So whenever I carried a telegram I knew that I was the bearer of bad news.

Accidents happened in the mines and iron mills.

And when a man was killed, it often meant his wife and babies would face hunger, for the jobs were not the kind for women and children; muscular men were needed.

Aside from the occupation of housewife, there was nothing for a woman to do in those days except to take in washing or sewing.
Of the many death messages that I bore to the workers' homes in Sharon, few found a home that was able to last a day after the burial of the bread-winner.

He had failed to make provision for such an accident,--no savings in the bank, no life insurance.