Bisbee daily review., 1912-09-08
FRANCE PLANS
 CURE STORk
 OF HOOKWORM
Records Show Falling Off in Births of 32,S69 as Com pared with Preced-
 ing Year

FAKES, Sept 1:-The French gov ernment is considering serious meas ures for combating the decline in the
 national birth rate. which last year showed 8 falling off of 32 .369 births
 as compared with 1910 The Minister of Finance has appointed commis- sion to investigate the causes of the decline and to suggest remedies. M
 klotz himself will preside and among
 the members will be B. Ribot. M. Cochery, Nj. Bienyenu Martin and NJ.
 Caillaux
 In emphasizing the importance of immediate action if France is to main tain her position in the world. II. Jacques Bertillon, the eminent statis-
 tician and brother Of the inventor Of
 the finger print system of identifica-
 ton, points out that. whereas a cen
 tury ago 27 per cent of the population
 of the Great European powers were
 French, today the proportion is only II per cent Formerly French was
 the most widely-spoken language. to-
 day it is the mother tongue Of only 45.OO0,0O0 as compared with loo .0OO.-
 OO0 who speak German and 130, ,OO0.- O00 who speak English
 As for remedies, M Bertillon insists
 that Frenchmen must be taught to re-
 gard child as a burden which it's
 father supports for the benefit of the whole community. In order that a 1 family should pay what it owes to the
 state, he says, it should consist of at
 least three children, two to fill the places of the parents when they die.
 the third to fill the gaps caused by { those who die before reaching adult
 age. In order to promote this end NJ. Bertillion proposes a reduction of tax
 ation upon fathers of three or more living children, in proportion to the number of living offspring-a system already adopted in Prussia. Saxony. Seryia. Norway, Sweden and parts of | Switzerland The laws Of succession ] should be modified and formaIities of marriage simplified. Mothers Of large families should be assisted in various ways, and especial provision should | be made for widows left with children. Finally NJ. Bertillon suggests that
 among the humber classes of public servants those candidates for employ ment by the state who have children should be considered as eligible in proportion to the size of their families. French agriculturists, so sOrely tried
 by the prolonged drought of last year
 are now visited by another plague
 in the shape Of a severe epidemic of fOOtand mouth disease, which made it's appearance in the department of [ the Saone and Loire, and is assuming
 alarming proportions. I5.G00 to S0,-
 600 cattle out of a total of 100 900 are reported to be already infected. The stgiCtest precautions are being taken t0 prevent the further spread of the
 disease. which already affects the
 'istriCts Of ChRTolais. LOuhans, Autun.
 Macon and ChalOns. Markets have
 been closed in many places and the ! transport of animals from the infect ed zones strictly prohibited
 The tribes of Israel when they fled from Egypt made a mistake in think ing they crossed the Red Sea, accord ing to Professor Raphael Blanchard, Of the French Academy of Medicine. . They did not even cross the gulf Os Suez, he says. but simply the bitter lakes which cover the axis of the
 isthmUs subsequently pierced by NJ. de Lesseps The waters of those tdhts are lItqutHuN dS req as DlOOl
 and this led the Hebrews into the be- lief that it was the Red Sea. The intensity of the redness is in exact
 proportion to the degree Of salinity. The color is not due to the presence of any chemical substance dissolved in the water, but to myriads of little Ted worms.
 The general decadence of diction
 and the proposal to form special class for its teaching at the Conser-
 atoire, has raised storm of contro- versy among the eminent authorities
 on the drama in theory and practice.
 Jules Truffier of the Comedie Fran
 caise, says that diction Is an aristo.
 cratic art all the rest being acces-
 sories to it: and it is disappearing. because no one will take the pains to acquire it. The celebrated tragedian
 Mounet-Suify is not SO -pessimistie, and is of opinion that such class
 would lead to excellent results. Jules
 Claretie, dramatic author. critic ana
 manager. is sceptical: long experience
 has destroyed all his illusions.
 Sarah Bernhardt as usual is clear
 and emphatic. She says: If a class be started for diction there is no req
 son why one should not also be start ed for pronunciation, delivery, deport- ment, etc. The duty of the professor. is to teach all that to his pupils. there is no B-A-Ba in our art. It
 is either mediocre. or good. or very
 good. or marvellous Diction almost always is natural gift Bartet, Re
 jane, Granier, Guitry and the great Coquelin had an admirable diction
 from the beginning of their careers.
 In a word, class for diction would
 be. in my opinion, absolutely useless.
 The French navy will create a rec