The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1901-11-21

The standard fuel of the poorer ant
middle classes of Germany consists o.
brown coal b%riquettes. The briquettes
are made by reducing brown coal te
powder and then molding it into little
bricks with the addition of a quantity
Of bitumen. The b%riquettes sell fol
from So to SITS a thousand in Berlin
and burn without smoke. Under a new
process briquettes for use as fuel are
being made from peat, of which there
are nearly 5000, 900 acres available in
the empire. 1t is expected that these
peat briquettes will drive coal ano
other fuels out of the market.
Most people in Germany live in flats
There are few private residences. Fur
naces and steam heat are almost I'M
known, the people using generally the
old and ineffective t~ile-covered stoves,
huge square structures. rising from
floor to ceiling and looking most like
monuments to some dear departed
In ven chilly weather it is almost i'm
possible to heat a small room with
n Of these stoves, and the empire Of
fors a great field for American manu-.
%facturers of heating apparatus. One
trouble has heretofore been that heat
is not furnished by the owners of fiat
buildings to their tenants, and 1t has
been difficult, therefore, to establish
central heating systems for such build
ings.
In Vienna the price Of beef. mutton,
and pork is SO high as to place these
meats beyond the reach of the poorer
classes, and for nearly fifty years their
place has been taken by horse and
donkey meat. There are in Vienna 1856
butcher shops which sell horse and
donkey meat exclusively, the price for
the choicest cuts being from S to 10
cents a pound, which is much less than
half the price charged for the same
cuts OF beef. During the last year for
which the figures are available no less
than 25,640 horses were slaughtered
for food in Vienna. The inspection of
the animals is extremely thorough and
careful. government inspectors being
present at each slaughter house with
full power to ~ondemn any animal.
Dealers in horse and donkey meat, and
observation-disclosures who offer it on their
bills of fare are obliged not only to
state the fact. but also to keep
sight Of customers the government
certificate of inspection.
The model lodging house which was
opened in Milan. Italy, last June, has
proved a great success. 1t is patronized
not by manual laborers, but by clerks
and shop assistants. Rooms rent for
67h cents a week. Every ledger must
be in his room before midnight, and
he out again before 9 o'clock in the
morning. Bathrooms are open day
and night. a full bath costing four
cents and a shower bath two cents.
Lodgers may buy food outside and cook
it themselves in the hotel kitchens, OF
they may buy their supplies at the
lowest possible price from the hoteI
storerooms. Lodgers are also fur.
nished with facilities for doing their
own washing. The building is five
stories in height, with a roof garden
on the top. The building contains $50
rooms, all of the same dimensions
5 feet 10 inches by z feet 6 inches.
In no other country in the world Is
the cigar so popular as in Germany, sc
much SO that it is impossible to raise
enough tobacco in the empire to sup.
ply the domestic demand. Last veal
Germany imported nearly s22, OOO, OO(
worth OF tobacco. a little more than
third Of 1t coming from the United
States. The use Of the cigaret is rap.
idly spreading in Germany. Last veal
1856 tons Of cigarets were consumed
at least five times as many as were
needed ten years ago.
Wonderful results are reported from
experiments conducted at the Berlin
electrical works with the idea Of util.
izing the heat which goes to waste In
the exhaust steam Of a high pressure
Or in the circulating water Of a low
pressure steam engine. For the pur.
pose of using this waste heat, s~o-callec
cold vapor engines have been built
and long continued tests show that
they add an average of Al per cent te
the efficiency of the compound engines
to which they are attached, and that
without adding to the consumption o
coal by so much as a single pound
What such a saving would mean in {
large plant will be appreciated by ev.
cry man who has to do with the devel
opment Of steam power.
Tue use Of American corn meal /:
rapidly increasing in Belgium, where
it furnishes a cheap and nutrition:
food to the millions Of working people