to cast upon others.
She had well earned her pair of boots, and sincerely do I hope that
when her poor feet get accustomed to their circumscribed area, and the
pressure of well-made boots has become comforting, that she will derive
pleasure from them, even though they represent "the first charity that I
have ever received."

But is it not wonderful, this marvellous self-denial of the very poor!
Other spheres of life doubtless produce many noble lives and heroic
characters, but was ever a braver deed done than this feeble and weary
old maid did?

And it was all so natural, so commonplace, so very matter-of-fact, for
when I spoke warmly of her deed she said very simply, "Well, what else
could I do!"

And in the underworld, amidst the dirt and squalor, the poverty, the
high rents, and the poor, poor earnings of poor, poor women, there are
plenty like her.

God grant that when the lads can work they will lighten her burdens and
cheer her heart by working for her who had worked so hard for them.

Listen also to the story of the blouse-makers disclosed to the upper
world by the Press.

"A pathetic story of poverty was told to the Hackney coroner, who held
an inquiry into the death of Emily Langes, 59, a blouse-maker of Graham
Road, Dalston. Death was due to starvation.

"Annie Marie, an aged sister, said they had both been in great poverty
for a very long time. They had worked at blouse-making as long as they
could, but that work had fallen off so much that really all they had got
to live on was by selling off their home.

"They had not enough to live on, and had to pay four shillings and
sixpence rent.

"The coroner: 'Selling your home will soon come to an end. You had best
apply in the proper direction for help; the parish must bury her. Don't
go on ruining yourself by selling off things.'

"Mr. Ingham, relieving officer for the No. 7 ward at Hackney, said that
he knew the old couple. He remembered giving relief to both sisters
about two months ago, but had had no application since. He offered the
'House' to the living sister.

"A juror: 'Are questions put which might upset a proud respectable old
couple when they ask for relief?'

"Witness: 'Of course we have to inquire into their means pretty
closely.'

"The coroner: 'It seems pretty clear that the old couple were too proud
to ask for help.'

"The jury returned a verdict that Emily Langes died from exhaustion
caused by want of food."

But listen aga