El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-09-21
DANUBE RIVER
LEAKING IN
BOTTOM
Germany to Do Plumbing
Job to Keep River From
Losing Water.
FOOD FROM TRAIN
OIL is NEWEST DIET

OIL is NEWEST DIET
Berlin. Germany, Sept 21-Gigantic
and unparalleled plumbing operations
/ to plug leaks in the bed OF the river
/ Danube form the subject of a contro-
I versy between the governments OF Ba-
| den and Wurtemberg, which has just
been appealed to the imperial bund-
eSrat for settlement The case attracts
attention to the curious and almost I'M
/ known geographical fact that a branch
! of the Danube flows into the Rhine
I and thus finally reaches the North Sea,
/ thousands Of miles from the Black Sea,
/ where the main course Of the Danube
! ends
Has Leaked For Centuries.
For some 200 or 500 years a part OF
! the Danube has been passing through a
subterranean channel from the vicin-
ity of the little town Of Immendingen,
| in Baden. emerging again in the valley
of the river Aach. some seven miles
distant. where it forms the largest
spring in Germany. The source of the
spring was definitely established some
years ago by artificially discOlOring
the water Of the Danube above Immen-
dingen- In recent years the phenOme-
non has become increasingly serious
for the towns lying on the Danube IN
Wurtemberg, which are dependent
upon it for water power, because the
! leakage is steadily growing in guam
tity.
Wurtemberg is attempting to assert
its old water rights while Baden is dis
claiming responsibility on the ground
that the leakage is a phenomenon OF
nature, the latter country having deep
interest in letting nature have her way,
inasmuch as numerous manufacturing
establishments depending on the run
away waters Of the Danube have sprung
up in the valley Of the Aach-
Civil engineers propose to settle the
problem by carrying a surface channel
from the Danube TO the Aach and
building several dams on the upper
course Of the latter to develop electri-
cal power. The holes in the bed Of the
Danube would then be filled with ce-
ment, the total cost OF the operation
being estimated at not much more than
7 $1,000, 600.
Train OIL a Regular Diet.
Train oil as a regular article OF
diet is the prospect held out by chem
ist writing in the Frankfurter Zeitung-
/ The writer points out that recent
chemical progress has solved the prob
lem of purifying and hardening all
kinds Of oils, thus rendering 1t posi-
bic to use them as the basis for manu-
featuring oleOmdrgarine- The often
sive smell of train oils, he says, is due
| to the fact that its molecules contain
/ too little hydrogen, hence the fSrma-
( ton Of acid products
Chemists have long known that Il
4, the molecules could be made to assim-
I late hydrogen it would get rid of thu
deleterious acids and make the oil in
offensive Experiments to treat these
oils with hydrogen were unsuccessful
until the French chemists Sabatier and
Senderens discovered that hydrogen
combinations were greatly facilitated
by applying that gas in combination
with very fine particles Of nickel. plat
mum, palladium or copper A German
chemist, Normann. recently introduced
this principle in the treatment Of fats
and oils, and it proved successful IN
purifying and hardening them
Many fluid oils, the writer says, can
be hardened to such an extent that
they can be pressed into sheets that
give a musical tone when struck with
er vegetable oils are expected TO as
sumo new importance owing to the dis
covery-
The celebration OF the 18th jubilee
of emperor Williams accession to the
throne next year, will be marked. II
is understood. by a change in the pOr
trait Of the emperor on all the gold
and silver coins OF the monarchy The
present likeness dates from the Access
sion Of his majesty. and accordingly
shows him as q young man. The new
design viii be distinguished from the
old not only IN regard TO age, but also
by the fact that the neck and chest
shown in the portrait. now bare in
classic nakedness, will be clad in uni
form, probably that of the guard Cui-
TaSSlerS Win It's nlSn COLdEeQ lunlc-
To Keep Check on Engineers.
An automatic device for keeping
check on locomotive engineers who
run by danger signals is being in
stalled on the government railroads
The search for practical method OF
stopping autOrnat icaily train running
by a signal set against it has here as
in other countries, not yet been sue
eessful, but the new invention is eX-
pected to put such penalty on care
lessness. which is given as the cause
in q great number OF cases, that acct
dents of this nature will be reduced
to a minimum.
The device consists of an electric
connection with the rails at semaPhore
points so arranged that If an engineer
does not stop when the signal is set
against him a bell starts ringing at the
next station and a record is auto
matically made upon a sealed register
deposited there. AS soon as the engi-
neer reaches the station he is called
upon for a written explanation, the
numbered and sealed register insurinS
that no offender escapes through IA
vOritism or negligence of the station
master. who must turn in an account
for every number on the record
Under the old system an engineer
might run by scores of danger signals
and evade detection until his train met
with an accident Now he faces the
certainty of punishment and possible
discharge, which in the opinion of the
railroad officials. viii operate against
the relaxation of vigilance on the part
Of he, rrfr,