136 
Indiana University Studies 
In Table XVI, the living standards of the defectives of 
town and country have been classified as high, good, poor, and 
very poor. It will be quickly seen that in the urban group, 
33 of the 50 have very low standards of living and that out of 
that number only 2 are self-supporting. The rural figures 
show the reverse. Of the group listed as having very low 
living standards, 25 are self-supporting and only 2 are de- 
pendent on the township. 
In the country are to be found cases where the need for 
help is much greater than that of some urban families who 
are regularly receiving aid. John Hays and his family show 
this nicely. In the early summer of 1917, it was discovered 
that he and his family had had nothing to eat except boiled 
turnips for 3 weeks. They had sowed the seeds early in March 
and so long as there were plenty of the roots, John thought 
that he would not starve. The whole family was suffering 
with dysentery, and each one was so weak at the time 
they were found that it would have been impossible for them 
to go to town for help. This man must have known 
for a long time in advance that he would soon be without food 
for he should have known that even the turnips would not 
last always. It is certain in this case that the failure to apply 
for aid was not due to pride for the man had often before been 
a recipient of charity when he resided in town. 
Another family which is listed as self-supporting and 
which probably needs help more than two-thirds of those who 
receive it is the Sam Davis family in Township 12. The home 
conditions are of the worst, the whole interior being of a dirty, 
dull grey color. The house smells with the accumulated filth 
of years and the children are so dirty that it is almost im- 
possible to sit near them in school. At the time they were 
tested at the school, the held worker was decidedly nauseated 
by having to sit so near them. It is said that they often have 
nothing in the house to eat and that they never have a plenti- 
ful supply of food. There are 9 members in the family and 
no wage-earner except the father who cuts ties for the rail- 
road, when the spirit moves him to work. He owns his farm 
but even an intelligent farmer would hnd the working of it 
discouraging. 
The Wisely family is another which would probably be 
receiving aid if it were in town. They live in a tiny house, 1 
