also told its tale, and the cost of items such as blankets has been a great handicap to the housewife with a numlber of children to care for.