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PAGE CICHT THE OSHAWA DAILY TIMES, SATURDAY, JUNE 29, 1929 Housing Shortage Acute In England, 35,000 in London Alone Houseless Landlords Blamed for Eva-f sion of Rent Restrictions Act Driving Tenants From Their Homes 27,000 COUPLES LIVING IN ROOMS ---- One Agent Received no less Than 1127 Applications . For one House He Advertised to Rent London--The housing situation in this country--in figures--is better to- day than it was in 1911; yet there are 250,000 families still living in rooms and 35000 families clamoring for 'living accommodation in London alone. % 5 The solution lies not merely in the building of more houses, but in stop- ping the activities of various land- lords who have driven thousands of tenants from their homes by clever evasions of the Rent Act, Comparisons; The situation in figures is shown by 'the following table - giving the number of private families in England and Wales, and the houses, flats and tenements they lived in before and after the war: : Population, 'houses, flats 32,271,588 = 6,577,310 34,280,281 7,473,576 Today (ést) 36,000,000 8,200,000 These figures show that in 1911 there was a house or a flat for every 49 persons; today there is a house or flat for every 4.4 persons, and the obvious conclusion is that there should be less overcrowding. Harold Bellman, general secretary of the Abbey road Building society, and one of the foremost experts on housing in the country, said: "The number of houses built aa« nually in the forty largest towns in England and Wales between 1901 and 1910 was stated to be 28919, and the number fell annually to 16,526 in 1911. On the other hand, the .average annual increase in the population was 336987, requiring, at an average den- sity of 4.6 persons per house, 73,258 dwellings every year." The Ministry. of Health decided, after the war, that 500,000 new houses would have to be built in order to end the housing shortage. This figure was subsequently alter- ed to 800,000. Yet, since 1919, 1,274,588 new hous- es have been erected--a figure which not only wipes off the deficit caused by the way, but creates a "surplus" of houses/in comparison to the pre- war rate(of progress. Profiteers In 1911 there were 27,000 couples living in rooms; today there are a quarter of a million, yet, comparative- ly speaking, there should be more houses for these couples to live in than there were in 1911, hy, then, is it more difficult to 'obtain a house today than it was be- fore the war? The Ministry of Health, while admitting that the com- plaints are justified, refuses to ans- wer this question; the War Rents League, formed for the protection of tenants' interests naturally places the blame entirely upon the landlords. There are 35000 families in Great- er London on the "waiting list" for new houses, yet there are enough DAVES LIQUOR BAN FLUTTER LONDON Diplomatic Circles Stirred by Decision Making Em- bassy Dry London.--Ambassador Charles G. Dawe's intimation that he will not serve liquor, at the Ambassadorial re- sidence in Prince's Gate was the sub- ject of lively discussion in diplomatic circles and the American colony of London. The official residence of the Ameri- can Ambassador is certainly the only dry embassy home in London and Ambassador 'Dawes' action in eschew- ing alcoholic beverages is a depart- ure from the rule of all American Ambassadors before him. Among members of the Embassy staff the dry move is regarded as simply an expression of the Ambas- sador's personal attitude. "I never served alcohol in my home in Washington or in my home any- where before that, and 1 see no rea- son why I should change now that I am in London," Ambassador Dawes explained. It is not considered likely that he will seek to impose his own rule on members of the Embassy staff for their own private homes, British prohibition advocates found © much to elate 'them in his attitude, which swings the American Embassy in London into the dry column along with the British Embassy at Wash- ington. modate them--if they could afford to pay the rent. There are, for example, 2,000 mas- ried couples in Hammersmith who want to leave their rooms, Half of them will spend another five years of their married life without a home. A Hampstead agent received 1,127 applications for a house to let last week. Eighty per cent. of the appu- cants were prepared to pay only up to 25s. per week. The house, un- furnished was let for 32s. 6d. The rent before the war was 9s 7d. Thousands of Londoners have been driven from their homes during the past thee years by landlords who found a loophole in the Rent Act, and tricked tenants into signing an agreement which gave them the al- ternative of paying much higher rents or leaving. Profiteering in houses is rampant in every one of the 26 London bor- oughs, so far as uncontrolled houses arc concerned. The statistics of the building socie- ties make remarkable reading. Every year 80,000 people become owners of their own houses, and the societies continue to advance money at the rate of more than $5,000,000 per year. le total for last year was £56,000, But millions of pounds have been lost by these new owners, The av- erage cqst of working class houses (non-parlor type), based on