Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1917-06-15
STARVATION IN GERMANY PROVEN
English Woman, Interned Until
Recently, Tells Of Conditions
as She Saw Them.
HEALTH OF PEOPLE IMPAIRED
Impossible, She says, for Germany to
Hold Out Much Lonaer-Food
Riots Are Becoming Worse
and Worse.

and Woroe.
London.-That 1t is impossible for
Germany to hold out much longer is
the considered opinion Of the wife OF
an Englishman who for the whole
period of the war up till now, has been
interned at Ruhleben. and who her
self within the last two or three weeks
has been permitted by the German au-
thorities to return to the land OF her
birth. Her knowledge Of Germany is
especially thorough, as she has resided
there with her husband, who was as
ISOLATED with commercial house, for
nearly twenty years; and her account
of the conditions of the country when
she left last month is so balanced and
restrained as to carry full conviction
of its truth.
1.-The people," she said, 'are starv-
ing, and yet most of them think that
If they hold out they will be the vic
tors. Only defeats on the battlefield
will bring it home to them that their
starving is no good, and then they will
turn round upon their government.
"My husband and l, after so long
stay In Germany, were on the point of
returning to England in September,
1914, when the war broke out in Au-
gust, and then there was no chance to
get away. We had to give up our
pretty horne and go into the interior
Of the country, whence he was taken
to Ruhleben, where he has been ever
since. For the first two years wives
situated like myself were not allowed
to see their husbands and 1t was not
until June, 1916, that 1 met mine for
the first time after his arrest. You
can perhaps imagine the shock / got
when 1 saw him again-thin and hol-
low-cheeked, as he had lost 40 pounds
while in the camp. After that we were
allowed to visit every three months
for two hours, which was better than
nothing at all, especially to me, as
had q brother also there and many
others l knew.
Money Is Held Back.
81 held out as long as l possibly
could because then 1 could occasional
: ly see my husband, and besides / had
money, which, as soon as l came over
the frontier, / had not. No one was
allowed to take out Of the country
more than 200 marks, which should
be worth $50; but when l crossed the
change came to not much more than
So. Thanks to the help of friends
] in email
, way, but l am only too thankful fol
this, because things are so distressing
ly bad in Germany that / am much
afraid we should be starving If we still
were there. The food riots are becom
: ing worse and worse, and every one
e knows the worst times are yet tt
. come. These will be in May and June
l until some of the new crops are avail
t able: but If they eat these as soon a.
they come out of the ground there viii
be none for the coming winter. Ant
what then?
"That is why there were .many Ger
mans l knew who envied me for be
A., ing able to leave the country, wher'
J things are going from bad to wors'
as the weeks pass on. Now, it seems
o the bread rations have been mad
smaller, instead Of larger as was prom
ised to the people some months age
and it is less than three and hal
n pounds a head per fortnight, and yer.
l. poor stuff at that, it being made chief
It ly of swedes. The largest amount o
s meat allowed per head weekly is one
half pound. including bone, and 70
s the last seven months we In - di
e not see anything in the shape Of pOrl
i bacon, lard or any other fat. Tn
e fat problem, of course, is for the Gel
q mans the worst. All we saw in tina
lie way for the last seven or eight month
"a was about three ounces Of butter
lie head per week, and there were man
N towns that were allowed only hal
e. that weight and even less. You ca
q. get nothing unless you have plenty {
Is money. Jam-dreadful stuff it is
Oh costs 1.5O mark pound and one ca
IL get only half a pound Of that ever
er fortnight-and the same with coffee
20 "You can imagine that, with tn
ne slight amount of nourishment, til
at health of the people as whole
SO giving way. OF course the rich ca
10 now and then get extras, such as
r. small fowl Of from two and half
Is three pounds for from $3.50 to
e- while at Christmas geese were bougl
en- at prices up to $50 and $75, and the
III were folks who were glad to ha'
ne them even at that price. Foreign lal
er can now and again be had at $3.50
pound, but there are very few wi
can buy that.
No More Sugar.
al "All sweet shops were closing dow
NC when / left, as there was no mo
ey sugar to make sweetmeats, and che
~ olate and cocoa were not to be h,
~ the last three or four months. Mi
Sc was hardly to be had any more, an
M in fact, there are many towns viii
- have not seen a drop of milk I
80 weeks and weeks, and when 1 car
away last month 1t was public
known that in April and May the
nc would be hardly any meat or milk
90 be had and the shortage would
a.. acute. Soap is scarcely to be got, al
hv one piece of toilet soap, costing abo