El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-08-30
NEGOTIATIONS
CONDUCTED
SECRETLY.
French Diplomats Evaded
Reporters in Making Rus
sian Treaty.
STUDY is MADE OF
END OF THE WORLD

Paris. France, Aug. SO.-Announce-
ment of the naval convention between
France and Russia might have been
made three weeks before ii actually
was, if the secret had not been well
kent Political acts OF national i'm
portance have heretofore been invar-
iably negotiated at the foreign office.
on which the press, both French and
foreign, always keeps careful eye.
This time the center OF operations
was the palatial building at the other
extremity of the Place de la Concorde,
where TheOphile Delcasse, minister of
marine, presides. The Russian admiral
chose quiet hotel close at hand, and
for once in a way the Paris press
missed the scent. Every day the nego-
tiatiOns were held at the ministry of
marine, and no one was in the least
aware of the fact
The scheme was drafted in the sec
ond week of July, just in time to allow
NJ Delcasse to be present at the naval
maneuvers in the Mediterranean. The
communique revealing the fact was
made at the wish of premier Raymond
Poincare, it is understood, in order to-
give an inklinS to the public as to one
of the objects of his visit to the i'm
perial court of Russia
Iaxims Cause Protest.
The proprietor OF cycle factory at
Saint-Etienne placarded his establish
ment with a printed notice under the
caption, Advice to Workmen," con-
tanning a certain number of maxims.
such as Time is money" ''Punctual-
ity is the first quality of the con-
scientious worker" Dirty machines
mean dirty operators" Drink is the
greatest breeder of tuberculosis" BE
clean in your persons, in your homes
and in our workshops"
The only effect of this display Of
proverbial philosophy was to arouse
violent Indignation among the en-
pIoyes; twO-thirds of them demanded
the withdrawal of the notices, and. be-
ing refused, threw down their tools and
went on strike.
Investigating Final Catastrophe.
A treatise by professor A Berget, of
the recently inaugurated Institute of
OceanOgraphy, giving the result Of ex-
haUStiVe researches into and prophecy
ing the ultimate destruction of the
earth, has attracted widespread atten-
ton, especially as the authority of the
prfessor is undisputed in his particu-
lar field.
The Life and Death of the Globe"
treats not of the dream of a metaphy-
sician, but of a problem, the solution
of which is the result of deductions in
the sphere of physics. NJ. Berget con-
siders that, as our globe possesses an
independent life, a careful study of the
conditions of this life is bound to re-
veal its ultimate fate, in the same way
as a physician prOgnOsticates after a
careful examination of a patient
The first agent OF the eartf's de-
structiOn is the sun, and in this way:
Rocks are but poor conductors of heat;
the side Immediately opposed to the
rays of the sun alone is affected Hence
expansion of the mass being only par
tial, the molecules are disfntegrated-
Every day this expansion occurs and
every night the corresponding contrac-
! IL
surface becomes covered with riffs and
assures. AS vapor is continually con-
densing on the higher regions, water
will soon begin TO penetrate these fis-
sures and freeze. The rock will be
rent aSunder, making the second stage
of destruction. The fragments will fall
from the SUBMITS to the valleys. where
the WatercOurSeS will carry them on
ever to a lower level, the fragments
acting as destructive agents by fric-
ton wherever they go.
Rivers Aid in Destruction.
The action of the rivers in carrying
away portions of their banks is still
another agent of destruction. In ad
dition large masses of earth will be-
come impregnated with water and slide
down into the valleys.
The resu1t-far off, but certain-of
all these ceaseless processes will be
that after many centuries the CONT
nentS will be leveled and the oceans.
filled with the accumulation of their
materials, will rise and Overwhelm
them. The oceans themselves are a
factor in the work of destruction, at
lacking the coasts with their wave
power of ten tons per square foot.
The coast lines of the globe total
nearly 200, 900 miles, which will give
some idea of the immense extent of
surface offered to the destructive &C
ton of the sea.
Biologists calculate that the amount
of solid matter worn away annually
from the earth and carried down to-
ward the sea level represents about Is
cubic miles. If this action worked
automatically it would require four
million years for the earth to be worn
below the level of the ocean. But as
the matter disintegrated finds its way
into the ocean the level of the water
rises ineXOrably, diminishing the mass
it is calculated that three and a half
million years would suffice for the en-
quilting of the earth by the waters.
German Soldiers Tap French.
comparison between the average
statures of the French and the Ger
man army recruits shows a difference
of .591 inches in favor Of the latter.
Of the entire number of French re-
cruits in 1911, 433 stood over 6 feet
inches, and were accordingly classe0
as of Exceptional height" The tall
est man was a recruit from La Ven
dee. who measured feet inches,
while a man from the Isere came sec
ond with feet inches. The short
est recruit of the 1911 contingent
measured exactly one metre 6 feet "a
inches). The average stature of the
French conscripts in 1911 was feet
inches.