The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1905-01-18
TWENTY CHILDREN
...Il.NIE.lG |. \ | !.
HUMBLE CITIZEN OF, GERMANY.
IS FATHER OF "A SCORE OF
BOYS AND GIRLS. 5t,


BERLIN, Jan. 17.-one OF the
queerest forms Of Christmas munifi.
cence ever known in Germany is the
raising OF a popular fund by lead.
Ing newspaper for the. family of Herr
and Frau Ludwig, who have just been
blessed with their twentieth child.
The newcomer. a girl, arrived late in
November, but as tho family provider
Is an tumble employe of the city gas.
works, earning only $3.50 a week, 1t
became necessary for sweet charity
to intervene to insure baby No. 20
warm advent into the world In this
cold and rainy winter which Germany
Is lweathering. Within two weeks
more than $1,000 has been raised In
honor Of the family, which is doing
such noble work in building up Der.
Inns population, to say nothing Of sew
,erai wagonloads of food and clothing
which have arrived at tie tenement
home since the ''LokalIAnzieger''
brought the Ludwigs' dire needs 10
public notice,
The Ludwig family now consists Of
parents and IS children, { OF the of.
springs having died, but as the young
husbands of two of the eldest daugh.
ters-girls of IS and 20-i1ave Just
had to begin their military service,
Grandma Ludwig has had to take her
daughters back home, and with them
their four youngsters, so that Papa
Ludwig's $3.50 per week still has to
provide for 10 hungry mouths. The
married girls do domestic work In
outside families and bring home few
marks week and Mother Ludwig un.
til now has found It possible to earn
extra money by sewing. but the
birth Of her last baby. a few weeks
ago, brought on an attack Of semi.
blindness, which has incapacitated
her for anything but taking care Of
her brood. Barring her eye com.
plant she is in splendid health, and
until now has never experienced ILL.,
effects Of any kind from her strenuous
motherhood. All her children living
are healthy and sound. The money
raised by the newspaper subscription
is being paid out to the family in
weekly sums, and enough has been
contributed to insure them tidy in.
come for many weeks to come.
The arrival of Frau Ludwig's TWEEN.
tieth youngster has provoked deluge
Of medical and scientific statistics as
to "big births" in Germany and else.
where Professor Olshausen reported
to the Berlin Medical Society the 9TH
er night that he had run across the
case of woman who had had twins
eight times and triplets, and in addl-
ton to that brood of 10, had given
birth to six children besides-25 in
all. The Professor said that abnormal
birth seemed to have been inherited by
this woman, as her mother had had
twins seven times and her grand.
mother had gone through the same
experience twelve times. The pro.
fessor said that this case appeared to
be conclusive evidence that liability
to "twinhood" was Unbeatable by
daughter from mother.
Paul Rothe and wife workpeople in
the suburb Of Schmargendorf, Berlin,
had their eighteenth child, strapping
boy, in October. Thirteen of their
children still live. The record for
male children in Germany is held by
a worthy shopkeeper couple named
Horack, in Wiessenfels, which has II
big boys living, -Four children have
died, two girls and two boys. Seven