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Show DANUBE IS OPEN TO ALIMTI0N8 Internationalization or Famous River Completed by Action of Interested Allied Powers. BARRIER AND BATTLEGROUND Danube Hi Long Been Chain Upon Which Romance and Hlitory Have Vied With Each Other to Hang Interesting Tradition. Washington Thi completion of the InternatlonaJixatiou of the Danube by the recent forma) atlon of the Inter-ested Inter-ested allied poweis, nnnounrcd In Paris dispatches. Is the occasion (r tho Issuance from the Washington headquarters of the National (leo-graphic (leo-graphic sucb-t) of the following htille-tln. htille-tln. descriptive of the famous river. "From the Hlack forest to the Hlack ma, over n course 1,800 miles In length, the Danube has I oils heen it chain upon which romance nnil hlslnry have vied with eaeli other lo hang Interesting Interest-ing traditions and t ccurreuees. (leog-rapliy, (leog-rapliy, too, has douo Its share, and although the Volga exceed Its rival In length, and although the Milne In Thackeray and Hood has had heller press agents, the Danube Is large enough and beautiful enough to rank In Interest with the great rivers of the world Lese a Highway and More a Barrier. "There was n time when the Danube Dan-ube was symbolized by nn ohl-fash-loned waltz Hut since the World war hegnn. nothing hut a hesitation typifies the place' the river has held In tho economic life of the countries through which It runs, It hits been less it hlghuny and more the barrier than In pre- :ir days Jfot yet does It serve to bind the various nations through which It pusses Into a'frlend-ly a'frlend-ly mid coiiperullng group. It has been official!) open to whips of all nations na-tions since the forming of I be Danube-commission Danube-commission in iSTs! mid the various stntos Interested Ici'g co oneine to Improve the iialgu"tnn facilities,' especially es-pecially In the low or reaches of the river; bin political conditions have done much to weaken the economic link which once hound Litis and Vienna Vi-enna to the great grain shipping center cen-ter of Iimlta, to which ocean-going vessels en it steam, and to the Itlack sea ports themselves. "Charming vlllaves. beautiful mead- j owk, picturesque hills crowned with ruined castles, princely palaces, ecclesiastical ec-clesiastical piles and two of the world's most fascinating capitals are strung along the lengthy and winding ! river. Thriving Industries raise their smokestacks beside the stream whose legendary color la blue but whose true j tint val from a dirty green to a , muddy yellow. More tragic than the . encroachment of factory smoke has been In late years the sad sight of countless chimneys from which the llfiMireath of Industry seemed to have ' expired forever. Hohenzollern Caetle on Bank. "Near Its aourceat Donaueschlngeii, the river passes between the castle ' which gave Its name to the late ruling family In Germany and n war mnnu-' ment to the Ilohenzollern men who , fell In the Krnnro-PruHslan war. i Farther down It passes through the ! once-proud capital of Austria-Hungary, where the lino government buildings build-ings stand to the despairing Inhabitants Inhabi-tants as a mocking reminder of better days, and beside the Prater, once a deer park and later a pleasure garden noted for Its Viennese gnyety. The Danube. "Still farther along Its couise Just after entering Czecho.Rlovakbi. at Its , Junction with 'the March, there Is a towering cliff spired with n monument monu-ment erected to celebrate 1,000 ,enrs of Hungarian nntlomillty. This Is Czceho Slovnklau territory now, anil there last summer the Stars and Stripes were draped on the occasion of the visit of a large group of Oecho. Americans to the newly freed hind of their fathers. "Kratlslava, now CVerho-Shnnlda's river port.' was once the city In whose dignified cathedral the Hungarian kings wore crowned. The bout station sta-tion there reveals the changes which history has wrought. Over the enter en-ter of the landing the present name Is given, hut to (he left one con. see most of the letters of the (jerinnu name 'Pressburg' and to the right there Is the Hungarian name 'PuHzony.' Budapest Not War.Torn. "Vienna, brooding In Its lovely parks, which lack the care that was once lavished on them, and contemplating contem-plating with cynicism the motto '81 Vis Pacem, Para Helium,' whose golden gold-en letters decorate the wnlls of the ministry of war, Is a nd sight. Hut Hudapest, still militant, still haughty III the consciousness of Its beuuty, seems to have been less troubled bj the passage of war. 'T.iwl is the main iimh-.hi. Hungary, 1,'iliwi'd ns It Is, still contains some ' i In- best land In Kurope. Vienna, n linliisto i-toppeil. enn do little to . u h i Ik- fix m1 ll iii-eds. During the nun, i r of 10JO all truffle between the -mi -ipltnls wns stopped by muttin.1 luiM-ntU and although steamers piled l, Danube from Uiik In llinlapest, in ilm. nth passengers or freight were cn-lw-il. "Ti the cp-iuil ilmei'iur. IttlilnppM 's iin mime proud city as of old. The One pnrllnmenr building ami the Im Iposliu; p aI ii en on the heights ocros the rWrr, where Admiral Horthy nov i- . en as a i'ii ue as before l i' iimer mer is stl'l 1 t viii iiii-isnnd with an -s nl row iion' in win. b ha iiu'M nun n ninl stiiluiiii nii'ii -lo the r lu-st o attain a spiii-loiis mai of tan Xloog I r.iii Josi-r ipuil. ! lie piouK'tiii'l" adds lively touch of color to the drab scenes to which the beautiful blue Danube Iihs become accustomed Celtic Fortrete Still Stands, "From .eiuuti, once the lust Hun giirlau poit on the Danube, a short trip hi-tweeu low banks brings one te Itelgrnde, the capital of the new king ilom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes where the steamer rounds the bae of the ancient fortress which dates hack to the time of the Celts, the Ho mans and the Franks, and conies to Its dock a little way up the Save which here enters the Danube from the south. "About four hours sail below HeJ grade the wide plains give way to billy country where the Transylvanlan Alps curve down toward the Jam bio of mouulalus which extend to Monlene-.'ro and Oreecc. It Is In till region that the main obstructions of the rler occur. Hut the most famous fa-mous obstructions and the (lnest scenery come at the Kaim Dunla and the 'Iron dates,' where the river has collected a gruesome toll. "At ltuslchuk, the railway traveler from ltoumanla ferries across a hrnntl and sluggish stream to continue his Journey (o Sella and Coiilniillnople; and here the banks of the Danube are lined with huge barges, many of which nic still idle. Ilelow Slllstrln, the river curves to the north and passes through Itnonmnlnn territory throughout tint rest of Its length. At Cenis Voda, It Is crossed by one of the longest railway bridges In the world, the last of the many bridges which cross the stream, some of which ure now destroyed as a result of the war and post-nnnlstlre fighting. fight-ing. "Hrallo, li" miles from the three main mouths of the Danube, Is a port for the grain ami produce of a rich agricultural region. In prewar days Its wharves teemed with life and Its huge grain clcwitors bulged with the tlcb producl.s of Wnlluchlfi and Do-hruilja, Do-hruilja, which has seen great develop luent since the Itusslans gave It tn ltoumanla Instead of the more valuable valu-able and fertile tracts of Hessarnbln. I From Calatr. to the sea the Danube I has' already been under the conlrol of ' an Intel unlloual commission whose . duty bus been to tnine the river arid j the many uatlonnlltles to whom the I river Is highway or barrli-r. according I to I In- tides of human passion and hii-1 hii-1 llnnal life." I . ..... |