The Washington herald., 1915-02-21
WAR CUTS down.
| berlin RATI0NS
Sausages Are About the Only
Things Still Real Plen-
tiful.
PETROLEUM STOCK LOW
Copper Scarcity Threatens After Store
of Belgium Has Been Used.
German Writes.
,p,eiL Cable to The w.shinetn Herald.

Special Cable to The Washington Herald.
Berlin. Feb. 2o-Whiie the country has
the official word Of the Minister Of thu
Interior that there will be no need to
starve for a long time to como. the day
II forseen when the brewing Of beer will
cease altogether because all tho grain
available must be used as food for men
and horses.
The morning meal is a reminder every
day Of the fact that the country il more
under close blockade. The coffee con-
tains more and more chicory and the
delicious white "Broedchen" has been re-
placed by roll which is made from a
mixture Of potato. rye and a small per-
centage Of wheat flour. Sausages are still
plentiful, but heaven knows what they
are made from.
Under such circumstances the famous
German professor has once more been
found useful. Prof Ludwig Schleich, the
food expert. has pledged his solemn word
that before the war the Germans of the
well-to-do classes were guilty OF the sin
Of over-eating and that a period of as
coticism will prove. IL perhaps somewhat
painful. exceedingly beneficial. He adds
the interesting information for which the
War Department will surely haul him
over the Goals. that thousands of German
soldiers in the trenches have gone for
days without food, only to fight better
than ever.
Petroleum stock Low.
Altogether these are plenty of symptoms,
official and others. that the food supply
Of the empire is causing more and more
anxiety. but It only adds 70 the grim de-
termination to fight to the bitter end.
Worse than the scarcity of foodstuffs.
which is sure to be greatly relieved when
the years crops are harvested, is the
scarcity Of commodities necessary to
carry on the war which are not pro-
duced In the country
The stock Of petroleum is beginning to
get very low and with the Russians &C.
cupying Galicia and the British navy
cutting off all imports by sea the govern
ment is gradually preparing the people
for the moment when all petroleum will
be seized by the state.
The scarcity of copper will also become
acute as soon as We have exhausted the
supply on hand in Belgium. now being
stripped of every ounce OF the precious
metal which the military Moloch must
have for the manufacture of guns and
shells.
In a recent COPY of the Cologne Gazette,
Prof. Wagner. the papers well-known
war correspondent. shows the French ar
tillery does not limit itself to lombard
ing the common soldiers. but at least
once came very near killing Gen. Won
Kluck at his own headquarters. He
writes:
Spy Is Suspected.
One afternoon the general. his chief
of stan and | were enjoying cur coffee
after lunch. Suddenly we hear a ''Sisss-
boom" sound as II of a gigantic whip
whistling through the air followed by a
heavy crash. 1t was a shell which fell
into the village only a few hundred met
ers from where We were seated.
We stare at one another dumfounded.
A couple Of minutes pass and again We
hear ''Sissss-boom," This time consid-
erably closer. The window panes are
rafting. The shell must have fallen on
the other side of the street or in the
next garden.
I'm the street outside We see people
rushing hither and thither in great con-
fusion. All motor cars are rapidly re-
moved from the danger zone. We go out
into the garden to try to discover where
the shells are coming from. ''Sissss-
boom" Still antoher! The French are
evidently aiming at the railroad station.
for all the shells fall close to 1t. A train is
and a non-commissioned officer supervis-
ing the unloading is killed. We get a
painful impression that we must have
been betrayed and that We must have
had a spy in our very midst"