The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-10
MUCH WHEAT BEING
 SENT ID FRANCE Turkish War Having Effect
 on Prices
WHITE PLAGUE FIGHT
Two Plans Being Urged by Which to Fight the Contagion-Americans Will Be Asked to Coach
 French Athletes

| Paris, November 9-(Special) )-The American farmer has evidently "discov-
 cred" France as a market for his wheat
 for during the last few months his ex-
 ports to this country have doubled. They
 will be quadrupled if the war continues
 and the Russian crop is shut out because
 of the danger of navigation in the Black
 Sea and the detention of Greek vessels by
 the porte.
 | Wheat from the orient is largely con-
 sumed. especially in the south of
 France. on account of it's richness in
 gluten, but the American flour will sup ply the deficiency until the arrival of the
 surplus crop from Argentina, Australia
 and India. Nothing more than local
 aovannce in prices is to be feared. i On the other hand the closing of the
 Dardanelles, if effectual, will entail a
 dearth in oil. This will not only effect
 the automobile industries, which con-
 sume vast quantities of gasoline. most
 of which comes from the near east
 but a large category of manufacturers | dependent on heavy or light mineral
 oils. Already the price of automobile essence is high and threatens to go much | higher.
 The fight against the white plague" | or tuberculosis, finds a divided camp in France. some urging compulsory decla-
 ration of the disease and others rigid rules for the inspection of houses. l Every house in Paris has its set of records in the offices of the health bu- reau. This comprises a ground plan
 upon which are clearly marked the
 water supply pipes. wells, sewers, | drains etc; a detailed description of the
 building; 8 sheet containing the number
 of deaths from contagious diseases occur
 ring each day in the house; another sheet , giving the number of times the building
 has been dsnfected, together with the dates and causes a number of sheets 1 describing the notifications prescribed by 1 the health bureau to be executed in the house, and whether they have been fal- l lowed with effect.
 After four years operation the system
 gives the following results Of the S0,653 | houses which Paris contains, the deaths l from tuberculosis during period of ten 1 years, that is to say 101 496, occurred in | 2S,477 houses. A further careful examina- l tion of the records of these 3S477 houses ] clearly established that in Paris tubercu-
 losis is localized, that it is concentrated
 on certain points, always the same, and outside of which its ravages do not ex- | ceed those of any other disease.
 1 From this the vital importance of the non-sanitary dwelling as factor in the l spread of tuberculosis Is clearly demon l strated.
 The intervention of the health author
 ities is brought about in two ways l! By the denunciation of one of the ten.
 ants of a non-sanitary dwelling. or by . the fact that the mortality from con. tagious diseases in the house assumes excessive proportions Tn either case the building is visited by inspectors whc ! make a detailed report, as result oi which the landlord is ordered to carry out the repairs or alterations deemed necessary, even to the partial construc- ton of the building. Thus, in 1905, 27C I houses. giving shelter to some 26,oOl persons, were visited, and 2600 rooms
 without light or air were found as a
 result of which numerous notifications
 structural or otherwise, were enforced on
 the landlords. Tn some exceptionally bad
 cases the buildings were appropriated and demolished.
 American coaches will be asked to help prepare the French athletes for the next Olympic games. This is the ous-
 come of the poor performance of French | athletes at Stockholm and the brilliant showing made there by the Americans. 1 France has taken the lesson of the games to heart and is forming an or ganization already to get ready repre- | sentative and properly trained team for | the Berlin games.