tender prices, has been as follows: 1914 1926 1929 This means that the man who bought his house in 1920 has already lost more than half his capital in the depreciation of house property. But, of course, as that danger no longer exists,*as prices are more or empty houses in the area to accom- less stabilized. Competing at British Regatta AT HENLEY REGATTA The Royal Henley regatta will be held next week in England and Canadians are interested particul- arly in the race for the Diamond Sculls, which was won last year by Joe Wright of Toronto, who is defending this year against his club mate, Jack Guest, and 14 other scullers and in the Grand Thallenge Cup race in which: the Argonaut senior eight is entered. In their trial on June 27, the Ar- gos rowed in 6 mins. 59 sec. and the Thames crew .in .7 min. 7 seconds. Wright and Guest also had a couple of light outings but neither attempted any time trial. The photograph shows Wright in his shell in his first outing in England, ] LORD JUSTICE SANKEY Who as Lord Chancellor in the British government, reads the speech from the throne at the formal opening of parliament. RETIREMENT OF FAMOUS SCOTLAND YARD DETEGTIVE Frederick Wensley Solve More Murder Mysteries Than Any Living ¥ Man ji London. --Credited with solution of more murder mysteries than any liv- ing man, Frederick Wensley, at the age of sixty-four has announced he would give over his duties as chief of the criminal intelligence division of Scotland Yard to devote his time to his garden. The control of the division was ex- pected to revert back to the five area superintendents, kiiown as "The Big Five," since the post of constable now held by Wensley was created more as! a compliment to his remarkable re- cord of crime detection than as a permanent police office. Decline Time Extension Chief Constable Wensley plans to quit Scotland Yard at the end of July. He declined a special five year ex- tension in office beyond the age limit, offered as a signal mark of confi- dence on the part of the highest po- lice authorities in Great Britain. His career began in the Limehouse district. He came to know every nook of Chinatown and the East End and the location of anarchists' haunts and dens of iniquity in the slummy streets of Shoreditch, Whitechapel, Hackney and Wapping. Thirty years of his life were spent in ferreting about this queer underworld. With his hawk-like features, deep set, piercing eyes and bushy eye- brows, Wensley resembles Lord Reading and really looks the part that novelists and playwrights have assigned the detective, Stranger Than Fiction In real life his work often shamed the amateur exploits of his proto- types in fiction. A big armchair on the second floor of the Scotland Yard building overlooking the slug- gish Thames half a block from the House of Parliament, was where most of his murder mysteries were solved. He would sit for hours at a time staring out at the river while studying every angle of the case in hand, and if anyonc disturbed him-- well, no one ever did. When he left this armchair things began to hap- pen. His most 'recent case was in bring- ing to book Sergeant Goddard, one of his associates in justice, for bri- bery in cognection with West Lnd night club Tife. Jack the Ripper Hunt Back in 1888, the year after he joined the force as a plain police- man, Wensley took part in the fa- mous Whitechapel hunt for "Jack the Ripper," who murdered many young girls. He shared in the Syd- ney street seige when a group of murderers barricaded themselves in a house and fought a battalion of Scots Guards. One of his most famous exploits 1 was the case of the mystery house when he found Tha Maltby, the tail- or, who had been living for weeks behind barricaded doors alone with the bodies of the women he had killed. With Only Two Clues One of his most astute solutions was in the murder of Madame Ger- ald," which he solved with only two clues to work on, a laundry mark and a picce of paper with the cryp- tic words, "Blodie Belgium." Most of his cases were sordid murders which were not. sensational but which required much skill - to solve. The custom of throwing dice for Bibles, annually .observed under the will, dated 1778, of Dr. Robert Wilde, of St. Ives, Hunts, took place re- cently. The, cost of the Bibles is de- frayed from the rent of an orchard known as "Bible Orchard." Mr. and Mrs. E. MM. Longshaw, senior, of Cliftonville, formerly of Beckenhani, celebrated their golden wedding in the presence of their 14 children and grandchildren. Mrs. Adelaide Hawken, J.P, of Leigh-on-Sea, who for 10 years was a member of the Southend corpora- tion, died recently. Pictures of the British Isles | Aeroplanes Used in DUKE AND DUCHESS OF YORK Who recently made an extensive tour of Scotland, where they were received with the greatest of en- thusiasin. At Inverness, the capital of the Highlands, they were given a particularly rousing reception, and were showered with gifts from the ancient city and its public bodies. Amount Spent By British on Drink Estimated Over Billion Methodist Conference Meeting for a Week's Assembly, Expresses Regret at the Waste of so Large a Sum on Liquor. Especially in The Time of Industrial and Econ- omic Depression. London--The Primitive Methodists