Evening star., 1917-01-19

AH
The people held on under Batookfo
management. Belts were tighteneds
and the Gis
Entire Nation Fed ssntic plsn
Upon Peace Wastage. an ar sn,,rs
nation upon rations was carried out,
said. was fed upon the wastage OF peace
time.
In order that the American reader
may better understand how this wad
done. let him picture the vast saving
which a card system OF housekeeping
must eject In any American town OF
city. The average American family OF
, three consumes two losves of bread Q
day. one and one-half pounds OF meat,
one dozen potatoes. half a pound OF
butter. two eggs and quantities OF otheD
foods. In the homes OF the well-to-d0
and or the wealthy. eggs are used BY
the crate and butter by the firkin. while
all manner OF foodstufs are recklessly
wasted. Restrict the consumption OF
bread TO fve slices a day, allow a pound
or meat TO each individual n week, all
low to each one egg a week. one-ouar-
ter OF a pound OF butter and carry OUT
this thrift. not only in the homes OF
the well-to-do and wealthy. but In the
pubic eating places. and the average
american town or city would. in All
Likelihood. md itself getting along on
even less than three-quarters of its
| normal consumption. while its very
| poor would be better Off than they Wer0
! under normal conditions
The war sustenance ONCE took the
surplus OF the well-to-do and divided fe
among all. II forced an artificial. even.
ly distributed system of thrift upoa
every individual in the empire, which
eliminated countless sources of vast
age As examples. Il was no N1onKep
permitted to feed potatoes and certain
grams to live stock: potatoes were NO
| longer allowed TO spoil in dark cellars:
| meat was slaughtered as wanted and
was so handled as to make almost every
! part OF the animal serve as food with
the exception OF the horns. The
amounts OF grain diverted for the pro-
duction OF beer were severely restrict.
/ ed. The manufacture OF candles was
practically done away with. The manu-
facture OF cosmetics, into which fats
enter. was abolished And another fm-
portant element OF waste was elimi-
mated by giving foodstun the right Of
way on the railroads. thus bringing
about its expeditions distribution to the
people and TO proper storage plants.
The Central Purchasing once. or Soc
ciety. under the food Office. which com-
pletely controls all classes of staple
foods in which the pinch of shortage is
felt. is tantamount to q cooperative
purchasing organization for $1,000 900
| members. Its organization and opera
tions Will be studied with greater In
terest after the war than the cam.
paigns OF Won Hindenburg. At present.
the dealings OF this Office. naturally,
are shrouded in as much mystery as
possible. The German newspapers
have repeatedly cautioned their read
ers OF the necessity OF refraining from
bringing this organization into the
| foreground OF interest In any way.
The food Office has not yet achieved
a perfect equalization of food distribu-
tion for all sections. The difficulties in
the way OF an even-handed partition of
the food products of a nation among
all of its people can be readily apprs-
ciated. Saxonv has probably suffered.
and is still suffering. the most keenly-
In this state the rations are lowest.
The cities have suffered more than the
country districts. However. the rA-
tions are more thoroughly equaiiEed
all the time. the machinery OF the
war food office develops