The Alaska daily empire., 1915-05-25
GERMANY PREPARED
 FOR A LONG WAR

0Nfo laNs. Eal.ElAN V. sAAtNt Nof NA ! Eugene C. Andre. & Co.. cotton mer- chants. who has just returned frou the Continent. having been in Ham. burg and Bremen as recently as Ap- ri I9. makes some interesting obser- yatlons on conditions in Germany and the rumored shortages in various supplies. including cotton and copper.
 lie says:
 Germany has been getting her cot- ton through Italy and Sweden and some is stin dribbling in. Warehocs- cs are full. and it is difficult to get storage room. The Germans captured good deal of cotton at Antwerp and also at Lodz which is known as the ] Manchester Of Russian Poland. The supplies taken at these places are es- timated at 250.00o bales.
 yThe government has control of the supplies. and every so often it ! brings cotton 10 Bremen and sells it at auction to the spinners. The high est price paid heard of was 92 pfennings for @ half kilo, the eQuiya- lent of about 70 cents per pound, or 16 cents in our money on the pres ent rate Of exchange. There is. to be sure, no oversupply. as the price in dicates. but neither is there short age. Germany naturally wishes to : conserve what she has so far as pos sible
 'I saw a lot of Indian and Egyptian cotton in Germany As a matter of fact she Is the largest consumer Of Indian cotton in the world. Indian cotton is very short fibre and Ger man mills are fitted up to run on ti. making more coarse goods than other countries. England on che other hand which makes a preponderance of fine goods. uses little Indian cotton.
 "The mills and factories in Ger many are all working. and there are plenty Of workers. the laboring class not having been reduced to Che eN- tent that it has in France by the call to the colors. Germany still has lots more men she can put into the field.
 Germany Is not really short of anything. Even English cigarettes and Scotch whiskey can be bought. The Germans have no feeling about selling the wares Of their enemies. And prices are not any higher than they were before the war. li you want Co live cheaply today 80 10 Ger many. Eggs, coffee and everything is cheap. They say they have enough coffee to last five years. All the restaurants and cabarets are running full blast
 What surprised us was to find the trains running strictly on time and wet equipped with dining and sleep irg cars. When we went down into Italy we found quite the reverse true Italy is all mixed up and train ser. vice is very poor.
 ''Ne understood that the Germans are building an entirely new railroad from Aix-la-Chapelle into Belgium. 4tllIlul Aa NAANARNsNA+ -"--r w At.t short of copper, but they claim to have invented satisfactory substi ute for the red metal Money is now plentiful and rates are easy.
 There is no scarcity of wheat or bread in Germany. although they are using every means to conserve sup plies in case they should get a crop failure. They are using rye and po- tato flour to large extent Every man. woman and child is supplied with a bread ticket on which dates are marked and they arc allowed toi purchase just so much and no more every day. People in the restaurants often dispense with bread entirely considering it an act of patriotism to do without it
 ''I cannot see how the war can re- suit in anything but draw. Ger many cannot be crushed. and cannot