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Show f SUBSTITUTES By -Frederic J. Haskin - WASHINGTON, D. C., March 2. Paper as a substitute for wood in the manufacture ol coffins is one of the latest j war economies reported in the German newspapers. Our enemies have been ! wearing paper in life for some time, and now it appears that they are also to bo I buried in paper. Both cardboard ami . papier mache are used for 'making cof-j fins, and paper shrouds are also made. ! It is -stated lhat the paper coffins ar I neat, strong and light, and the implica- I tion is that every patriotic German 1 should be satisfied with a paper funeral, i These paper coffins are especially desir- ! able, it is stated, for purposes of" crema- ! tion. I The somewhat lugubrious humor of this I matter does not seem to strike the Teuton journalists in the least. This unsmilinsjly : practical attitude is still more noticeable in a correspondent of the Austrian newspaper, news-paper, Zeit, who protests vigorously against allowing the dead to be clothed at all, when so many of the living are without clothing. He says that all pa- , trio tic persons should insert clauses in their wills prc-virting that they be buried i clad only in a shirt. In Germany and Austria this is an era of substitutes. An article in a German newspaper slates that no less than 10,000 substitutes have been placed on the market mar-ket since the war bean, a majority of these being foods. Clothing and shoes are made largely of materials which were used for that purpose little or not at all before the war. Here, asain, paper and paper fabrics and compositions are mainly relied upon. Inhibitions In-hibitions of paper shoes and clothing have been held In some of the German cities, and have shown a remarkable development develop-ment in the use of that material which will surely have an important effect upon manufactures after the war. Not only have almost all articles of clothinsr been made from paper fabric, but machine belting of paper has been made which is said to be as strong as leather. It appears that the majority of the shoes furnished to the German and Austrian Aus-trian civilian populations these days are made with paper uppers and wooden soles. Oak and birch are the favorite woods for the purpose. The uppers are given a finish fin-ish which makes them resemble leather, and the shoes probably look much like any others. They are of course very stiff, and it Is said to be difficult for some persons per-sons to become accustomed to the clatter which they make. The streets of Berlin I must sound like a chorus of snare drums. These shoes last about three months at bent, and do not resist moisture very well. The citizens are urged to keep the streets and sidewalks clear of snuw in order to save their footwear. It would seem that even of these substitute shoes the supply sup-ply is somewhat short, for a German newspaper urges that gifts to children I should take the form of shoes rather than j of playthings, as many children are unable I to attend school for lack of footwear. Besides paper and wood, horn, sheet metal and lea t her waste have been successfully suc-cessfully used In the manufaciuie of shoes. There are prohibitions of the man- I ufaeture of shoes with high heels and other fun'- ext ravagances. The use of paper in clothing and shoes lias cut down the supply available for tiie usual purposes of writing and publishing, pub-lishing, and the publishing business is further handicapped by the scarcity of ink. The result is that many journals are : great ly red need In size. Some of the provincial nt-W'spa peis have been able to i keep going only by the purchase of stocks! of colored p;Mer and now appear in red. i green and orange editions. All business concerns are mned to plac on the market mar-ket as waste pHper.a! documents and ledgers as soon as they have served their original purpoMs. A seareity that may rjot appear serious, i but which o Tuples a lai t n mount of space In the newspapers is t 'cat -f tobacco, to-bacco, and the us- of tobaceo substitutes substi-tutes is now wid. -spread. The most Toputnr substitute I hops. A large proportion pro-portion of German eiuaret te.s now roti-taiu roti-taiu about ?0 per cent oi hops, nn.l there Is a scandal over the tendency of tobacco j d-:i lers to Si e ula t e in ln.ps. Whether this herb v hen wnnked gives the .a:ne narcotic effect us toU.cco 1m not si ft tel. but t ::r - e-ti men t is known to have made experiments and to have oVclded that the use of hops as an adulterant of tot cc o Is not injurious to the health. TVei'h run! chicory leaves are also used as "si id i -hers" In the manufacture of cigare' : i n iii A u stria t he people are put upon ra t ions of to harm, s that thei e will be ;m adequate Hiiiply for the army; but a German p.ipcr ntates that the In,- prii.il t,i.vi'rnn;ent docs tint consider to- baccci rationing practicable because the tobacco cards would at once her-nne articles ar-ticles of illicit ( i ade. It 1h stated that thei' is enough law tobacco available In Germany to keen the army supplied, and to allow a limited amount of smoking among the civilian population. The policy of tin German government to allow the penile In have as many comforts and am use me i its as possible t exemplified here aw It is in tiie ruling which allows theaters and picture shows to burn coal for bea t wlnvi many houschoMH nre without M . The Germn n covet n men f has a i ipa i ently discovered the truth that people peo-ple will end in e prl va t Ions if t hov ha ve luxuries and amusements as a rewatd. Nevertheless an order has gone forth pro hi h t lug juveniles under six t een from smoking, on the L-roim,) (hat It injures their health. In llun'ary rt popular campaign cam-paign has heen carried on In the news-papeis news-papeis for women to plve up smoking In onier that soldiers may have more tobacco, to-bacco, a woman who semis In a supply of ciga re t tes for sold iei In response to 1 1 ils a p pea I suggerts that men give up drinking milk in order that there may be mole of It foj- huhiei. ?tw of tho most difficult problems of the cent i a 1 power Is to f Ind snbst it ntes for copper, especiiillv in electrical goods. Mere they seem practically to have failed. The use ol I urn In 1 1 ol lev's ha s resulted In uieat Ions of power because of the low elect rli'ii 1 cond net I vit y of Iron. The use of cupper In the nits Is of course prohibited, prohib-ited, and in Austria an elfoit Is being made to boom cast Iron as a material for decorative and monumental purposes. A recent retort on the supply of elec-trleal elec-trleal apparatus is frnnklv pessimist (. Swltxri land has been relied upon for t be; e t bliigM, and. a 1 1 hour, h t be re is now a coiisidera bin suppl v of switches, plugs, wire a nd other light ing and hen t !ng materials, ma-terials, It Is ha rd to S' e how this suppl v Is to be renewed, as Swlt .erlnnd Is now imttole to yet copper from Ameilcn. S'wiss firms biive lieen unable to carry out some of their German con t r m d ;i, ,lnc Ih bring la rgei v u : ed for ca ri v big elect rica I current, cur-rent, but It Is far fium sa t Isfaetory. It does not bend well and does not stand v ibra I ion. Al( of these things are evidence of the slow biea ki hi wn of German industry, which In I he w on k uess lhat ma kes pen en ft iifce.'.Mrty lor her. in spile of military success and a growing food supply. |