conference at the concluding session of a week's assembly at Tunstall, Staffordshire, unanimously adopted a resolution expressing regret that dur- ing the period of serious industrial depression there should have been ex- pended on intoxicating liquor in the British Isles, the colossal sum of $1,141,030,000 which meant $32.45 per capita, The fact was lamented that from $950,000,000 to $1,000,000000 of this drink bill was spent by weekly wage earners, representing about six weeks of their collective labors. The resolution added: "We are pro- foundly convinced that could this ex- penditure be more wisely and usefully made on necessities such as food, clothing and home comforts, it would greatly improve the health and in- crease the wealth of our national life like individually, socially and mor- ally. "With due recognition and full ap- preciation of the splendid advocacy that has been and is being made in many forms of educational propagan- da by our churches collectively and our ministers and officials individu- ally we would urge that increasing vigilance be exercised ip relation to applications for new licenses, espec- ially in new housing areas, and de- finite well-informed opposition of- fered. . "We would also urge His Majesty's Government to introduce legislation this year, including the following three points: Local option for Eng- land and Wales, control of drink sup- lying clubs and Sunday closing of liquor bars." The conference also passed a reso- lution expressing the opinion that resumption of trade relations with Russia would help restore industrial prospetrity and alleviate unemploy- ment. A resolution proposed by the Rev. G. H. Ireland of Birmingham and carried unanimously urged "raising the school-leaving age to 15 to pre- vent serious moral deterioration of young people who passed into indus- try at 14 and failed to find perman- ent occuppation." The conference'also advocated that all churches unite in hastening schemes for the erecti of houses at reasonable rents in crowded areas. Anti-Vivisection Meeting is Broken Up By London Students Deputation of Notable People Pays Visit to Viscount Byng to Protest Against What Has Been Described as The "Worst Rag" Seen for Several Years--Wish Subject Placed on Dignified Footing London.--A delegation of 'anti-vivi- sectionists, headed by the Earl and Countess Tankerville, visited Viscount Byng, the Metropolitan Police' Com- missioner at Scotland Yard, te pro- test the breakup of the antivivisection meetings at Caxton Hall by 300 med- ical students. The police were ac- cused of affording "ineffectual pro- testion." Witnesses testified to sev eral women being kicked and beaten. Dr. Walter Hadwen, chairman at the annual meeting of. the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisec~ tion, appeared at Rochester Row Po- lice Station when a number of youths were arraigned on a charge of dis- orderly conduct, The affair was char- acterized as the worst "rag" London has known for many years. Police from Scotland Yard were finally called on, "This scene fills me with hope and triumph because the more anyone trics to muzzle his opponent, the more it is certain that opponent is on the road to victory," declared Mrs. Pinto Leite, the well-known antivivi sectionist, to a small remnant left m the hall after the speaker had made a hopeless attempt for two hours to gain a hearing. "Our oppponents are afraid," she declared. "They know that after 2000 years of materia med- ica, disease has not yeilded to drug- ging, and they hope you don't know it. They know too that vested inter- est is at the root of the opposition to vivisection." In a statement made subsequently to the press, Edmund MacMichael, secretary of the Performing and Cap- tive Animals Defense League, who had occupied the chair after the offi- cial chairman, Dr. Hadwen, had de- parted, said that the real thing to be considered at the present time was the economic position of the medical profession, "Until medical men are assured of their living,"" Mr. MacMichael said, "It is' bound to be more important than health, The problem before an- tivivisectionists is to induce the Gov- ernment to place medical men on the same footing as civil servants. Until this desideratum is reached, all the products of vivisection, such as vac- cines and sera, are the chief meaus by which. the medical profession lives. The only way for us antivivisection- ists therefore is to arrange a confer- ence between the medical profecsion, | nature curers and the Government with a view of putting the matter on a proper and dignified footing." BRITISH CATHOLICS GORGEOUS * GIFT £10,000 Pearl to be Present- ed to the Pope London.