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 LONDON 603 infirmary at Camberwell ; the poor clergy re- lief corporation, Southampton street, Strand; the Princess Mary's village at Addlestone, Sur- rey, so called after its patroness the princess Mary of Cambridge, Duchess Teck, for the ben- efit of children of convicted criminals; the cripples' home, Marylebone road; the royal association of the deaf and dumb, which how- ever is only a new name for the comparative- ly old establishment of St. Saviour's, Oxford street ; and the clergy orphan corporation. Of homes and reformatories there are in round numbers 70, besides the "house of charity," Soho, and similar institutions, which supply a night's lodging and food free of expense, ac- tual want being the only condition of admis- sion. An increasing number of infant nurse- ries, popularly known under the French name of crdches, take care of children while their mothers are engaged in their daily labors. The principal foundling hospital, Guilford street, opened in 1756, founded chiefly by Oapt. Coram and much patronized by Handel the composer, was originally mainly educa- tional. Soon afterward it became a home for illegitimate children, and now maintains 500 of them at an annual expense of 14,000. The infant orphan asylum at Wanstead, near London, founded in 1827, maintains orphaned and abandoned children till their 14th or 15th year. (See FOUNDLING HOSPITAL.) The " Metropolitan Association for improving the Dwellings of the Industrious Classes" and the " Society for improving the Condition of the Laboring Classes" were the pioneers of the movement for the object indicated by their names. The first named association was estab- lished about 1844 by Dr. Southwood Smith and others, and after many trials it lately reached a dividend' of 5 per cent., derived from the rents of about 800 tenements, with an average population of nearly 4,000, and with a mortal- ity from 6 to 10 per cent, below that of crowd- ed metropolitan districts. The least remuner- ative lodgings were those provided for single men, and the most profitable those occupied by families. The second named organization was originally termed the "Laborer's Friend Society," and has been in operation since 1843. It has converted Wild court, one of the worst purlieus of Drury lane, into a decent locality ; and it has promoted various similar improve- ments. It possesses a number of model dwell- ings for families and single men, to whom it lets houses and rooms at moderate rates, and is assisted by donations and voluntary contri- butions. The "Improved Industrial Dwell- ings Company," originated in 1863, under the auspices of Alderman (afterward Lord Mayor) Waterlow and others, has a share capital of 125,000 fully subscribed, and a borrowed capi- tal of equal amount. It has erected over 2,000 tenements in some of the most densely popu- lated districts. The average weekly rental of a room is 2s. 6d., and of dwellings for supe- rior classes of artisans near the city, with three rooms each, 7s. Those in Ebury street, on the duke of Westminster's estate near Eaton and Belgrave squares, are of a superior style, and relieve the overcrowded and numerous mews in the rear of those fashionable squares, chief- ly inhabited by butlers, footmen, coachmen, and other persons' employed in those localities'. Lady Burdett-Coutts's improved dwellings in Columbia square (dating from 1862), consist- ing of four immense blocks of tenements, for the first time familiarized the workmen of Bethnal Green with a certain degree of com- fort. George Peabody's first gift of 150,000 provided for about 500 tenements, with space for 2,000 persons, in four groups of dwell- ings in Spitalfields, Islington, Westminster, and Shadwell, besides 70 tenements in Chelsea and Bermondsey. His additional donations bring up his total contributions to 500,000, and cover the cost of new buildings in Brixton, Chelsea, and other localities, as well as the grounds on the extensive Magdalen hospital estate, Southwark, now known as Peabody square. The Peabody dwellings accommoda- ted, as far as completed down to 1874, 6,000 persons, at the average weekly rent of Is. lOd. per room. The first estate built by the " Ar- tisans', Laborers', and General Dwellings Com- pany " (established in 1866) is called Shaftes- bury park, in honor of Lord Shaftesbury, the earliest promoter of such enterprises. The City corporation and several other new societies have also engaged in erecting dwellings of this class. Education is rapidly improving under the endowed schools act of 1869 (subsequently amended and enlarged), dealing with schools f or the upper and middle classes, and placing them on a more popular and useful basis ; and under the elementary education act of 1870, organi- zing hundreds of new establishments through the medium of already existing or projected voluntary institutions, but mainly through the foundation of rate-supported schools under the direction of public school boards. (See EDUCATION.) The latter act divides the me- tropolis into 10 school districts, represented in the central school board of 49 members, elected by ballot, as follows: Marylebone, 7; Finsbury, 6; Westminster, Lambeth, Tower Hamlets, and Hackney, each 5 ; the City, Southwark, Chelsea, and Greenwich, each 4. The first election, Nov. 29, 1870, returned Prof. Huxley and other eminent men, and Dr. Elizabeth Garret- Anderson, and the board comprised three Eoman Catholics, one Baptist clergyman, and members of other denomina- tions, the largest number however belonging to the established church. The district boards in 1874 included about 300 members, and the number augments in proportion to the increase of population and the need of new schools. The school funds are raised in about equal proportions from parents, public taxes, and local funds, the latter consisting of voluntary subscriptions ; and deficiencies are met by an educational rate added to the poor rate of a