Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1917-12-04
UNDERGOING Is
KILLING MANY OF
KAISER'S SUBJECTS
New Form of DySentery SIM
liar in Symptoms to the
ASiatic Cholera, Is Fatal in
Many Cases
(This Is the fourth of Mr.. Corey's ar
deles on conditions in Germany
BY HERBERT COREY

ID uhNDElCI NOKEl
Copyright. 1917. by Herbert Corey)
BERN, Switzerland, g Oct. 2O.-CBy
malL)-Because of a fairly abundant
harvest and the takings from the occu-
pied territories in Roumania Poland
and Serbia the civilian ration in Ger
many has increased somewhat this fall
The bread cards now call for 1900
grams per week, as against 1000 and
potatoes are likewise more plentiful
The meat ration has also been increased
In most and perhaps in all districts
for a reason that will be discussed later
L think 1T is very doubtful If the
ration has been increased sufficiently
to make up for the shrinkage of re-
serves
For two years the German has been
underfcd. During the first year of
the war the Teutonic table was a we'll
covered one. There were shortages of
certain products and others were care
fully husbanded but on the whole the
German ate quite as much as he really
needed. During the second year of the
war he was underfed and during the
third year the ration was still further
reduced The consequence is that the
reserves of fat upon the human body
have practically disappeared in Ger
many.
That is a cold way of saying that the
men and women of Germany are lank
and haggard now.
Not all of them, ii is true. The
roducer of foodstuffs holds OUT all
that he dares. and the rich man buys
surreptitiously all that he can The
rest of the people are eating up or have
eaten up the reserves of fat which have
been accumulated for years on their
bodies. In the case of one man know
eight pounds was lost. This man
weighed no more than $50 pounds to
begin with, is of an athletic habit, and
dined once or twice each week with
well to do friend who lived as in times
of peace. Moreover, he lived at the
best hotel In Berlin. Another lost six
teen pounds and still another seven
teen, although they likewise knew rich
friends and lived at good hotels.
1t is very questionable If the ration
has been sufficiently increased to make
up for this loss of fat in the nation.
Already the weakness occasioned by
persistent undertaking is making it.
self felt in the death rate Men and
women of more than forty-five years
of age and children under six or seven
years have slight chance of regaining
their strength when attacked by an III
ness that at other times would be con-
sidered of a minor class. Deaths are
]
from rheumatism, anaemia, and various
stomach and digestive troubles, which
are in reality occasioned by the under
nourishment of the past two years.
An epidemic of dysentery is sweeping
through Germany. This of two distinct
varieties, one the dysentery commonly
known and the other closely approx
mating in it's symptoms the cholera of
the east, although IT is not cholera. 1t
is, however so contagious that the
Swiss government is seriously alarmed
by the danger that it may spread into
Switzerland. In neither form Is 1t
amenable to the usual treatment for
dysentery and in the contagious form
1t is quickly fatal in frightfully large
proportion of cases. The people call
this bread sickness" and ascribe 1T en-
tirely to the bad quality of the war
bread furnished by the government.
This is not disputed by the physicians,
who are quite willing to say in private,
however, that the epidemics are due
entirely to malnutrition, and can only
be ended by a course of full feeding.
eff the war continues another year
II is possible that the losses among the
civilian population by dysentery of an
epidemic character may be equal to the
losses of the army at the 'front.'" was
the statement of a physician who is
described as a thorough-going conserva-
tive to a German friend of mine.
The statement was made by a Ger
man-American-he is German by birth
but American by residence and pre-
dilection-who is vouched for by persons
of standing as being absolutely reliable
in all statements of fact, that at one
time in Hamburg last summer FUNER-
Al, SERVICES IN THE CHURCHES
WE'RE RESTRICTED TO TEN MIN
UTES BY MILITARY ORDER. There
were so many at that time that the
churches were running to capacity on
funerals, and frequently the streets in
the vicinity-of the churches were filled
with the corteges waiting their turn. He
explicitly stated that not one favorite
church, or two, were thus crowded, but
every church in town.
1t must be remembered, of course, that
Hamburg is also a hospital town, and
that a certain number of deaths daily
may be counted against the militry ele-
ment AS a seafaring town. too. it has