--The Daily Mail learns that a prominent Roman Catholic peer is taking a leading part in a proposal to raise a fund to pur- chase the famous "Southern Cross" pearl as a gift from English Roman Catholics to the Pope." This pearl, valued at £10,000, is at present ome of the most attrac- tive exhibits in the Evening World pavilion at the North-East Coast exhibition at Newcastle. It cbu- sists of nine distinct pearls joined together in the form of a natural cross and the suggestion, made by a reader of the Evening World, that it should be acquired for the Pope has been taken up with en- thusiasm. Roman Catholics who support the idea suggest that it would be & fitting tribute to mark the centens 'ary of Catholic emafcipation and the jubilee of the Pope's ordina- tion as a priest. The pearl, one of the most re- markable of its kind, was found vo years ago by a pearl fisher at Roe- burn, Western Australia. The own- er of the schooner, a Roman Ca- tholic named Shiner Kelly, was so overcome with superstition~that he buried the pearl. It was found § years later by Alexander Forrest, the Australian explorer, who bought it for a few pounds and brought it to England. Since then. it has changed hands several times. DUKE AND DUGHESS INTERESTED IN BOY'S WELFARE Royal Couple Pay Visit to Edinburgh Institution a Edinburgh.--Interested to learn what is being done in Edinburgh in connection with the boys' club movement, and in industrial wel- tare work for boys, his Royal High- ness the Duke of York paid a visit recently to the Fettesian-Loretton- fan Boys' Club in St. Giles Street. The club is one of 16 which con- stitute the Edinburgh Union of Boys' Clubs, and which has been offzanized for the purpose of pro- viding facilities for working boys to spend their leisure hours, eith- er in the pursuit of some hobby or ames. La vn Duke was received at the club by Mr. A. XH. Ashcroft, head- master of Fettes College, who is president of the Union, and among others present were Brig.-ten. Dudgeon, D.S.0., M.C., Mr, P. H. 8. Lyon, headmaster of Edinburgh Academy; Bailie Whitson and Mr. W. Hewitson Brown, vice-president club by Mr. A. H. Ashcroft, head- master of Loretto. About 100 lead- 1|ers and older members of the vari- ous clubs of the Union were also assembled. The Duke's Inspection Conducted by Mr. Hewitson Brown, who is Leader of the Fette- sian-Lorettonian Club, the Duke OL York made an inspection of the building, which consists of three floors. The proceedings were marked with a most delightful informality, which was not only enjoyed by his Royal Highness, but by all the re- presentatives "of the clubs, who were placed completely at their ease. In many of the rooms the Duke watched the boys engaged in various kinds of games and han- dicraft work. He was particularly interested in a game of basket ball which was in progress in a "rough room, where the boys usually give free rein to their spirits without the fear of causing any damage. Mr. Ashcroft, on behalf of the Union, expressed appreciation of the Duke's visit, and remarked that it would be an inspiration to them, knowing that his Highness's heart was in the work. Before he left the building his Highness was heartily cheered. Following the visit of the Duke of York, the leaders and older boys of the clubs held a conference, in which they considered the educa- tional side of the Union's activities. Among the subjects which were discussed were those of hobbies, handicrafts, the study of music and drama, and various subjects of top- ical interest. Following these pro- ceedings the club entered into a discussion as to the best methods by which its objects could be pro- moted for the interests of its mem- bers. -------------------- U. S. HEIRESS? WEDDING Covent Garden Porters As Guard of Honor London Eng. --Covent Garden porters 'with their shirt 'sleeves rolled up to the elbows and bright- ly coloured: scarves arounl their necks formed a guard of honour outside 'the Henrietta Street regis- ter office' recently for Miss Virginia Willys: the pretty 18-year-uia daughter * of Mr. John North Willys, * 'the millionaire United States 'motor car manufacturer. Miss Willys was married to Senor Luis Marcelino de Aguirre, 2 wealthy South American rancher. Both bride and bridegroom were very shy of publicity, and as soon as the ceremony was over they slipped out of the back entrance and drove off unnoticed. Mean- while two limousines waited at the front entrance to bluff the crowd, and a group of photographers. The couple had left a quarter of an hour before the crowd learned. with obvious disappointment, of their departure, » Smuggling PRETTIEST VILLAGE IN GREAT BRITAIN Nature Preserved by Work of Two Beauty Lovers Reading. --The prettiest village in England is eleven and a half miles from here, Its name is Aldermaston, and its self-will is prodigious. . Nature was certainly not sparing in her gifts of beauty, but it is man who has achieved the honor for the village--two men, to be accurate--Mr, Keyser of the Manor House and Mr. Cambridge, his agent. These two men have fought and won a battle that most of the Eng- lish villages have lost. They have em- phatically prohibited ugliness in any shape or form from spoiling the natural and historic beauties of Al- dermaston, There are no advertise- ments of any kind, no hoardings, no gaping petrol stations. There is one petrol pump, but it has been hidden away behind the forge, where those who seek may find, but others would never. notice it. There are no "Teas provided," no "New laid eggs for sale." The only hotel is picturesquely ancient and has its name simply painted on a small board over the door. Xing Harold gave Aldermaston to one of his thanes, and the unrestored part of the little church on the hill was built before William the Con- queror arrived. Some of the cottages in