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Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 161, 27 March 1918, Page 8

The shortage of fats in Germany early led to a very stringent shortage of soup. An ingenious remedy was found lor this by the manufacture of a soap substitute consisting mainly of line clay or kaolin manipulated in combination with slacked lime. An unpleasant consequence of its use, however, is reported in the Zeitschrift des Vcreins deutscher Ingenieurs. It soems that an uncommonly large number of stoppages in drains and sewer pipes led to an investigation, which disclosed the fact that the clogging was due to masses of the aforesaid clay agglomerated with fibrous vegetable debris so as to produce a, plugging of the- pipes and drains carrying the mixture.

The old method of cleaning ship's hulls, which was a laborious and lengthy process, is being replaced by electrical methods. Formerly it was customary to allow 170 to 200 mandays for the work; but recently several electrically-driven machines have been found to lie both speedy a nil effective, according to the- "Electrician." Brushes and scrapers are used, and by their moans, at a moderate expenditure of electricity in driving the operating motors, one 18,000-ton battleship can bo completely cleaned in twelve hours; and vessels dry-docked, after having been cleaned by this method, have been found to have remained quite- free from any subsequent marine growth.