SHELTER AND HOUSING 385 SHENANDOAH should be deprived of the children of his second marriage, Shelley left England in March, 1818, and the whole short re- mainder of his life was passed in Italy. After staying for some time with Lord Byron at Venice he proceeded to Naples; after Naples he visited Rome; and from Rome he went to Florence and Leghorn, and finally settled at Pisa. On July 8, 1822, he was sailing with a Mr. Williams in the Bay of Spezia when both were drowned by, as was believed, the upset- ting of the boat through a sudden squall. His body was, according to Italian law, cremated on the seashore. SHELTER AND HOUSING, a term which includes not only housebuilding it- self, but the production of housebuilding materials, plumbing, ventilation, gas and electrical fittings, house decoration and sanitation. During and after the World War, however, it suddenly began to ac- quire a social significance which hitherto had not been appreciated. Labor being diverted into war industries, housebuild- ing practically ceased in all the civilized countries, including those not involved in the war, and rents leaped to such heights as had never been attained before, rising proportionately higher than the prices of any other necessities. The problem became still more acute after the war, when it became obvious that capital was not being invested in housing while the prices of land and building materials con- tinued at exorbitant rates. Many plans for the promotion of housebuilding were proposed and put into practice. Among these were state subsidies, loans to build- ing and loan associations, exemption from taxation, municipal and co-operative hous- ing. The United States Government had been compelled to enter the field of house- building during the war, through the United States Housing Corporation, and completed a large part of its program for the erection of 21,000 individual houses. The first state to take direct hold of housing enterprises was Massa- chusetts, whose Homestead Commission received a large appropriation for the purchase and building of homes. Okla- homa also passed a law which authorized the investment of certain state funds in loans for building homes, and North Da- kota, in 1919, created a State Housing Association, which acted as a building and loan association, on a state-wide basis and with the financial backing of the state. Relief from the situation was in sight at the end of 1920, when the inves- tigations of the Lockwood Committee of New York demonstrated the fact that the manufacturers and dealers in housing materials had formed a national combine to hold up their prices, which were then 150 per cent higher than they had been before the war. Almost immediately af- ter the beginning of the investigation prices began falling, and, though they soon rose again, by the end of the year there was a considerable renewal of activity in the housing industry. SHEM, one of the three sons, and ac- cording to many commentators the elder son, of Noah (Gen. v. 32), from whom descended the nations enumerated in Gen. x. 22, sq., and who was the progenitor of that great branch of the Noachian family called from him Shemitic or Semitic, to which the Hebrews belong. See Semites. SHEMAKHA, a town in Transcau- casia, Russia; on the Zagolavan river; 70 miles from Baku; 2,230 feet above the level of the Black Sea. It has numerous ruins of large caravansaries, churches, and public buildings; and is the capital of Shirvan. In February, 1902, it was visited by a great earthquake, in which 4,000 houses were destroyed and 2,000 people perished. Pop. about 23,000. SHENANDOAH, a river of the United States, which flows N. E. through the valley of Virginia, and immediately be- low Harper's Ferry joins the Potomac, of which it is the principal tributary. Its length is 170 miles, the greater part of which is navigable for boats. The valley of the Shenandoah wa^ the scene of numerous military operations in the American Civil War, and was devastated by General Sheridan in 1864. SHENANDOAH, a borough in Schuyl- kill co., Pa.; on the Philadelphia and Reading, the Lehigh Valley, and the Penn- sylvania railroads; 13 miles N. of Potts- ville. Here are a number of the largest coal mines in the rich anthracite coal section of which it is the center. It also contains a high school, street railroad and electric light plants, public library, building and loan association, National and other banks, a daily and several weekly newspapers. It has hat factories, and other industries. Pop. (1910) 25,- 774; (1920) 24,726. SHENANDOAH, a city of Iowa, in Page co. It is on the Chicago, Burling- ton, and Quincy, the Keokuk and Western, and the Wabash railroads. It is the center of an important fruit-growing and poultry-raising region. Its industries include the manufacture of wagons, plows, knit goods, etc. Its notable build- ings include an Elks' Home, a Carnegie Library, the Western Normal College, and the World's Missionary Training School. Pop. (1910) 4,976; (1920) 5,255.
