Guise

Guise, a town of northern France, in the department of Aisne, on the Oise, 31 m. N. of Laon by rail. Pop. (1906), 7562. The town was formerly the capital of the district of Thiérache and afterwards of a countship (see below). There is a château dating in part from the middle of the 16th century. Camille Desmoulins was in 1762 born in the town, which has erected a statue to him. The chief industry is the manufacture of iron stoves and heating apparatus, carried on on the co-operative system in works founded by J. B. A. Godin, who built for his workpeople the huge buildings known as the familistère, in front of which stands his statue. A board of trade-arbitration is among the public institutions.

* * *