 World War I was raging at the time and the export of bacon and other meats created a huge demand which kept the Barrett's gainfully employed through their agency for the two local bacon factories.Tragedy was to strike the family again two years later when the eldest brother, Christy, died at the age of 30 after contracting pneumonia during the great flu epidemic.The onus then fell on Joe and his fourteen-year-old brother Jimmy to hold the business together, however, in spite of the economic realities of the time the Barrett's survived.