New-York tribune., 1917-12-28
Crops a Failure and No
Food Received From,
Outside Sources
r Rations insufficient
Letters That Evaded Censor
Tell of Horse Killed in Bat
tie Used for Soup
A..o.lslel 10. co-Ic,poalene,l

LONDON. Dec. 10.-The food situ-
alton 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 eyading
the Austrian censorship. Bohemia,
both owing to her geographical situ-
alton and the concentration Of her pop
ulation in the industrial districts, has
always been dependent on outside as
sistancc for her food supply.
"You can't conceive what a desperate
plight VIC are in says one letter
"and it will be even worse as winter
comes on, for there has been no har-
vest to speak of. Owing to the drouth,
everything has been burned up, there
is no wheat, and soon there will be
no potatoes. Nobody sees how We
can endure another winter. Even the
peasant farmers have not enough for
themselves. There is practically no
meat--you can perhaps buy scrap
once q week after standing for four
hours in line. There are strikes and
demonstrations everywhere. but the
newspapers are not allowed to say any
thing about them
Many Die of Starvation
Another letter says: "The rations
per head arc now: Bread, 2 pounds
weekly; -four, for married people only,
pound weekly; potatoes, ! pound
weekly; sugar. Il pound weekly. But
in reality it is practically impossible
10 obtain ones full allowance of any
thing. Food is issued on Fridays and
SATURDAYS every week, but IL frequent
ly hsppens that those who have finished
their rations too soon or who have no
money TO procure something by under
hand means die of starvation on
Thursday.
at is true we have the much vaunt-
cd soup kitchens, which provide a mid
day meal But the meal is no longer
anything nourishing, but only water
containing beets, clover and turnlp.
The war vegetables are occasionally
supplemented with horse meat when
things are going badly on the front.
Thus when the Italian ofensives were
going badly against us many wagon
loads of dead horses were brought to
the factory kitchens to be made into
soup. These kitchens supply the in
valid soldiers, and also the foreign
workmen, the latter mostly Poles.
whenever a report came in that
the Italians were winning there was
great rejoicing among these slaves at
the prospect of getting meat soup.
"A good many men may still be seen
in the industrial towns, but there are
absolutely none in the villages. There
are very few soldiers left at home now,
although there were plenty last March.
The end is at hand"
Corroborative evidence Of the criti-
cal situation in Bohemia is found in
several official sources. In the Aus
trian budget committee the Deputy NJ.
Zenker declared that the shortage Of
-four and bread was now almost COM
plete. "If the government really de-
sires to continue the war; he said. "it
will have to take some very urgent
measures"
In the Austrian upper house on Oc-
tober 27 Dr. Gilbert Helmer, Lord Abb
bot of Teul, and one Of the most in
fuential churchmen in Austria-H Hun
gary. said: Terrible want reigns in
the districts of Gablonz, Rumburg and
Warnsdorf and in the Ezgebirge.'