The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-12-27
FOOD SITUATION IN BOHEMIA SAID
 ID BE CRITICAL
''YOu Cannot Conceive of Our Desolate Plight" Says Letter Received
 in London

London, December 10.-CCorrespondenee of the Associated Press)-The food sit uation in parts of Austria, notably Bo- hemia, is at present more critical than at any previous period of the war. ac- cording to letters which have been re- ceived by Czechs here, after evading the Austrian censorship. Bohemia, both owing to her geographical situation and the concentration of her population in the industrial districts, has always been dependent on outside assistance as far as her food supply is concerned.
 You can't conceive what desperate plight we are in" says one letter and 1t will be even worse as winter comes on, for there has been no harvest to speak of, and soon there will be no po- tatoes. Nobody sees how we can en- dure another winter Even the peasant farmers have not enough for themselves There is practically no meat-you can perhaps buy scrap once week after standing for four hours in line. There are strikes and demonstrations every where, but the newspapers are not ai-
 lowed to say anything about them"
 Another letter says; The rations per head are now: Bread, two pounds week. ly; flour, for married people only, one pound weekly; potatoes, one pound week ly; sugar, one-half pound weekly. But in reality it is practically impossible to ob- tain one's full allowance of anything. rood Is issued on Fridays and Satur- days every week, but it frequently hap pens that those who have finished their rations too soon or who have no money to procure something by underhand means, die of starvation on Thursday. The management of the food bureau at tempts to satisfy our appetites by provid- ing the most terrible bread, the mere sight of which often upsets the starv-
 ing stomach.
 Tt is true we have the much-vaunted soup kitchens, which provide d midday meal But the meal is no longer any thing nourishing, but only water contain
 ing beets clover and turnips. The war vegetables are occasionally supplemented with horse meat when things are going badly on the front. Thus when the Italian offensives were going badly against us many wagon loads Of dead horses were brought to the factory lSitch- ems to be made into soup. These llitch- ems supply the invalid soldiers, and also the foreign workmen, the latter mostly Poles
 Whenever report came in that the Italians were winning, there was great rejoicing among the slaves at the pros pect of getting meat soup. These wretched creatures who are conscripted for work in the mines and factories, are literally slaves. Not only is their per- sonal liberty restricted, but corporal prn- ishments are inflicted for the slightest retort; the offender is flogged and shaved close like a convict, as mark Of hu- initiation.
 "A good many men may still be seen in the industrial towns, but there are absolutely none in the villages. A few sons of rich landowners have been able to escape military service by suddenly becoming indispensable to some mine or factory There are very few soldiers. left at home now although there were plenty last March The end is at handn Corroborative evidence of the critical situation in Bohemia is found in several more official sources. In the Austrian budget committee, the deputy, M. Zenker. declared that the shortage of flour and bread was now almost complete. If the government really desires to continue the war;" he said, it will have to take some very urgent measures. We will after wards have something to say about Hun gary, which would be well advised to give way and let us have some of her stored-up food if she does not want to see current of overwhelming opinion rise against Budapest to the great detriment of the dual monarchy"
 In the Austrian upper house on Oc- tober 27 Dr. Gilbert Helmer lord abbot of Tephl, and one of the most influential churchmen in Austria Hungary, said: Terrible want reigns In the districts of Gablonz, Rumburg and Warnsdorf, and in the Erzgebirge. Conditions in the last named district are appalling. owing to the failure of the Czech population to do their duty to the community in handing over foodstuffs. 1t is even widely re- ported that the failure of the Czechs to hand over their food hoards is due to rebellious nationalistic aspirations"