Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-11-08
LUXURIES HAVE
BEEN FORGOTTEN
War Has Driven Even Lack of
Necessities From Ger
man Minds

Stockholm, Sweden. Nov. S.-(Cor-
respondence of the Associated Press)
i-One thing after another has disap-
peared so gradually from German mar
kets since the war began that the very
existence of certain luxuries and some
things that were once considered
necessities, has been forgotten. 1t
was the experience of a correspondent
OF the Associated Press who had been
in Berlin since the war began, and
for many years before, to find, upon
his arrival in Stockholm, the butcher
shop and grocery windows filled with
foodstuffs he had seen scarcely sug-
gestion of in Germany for many
months, and the restaurant bills of
fare also served as pleasant reminders
or ante-bellum days when the Ger
man restaurants as much as those
OF any country, were prepared to sup
ply great variety of the foods.
Germany Is not starving, and there
Is no fear there that it will, but the
people are doing without far more
things than they realize, having be-
come so gradually accustomed to the
loss or curtailment of certain edibles
Bacon-which the correspondent had
not seen in Germany for months-is
plentiful here. of course; butter, lard
and olive oil. seen in the grocery shops
offered a really Irresistible appeal to
one who had scarcely known them for
so long. There were different cuts of
pork; the correspondent had had a
small portion of pork twice in three
months. He found many kinds of
bread, while the only kinds he re-
Gently knew were rye mixed with po-
tatoes and wheat mixed with rye.
There was real coffee. which one can
not obtain even in the best hotels or
m1llfonaireS homes in Germany.
The taste of French fried potatoes
was almost new thing, for no Ger
man household has enough fat to per-
init indulging in this luxury. With
baskets of bread on the tables in ho-
tells and restaurants, and no breadcard
required as a condition precedent to
partaking, 1t seemed almost irregular
and even waSteful. An order for maca-
roni brought q quantity greater than
household of two persons can OBJ
tain in Berlin for a whole week. A
single order of cold meats contained
more than the amount allowed per
capita in Germany for a week.
What, then, it may be asked, are the
Germans eating? The answer is:
Bread, potatoes and other vegetables, |
one-half pound of meat weekly when |
1t can be obtained, and fish,. canned |
fresh and smoked. The disappearance |
of the legumes-lentils, peas and beans |
has been especially felt by the |
poorer people. A few beans and peas
are occasionally to be had, but only |
a negligible quantity Lentils, OF |
which che Germans were very fond, |
disappeared in the first weeks of the |
war.
On this food, if it can be obtained,
one cannot starve, but the poorer |
people, who either get nothing but |
potatoes and bread or who do not |
know how to make the most of what |
they do get, complain of the monotony
OF the fare and that they are con-
tinually hungry. A number of women |
of this class, some weeks ago, made a
small demonstration in front of the
city hall of one of the municipalities
of Greater Berlin, declaring that they
were hungry. You shall not be al
lowed to starve (verhungern), said
the mayor, but you will have to be
hungry (hungern).
This is undoubtedly the spirit ami
mating all but an insignificant num-
Der OF Germans. They are satisfied
that they will not starve, and they are
willing to make the sacrifice for the
F'atherland implied in the mayors
words. And they are the better able
to make this sacrifice because, as has
been illustrated they do not realize
just how great it is.