The Washington times. (Washington [D.C.]) 1901-1902, 1901-08-26
FOREIGN TOPICS.

FOREIGN TOPICS.
The new Guinness Trust buildings
which Lord Rowton recently opened, in
London afford substantial proof of the
determined efforts now being made to
solve the most difficult social problem of
the age-the healthy housing of the poor.
1t is calculated that 500 900 of the popu-
latfon of the greatest and richest city In
the world live under conditions that are
menace to the health and safety not
only of those people themselves, but of
the city generally. Seventy thousand of
London's poor live four in a room and
1S.c0o six in 4 room.
To great extent the English army Is
recruited from these classes. but authori-
ties are agreed that it is next to impossi-
Bile for youth so reared to begin life
endowed with either the mental. physi-
cal. or moral strength necessary to
make him a good soldier.
From a purely economic standpoint. a
single man is better off in n Rowton
house and a married couple more COM
fortably lodged in a Guinness Trust fat
than they would be. the former in
common dosshouse and the latter in a
squalid house in a noiSome SUM
For 10 shiliings week "A bachelor can
lodge ana 1eeu nlmSelt Wisely ana wen
in a Rowton house; in the Guinness Trust
tenements a family, say of three, can live
in comparative luxury on about n guinea
a week. And they enjoy comforts which
seem strangely out of proportion to the
amount of the rent.
The only qualifications necessary for
admission to the Guinness dwellings, are
that the applicants earnings must not
total more than q shillings week; that
he and his family must be of good be-
havior, and that the tenant pay his rent
regularly. Lord Iveagh, who. when Sir
L. c. Guinness. Bart. founded the trust
with a gift of 100000, fixed the maximum
at Ell. but owing to the general rise in
the wares of the laboring classes the linn
1t has been raised by shillings.
There are now $500 people housed In
the eight groups of Guinness tenementS,
and the average weekly earnings of each
tenant is 81 0S I'D.
Hundreds of applications have been
made for admission to the new palace
not more than fifty tenants had been ac-
cepted- Men earning as much as 60 los
a week had sought to be included in the
new tenantry. One applicant who filled
III the form stated that his wages were
"a shillngs. This was found 20 be in
correct, whereupon he confessed that
he earned ~ shillings a week. but did not
wish his wife to know.
Arrangements have been concluded for
the resumption of business in Prussia of
American insurance companies, which
have been excluded from the Kingdom
for the past six years.
The officials of thu Insurance compan-
les have completed exhaustive examina-
tions of the new German law covering
the control of insurance throughout the
Empire and find that 1t. removes the con-
ditions which the American companies
have hitherto regarded as prohibitory.
t-f,e
strict supervision of all accounts and in
yestmentS.
When the colossal distiIlery at Pontar-
ier-where the most famous and finest
ibsinthe consumed in France Is made
was burned the event was Immediately
discussed in every town and village, every
PAPER displaying the news conspicuously
and many one publishing editorials
discussing the consequences
A comic feature of the situation pointed
tut by the Figaro" is that everybody
seemed Immediately to want a drink of
he green fairy and the consumption on
hat day is estimated at ten times the
Usual amount. The proprietors of the
cafes and of some of the bars
ost their heads. thinking that the supply
would soon be short. So they doubled the
etail price But the next day the dis
III d
thanks for public sympathy and
announcing that the wholesale houses
we're amply stocked to meet the demand
mil arrangements could be made to start
vhich had been bought and the work of
begun The burned works
overed acres and employed several thou
ands. The loss was total.
The spectacle of the CONFEDERATION is said
o have been magnificent. The vast reser-
oirs of alcohol shot flames 500 feet into !
he air, while rivers of burning liquid
owed down the hillsides. The day after |
he fire the huge storage cellars caved |
4 under the weight of the debris and the |
crushing watts and barrels con- |
aiming more than 100000 gallons of alb |
inthe held for full ripening. The river |
or miles below was distinctly favored. |
o that all the cities drawing their water |
upply from it had nothing but diluted I
bsinthe to drink. cook and wash with.
Prof. thinner, a leading Berlin special
II in mental diseases, has been investi-
ating the causes of insanity among wo-
len and has come to the conclusion if |
Tomeu are admitted into competition |
18th men the inevitable result will be
increase of insanity among
he women. He finds that the percentage
lmost double that of the men teachers.
l
Austria, and Russia.
Enquiries were also made about women !
nployed as -telegraphers, saIeswomen |
nd in the telephone service, and furth-
rmore, with regard to women engaged |
! the Swiss matchmaking trade. These
Inquiries showed that in the occupa lions |
a far larger proportion of wo- !
len than men succumb to mental dis
lSeS.
NJ. Paul Edmond Cousins liking for
arts cost him dear. After eleven SEN
noes of various kinds, he finally got one
penal servitude for life in French Gut
ia- He escaped once, but was recap
lred- He afterward escaped with eleven
IN a raft. which was
in a tempest. Nine were drown
|. The three survivors foated three !
iys on Il single plank, and were finally |
cked up and taken to Venezuela In
cad of remaining in South America
)usin could not resist the desire to see
arts again. He came to Paris was ar |