The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1917-02-07
SPOKE LIKE "A PROPHET /

iuil SIlOTC, ana Cne WalCinS lines llfSC
began to form, two housewives were
quarreling over their respective
rights in line. They .quarreled so vo-
ciferously that they attracted the at
tention of policeman.
Laboriously he separated the pair,
and, when he had placed them far
apart, he addressed them and all the
other women in the long "batter
queue:"
"Stop that controversy. Don't fight
You're not going to srarve, but you
are going to go hungry"
His words were more effective in
the original German, because of the
similarity of the two verbs. ever
hungern werdet ihr n1cht, aber hum
germ wohl."
The policeman was no prophet, yet,
in March of 1916 he almost exactly
outlined situation that now exists
There are no longer butter lines,
and few potato lines that began to
form during the last month of last
year have been done away with. Or
ganization has done that, though it
has failed to supply any more butter
than there was on hand in the spring,
in November.
On the contrary, there is much less
butter than there used to be, fact
which is, attested to by the compari-
son of fifty grams allowed each per-
son per week now, as against $50 in
the spring. There are less potatoes
and the visible supply at very best
will last until next July-when new
harvest will be in.
A summary of the German food
situation today shows very little but
ter, with little if any prospect that
there will be more in the immediate
future. An equally small amount of
margarine or other substitutes for
butter. A supply of meat that does
not bid fair to increase because there
is SO little feed on which the cattle
can be nourished and fattened. A
minimum amount of sugar, since less
than, the usual supply of sugar beets
was raised in 1916, and part of the
supply has to go toward making
chemicals. An almost complete fail
ure of the potato crop, so that the
bread ration is to be "stretched" with
barley instead Of potato flour, to the
consequent diminishing fthe beer
production. An almost neglible sup
ply Of coffee and a very slender
amount of tea.
On the credit side Of the ledger
stand the vegetables that were raised
in great quantities during the past
summer, and that with Grman
thoughtfulness and system have been
dried in great quantities, and will be
available for the winter. Likewise
there are great quantities of MARINA
lade, or near-marmalade, which have
been stored up as a substitute for
butter. The substitute is very poor,
but better than nothing.
The average German will insist
that Rumanla stands on the credit
side of the ledger, too, and that it is
big item. But it is extremely prob
able that the amount of food found
in Rumania is far smaller than had
been anticipated. Turkey, Bulgaria,
Hungary and Austria, all also have
claim on whatever there may be.
Though Germany is running the mill
tary situation in Rumania, Germany
is very far away. Her authorities
have known for weeks that there was
little to expect from Rumania, and
have tried to break the evil news
gently. First came the announcement
that the size Of the supplies captured
was unknown, then the word that
what ever might be found would not
be used but kept as reserve.
1t is, Of course, the big German cit
les that are suffering, and that are
going to suffer increasingly as the
war continues. Lack of transporta-
ton facilities is an increasingly i'm
portant factor.
Germany, which before the war had
somewhat more than ample freight
cars for it's own needs, now has to
make the same number of cars, ap-
proXimately, do for all of the Grman
Empire, nearly all Of Belgium, North
ern France, all Poland, and big
piece of Russia, in addition to Serbia,
Montenegro and the biggest half of
Rumania. Only relatively small
number of cars captured in Belgium