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I RANDOM READINGS. -

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I RANDOM READINGS. PAPER WATER-PIPES & HARNESS. When Germany shall have been ad- mitted again to free competition in the markets of the world, it will be well for the foreign buyer in fabrics to watch his step." The ingenious Hivn, driven to the utmost extremities by the lack of raw i materials for the textile industries during the war, has developed many cunning in- ventions for the utilisation of substitutes, of which paper has been, perhaps, the most important. Therefore, savs the New York Literary Dioest, watch file Hun that he does not put over a consignment of paper water- pipes. Lest you be inclined to regard this as a merry jest, read what the Paper Makers' Monthly Journal has to say on the subject: "In February, 1918, the Bleichindvtfrie announced that under the name of Pefinax' a new substitute for lead and copper in the manufacture of pipes had come on the market. These pipes are made of hard paper, and have been used for gas-pipes and oil-pipes, and are said to be able to endure heat of 200deg. without changing. They are com- pletely watertight and insoluble. The pressure which the pipes could bear from the inside was found to be three or fouli times as great as that of lead pipes, whereas the weight is not a ninth of the weight of lead pipes." I The Journal is convinced that the paper industry will be extensively promoted in Germany in the future, for it says further: From paper tissues all possible articles that one can think of are made, such as overalls, tablecloths, curtains, handker- chiefs, collars,. shirts, embroidered blouses, hangings tor the wall, and imita- tions of Persian carpets. One German firm made a complete set of horse's har- ness Out of very strong tissue made of a web of from three to five woven thickness. The web was strengthened with a mixture containing tar to give it greater resist- ance." Therefore, if you are trading with the Hun again in the harness line consult an expert. ABOUT PEACE TREATIES. Following established precedent, says a writer in the London Magazine, treaties of peace practically always begin with an appeal to the Almighty, Au nom de Dieu tout puissant being the formula most frequently used. In treaties with Roman Catholic countries, however, the phrase, In the Name of the Most Holy and Un- divided Trinity" is frequently substi- tuted while in a treaty with a Moham- medan state the formula is altered to In the Name of Allah the Almighty God in the copy allotted to the representative of that country. For each of the signatory Powers one copy is signed and sealed. These certified copies are for convenience of reference, and for printing duplicate copies from, since the original signed and sealed treaty is a most precious and carefully guarded document, and seldom sees the light of day once it is stored away in the state archives of the signatory Powers. Peace treaties are not written (or printed) straight across the page, or pages, like ordinary documents. They are written in parallel columns, one in English, the next in French, the next in German, Italian, and so on, according to the num- ber of languages in use in the signatory Powers. The seals affixed to ratified treaties are usually very elaborate, and in order the better to preserve them it is customary to enclose them in little round silver boxes. Most treaties, too, are bound either in crimson morocco or in red velvet, tied about with green silk cord. There is a curious story in connection with the only copy of a treaty belonging to a foreign nation that has been, for a while, stored in the British archives. In 1877 a sailor called at the Foreign Office with a brown-paper parcel, which was found to contain the original Bolivian copy of the treaty of September 29th, 1840, 'between Great Britain and Bolivia. Says the article further: The sailor had, it appeared, been pre- sent in Bolivia during one of their, at the time, periodical revolutions, when the state archives were thrown into the streets by the revolutionists. A thin book, bound in crimsbn velvet, fell at his feet, and, stooping, he picked it up and brought it away with him. On examining it, he saw that it was a document of importance, so on his return to England he took it to the Foreign Office in London. Here it was stored away for safety and forgotten. But eighteen years afterwards ) —that is to say, in 1895—the Bolivian Gov- ernment apparently woke up to the fact- that their precious treaty was missing, and communicated with the Foreign Office, asking if it could oblige them with a cer- tified copy. Search was made, with the result that the Government was able to let them have, not a copy merely, as asked for, but the original document. PORCUS GERMANICUS PERFIDUS. The distinguished Danish vegetarian, Dr. M. Hindhede, has published a paper purporting to prove that the German system of rationing broke down over the pig and other domestic animals. The Ger- man pig, in other words, betrayed the Fatherland, and contributed more to Ger- many's downfall than the lilies' blockade. At the outbreak of the war the food prob- lem was more serious in Denmark than in Germany. Denmark could provide 3,300 calories (cereals and potatoes) daily per 1 man, Germany 4,000 calories. At this I stage Denmark had twice as many domes- tic animals per man as Germany. But. Denmark was blessed by a council of' eight (four agricultural-experts and four scien- tists, includng Dr. Hindhede), who agreed that if sufficient calories were provided the problem of albumins and fats would be largely solved. Accordingly they recom- mended the restriction of all bread-yield- ing cereals, of nearly all the barley and of a large proportion of the potatoes for human Consumption. This led to a reduc- tion of the head of cattle more than six years old from 510,946 in July, 1914, to 334,721 in July, 1918, and of pigs over four months from 706,950 to 121,955 in the same period. Germany, on the other hand, was hampered by the old Voit-Konig-Rubner theories and by the landed interests. In- stead of reducing the numbers of her cattle and pigs, Germany forbade the slaughter- ing of cattle under seven years old, and of pigs less than 60 kilos in weight. But no restrictions were put on feeding them with cereals. Meanwhile, millions of soldiers were devouring meat on Konig's sumptu- ous scale. After four months of war, not pnly had the old stocks of cereals vanished, but «d«o half of the last harvest. Then the authorities began the wobbling that the authorities began the wobbhng that continued for the rest of the war. First

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