The chronicle=news., 1912-11-16
News From, the
Nation s Metropolis

burden of the public correspondence
reduced. The realization OF the
gravity OF this institution has led to
the holding here OF the first Congress
of Mental Hygiene which has ever
been brought together for the pur-
pose OF making an organised and In
telligcnt fight against insanity. The
Congress has demonstrated that
many cases IL taken In their incip-
iency could he cured and that such
a conservation OF the national sanity
would mean saving OF many mil
liosn annually. What IL chiefly need
cd to bring about this end Is II bet
ter understanding OF the causes OF
insanity. and accordingly Il series OF
tests have been compiled for the de-
lection OF delayed mental develops
ment or weakness from which so
many cases OF insanity develop and
which II discovered In time could be
successfully treated. Several hundred
thousand New Workers are now bus
lily applying these tests not only To
themselves but to their children as
toforc been included among the ma
tionai resources needing cnserva-
tion. the first congress OF Mental
Hygiene has proven y successful ns
[ oindicate the birth ( new and
Important movement to this end.
A new and apparently satisfactory
a0I ~ tNV nf hn fs
now being tested By at least few of
the housewives here In New York.
where the question Is perhaps hard
cr to settle than anywhere else in
the world. And tho solution. like
most gcnupine remedies. is simple. II
consists simply In treating servants
like human beings. New York Is
rubbing its eyes yet to over the re-
mnrkabtc discovery. though. Ms us
side foremost. the feature being that
the mistress served tea to their own
maids. The woman In question are
OF the German Housewives
society and they attribute their sue
cess In keeping their girls to the us,
OF plain. common sense. Al meet
Ing OF the society the other day they
Invited NJ their guests the servants
who had been in their employ for
two years or more. Sixteen OF these
girls received r!';s Of plain gold pins
In the form or bee. a reward for
impovir- the shining hours o: t31
days Mt least. There were
gold rings aad bracelets for thosc
who rc-cnllstai Tor four and six
ycars. and then $40 each was given
to the three girls who had been en-
ploycd. two for fourteen and one for
sixteen ycais In thc same family.
Then the m'strcsses served tea nnd
coffee and coffee cake. and they hah
II very German and sociab!c after
noon. II wGs n charming little af-
fair" said u young woman who was
present. though neither as mistress
nor as maid The liris behaved splcn-
d!dly aud they were treated like any
guests. couldn't help thinking how
different that was from the way most
servants are treated. Pcrsons ;oj
whom this system does not appeal.
however. are pointing out that car
ricd to its widest application II
would simply mean that half the time
the servants would he mistrcsscs.
and the mistrosscs. servants. thus
creating Il novel balance o. power.
The oldest inhabitant Of New York
has been discovered at last. A public
ceremony has Just been held to celc-
bratc the attainment OF an age which
IL unQuesti tionably not a day less than
Two hundred and twenty-five years.
Ihe Oldest New Yorker is not OF for
cign extraction. though 225 years
was only few thousand souls. and
enough the veteran has re-
nothing OF the stirring
events that have passed close by In
al these years. Az a matter OF fact.
the aged resident is n huge tulip tree
which grows near Spuyten Duyvil
creck. up at the northern end of
Island. The great tree
has II double trunk which rises in
two joined columns nearly seven
feet through. Its upper branches
reach 123 rect above the ground. ltS
roots are fixed in thick bed of oy
ster shells which were left there by
the Indians. who used the place for
A fishing ground long before Henry
Hudson sailed up the North river.
rhe children from one of the uptown
public schools marched down to the
little hollow where the old tree
stands and with hundred or more
yrownups held jollification which
good deal of speaking and
and the unveiling of n con-
crete slab. fixed in n hollow of the
giant runk which bears n suitable
The Park commissions
er foretold n healthy life for two or
three centuries more for the guest OF
honor. and wished 1t luck in avoiding