the village are sixteenth century. These charms remain untouched, and will do as long as Mr, Cambridge lives. "I have had one or two fights a- bout it," he said with a chuckle, "but Mr. Keyser owns all the land and property, and so no one can put any sign or building up or take anything down without our authority." STUDENTS OF WORLD BUSILY ARRANGING VACATION TOURS Britishers Plan Trips Many Parts of the World to London--A geography tour in Switzerland, a walking tour in Bri- tain and the harvesting tour in Can- ada for men, are among the attrac- tions arranged by the National Un- ion of Students for this summer, Vis- its to the United States and South Africa are also being planned," while delegates from the National Union of Students will attend the council meeting of the Confederation Inter- nationate des Etudiants at Budapest in August, and the second Imperial Conference of Students at Montreal in September. The International Con- federation is organizing a camp at Lake Balaton, Hungary, as well as a summer hostel at Geneva. Whether by canoe, cycle or the more energetic modes of walking and climbing, it is certain that many stu- dents will avail themselves of the opportunity to explore * the little- known beauties of the Austrian mountains. Walking tours have been arranged to all parts of Austria, and one that combines walking and boat- ing in Bosnia, Herzegovina and the Adriatic coast, which will follow one another from July 25 to Sept. 16. In the case of the shorter tours the cost is approximately £15, with a slight increase for the canoe and cycling tours. The guides for the mountain trips are Austrian students who are themselves experienced climbers. The tours were inaugurated seven years ago by a mere handful of undergraduates, who set out to fa- ciliate methods of travel for them- selves. Their efforts have grown in- to the present organization which welcomes and helps students from all Cocaine And Drugs Into England Gangs of International Crooks Make Use of Air Travel When They Wish To Leave Quickly and Unobserved SUCCESS ADDS TO NUMBER OF CROOKS BR Police of Britain Not Yel Equipped With Machines to Cope With This New Form of Smuggling London.--Smuggling airplaens are being used tob ring cocaine, morphia, hashish and other drugs into Britain from the continent. The authorities not long ago made a determined effort to stop the smuggling. The customs per- sonnel at the ports was strength- ened and hashish, a deadly pre. paration of Indian hemp, which is increasingly popular with drug ad- dicts, was added to the official list of dangerous drugs in January this year. All the usual channels wers made practically impassable to the dope agents. Yet there is evidence that illicit drugs smuggled into this country are steadily on the in~ crease. The explanation is that the dope syndicate has abandoned the usual channel sin favor of the air. In this they are a jump ahead of the authorities, for the police are not yet equipped to deal effec- tively with smuggling by air. At present Scotland Yard makes a ver ylimited use of airplanes. At Croydon aerodrome - there is 2 branch of the criminal investiga- tion department to tackle criminals who maytry to enter, or escape from, this country by air. Criminals are now wary of mage ing use of the airport, and since the establishment of the C.LD. arm at Croydon there has not been a single known attempt to smug- gle dope through this particulas channel. The dope runners who made their sensational escape by air from Paris knew better than to make use of the official airways. Dropped From Air The French police caught them in the very act of negotiating with Paris agents for the sale of morplug and cocaine to be brought to tnis country. The Paris agents--a waiter and a woman--were arrested, but the French police have establishea that they returned to England by air. Both the dope runners and their plane have since wvanished, and it must be assumed that they made use of a secret landing ground In this country. Some of the planes used for the modern smuggling do not land in this country, Flying from the con- tinent with contraband they make for a lonely part of Britain's coast, where confederates are on the lookout in motor boats. When signals of identification have been exchanged the contra- band is dropped from the plane by parachute and picked up by the agents in the motor boat, who take it ashore. The smuggling plane then returns to the continent with« country. out ever having landed New Hashish Dens Smugglers are not alone in the use of planes. Other erooks come secretly into Britain by air. Recently it was revealed how by using the airways as a quick means of escape, a gang of international crooks defrauded banks here by cashing forged letters of credit tor large amounts, By an extensive use of planes the dope smugglers have shown in this 'that they can snap their fingers at parts of the world. the police and the customs. RT. HON. first J. A. THOMAS British J.abor Minister mm charge: of unemployment, lias announced that he will pay a visit to Canada in the near future in order to study at hand the possibilitics for the migration from Britain to Canada of large numbers of the Hritish unemployed workers, two Englishmen escaped, and the »¥