The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1915-02-06
Back From Germany.
Mr. Richard Steiner Returned From Native Land Tells
of How Germany Bears Pressure of War.

There is no war in Germany"
said Richard Stclzner, just returned
| from the city of Lubbock, in his ma
tive land, to an Item reporter this
morning. II mean TO say" he has
tened to add. there is not the excite
ment, despair and starvation in Ger
many that many papers in this coun-
try, through erroneous news reports,
! lead their readers to think there is."
! Mr.. Steiner is one of the proprietors
of the New York Bakery, of this city.
He went to Germany on a visit to
relatives in his home city, Lubbock,
early in July, and was caught with
hundreds of others in the war zone al
most before he realized it. Mr. Stelz-
ner is n naturalized american citizen,
but is loyal son of Germany withal
and has absolute confidence that his
country will whip the allied nations.
Continuing his first statement, Mr..
Stelzner said: "If you could have been
with me in Lubbock or any one of hun
| dreds moro Of our large cites and
towns, YOU would never have known,
/ unless you had been told. that a war
was on. l did not even hear a cam
non fire. The principal things to re-
mind one that a war is in progress is
the arrival of wounded from the front
and the play of the children at war
in the streets. There is some diff
Guilty about staging a real war scene,
however, he added with smile, las
none of the Kids are willing to take
the part of Russia. l have often seen
them parading through the stree Is
with bag stretched between two
poles and a dead soldier of 10 or
II years being carried to the hospi-
tal."
Germany is keeping the enemy
out pretty well, don't you think 2"
went on Mr. Steiner. "Our people
think so, and their enthusiasm is
unbounded. Bands play as usual in
the cafes; they are crowded nightly,
prices are no higher, and everyone is
fairly contented considering the hard
proposition we are up against. OF
course, as we see it, the three little
words that tell the story of the real
cause of the war are: Made in Ger
many" and / think after all, the real
issue is England and Germany. Eng
land has for years been envious of
Germany's commercial success and
this war had TO come as the result"
Speaking of business conditions, Mr..
Stelzner says that while naturally
some businesses have been "killed"
others have proiited much by the war.
The founderies, large and small are all
working for the government, he said.
The German government has in hand
the distribution Of all Of the flour,
selling 1t to wholesalers to be sold in
turn to retailers and bakers. Prices,
says Mr.. Stelzner, are from $40 to $12
per barrel where does this flour
come from?" was asked Of Mr.. Stelz-
ner. 1T just comes" he answered,
the government doesn't tell, and the
people haven't too much couriosity
about it. Personally, / have seen
as many as seventeen steamers land
ing provisions in Germany, which
came from Denmark. l suppose Dem
mark buys these things and then re-
sells them to us. We are also getting
an abundance of bananas, oranges,
etc, by train from Italy" Yes" said
Mr.. StelZner. in answer to another
question, "Many industries are work.
Ing overtime, for instance the cloth
ing factories; they are busy making
things for the soldiers. And Just here
let ne tell you that Germany is good
10 her own soldiers, and captured SOL
diers of other nations, as we'll. There
is special kind of box in use for
mailing anything from cigars to sau-
sages to soldiers at the front and the
government sees to prompt delivery
! free Of charge. l have been in sever
al hospitals, and the wounded. friend
or enemy, have good clean bed and
clean clothes and proper attention all
the time"
"Cotton?-Yes, ! know personally
that we have been getting in some cot