Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1917-03-23
WHAT WAR BRINGS
TO THOSE AT HOME


Madeline Doty in the New York Tri
bune. Miss Doty spent several month";
in Germany the past year and wrot,
several very interesting letters fron
: Berlin. Regarding food supply Germany
is probably as well or better situated
than some of thc other countries in IN,
Teutonie alliance. Brief extracts from
Miss Doty's letters of several week,
ago say:
For several days I wandered about
Berlin letting impressions sink in. Their,
is some activity, but it is the activity
of a bygone day or Of a country town
Nowhere are there shining new taxis
prancing horses, and laughing people
The taXis are the refuse from the front
They toss and bump you about. The
carriages have been resurrectcd from
the past. The horses are chiefly valu.
able as a study in bone anatomy. Poor
things! | often looked in their dinner
pals. Thy never had anything but chop
ped straw.
People Are Stomachless
:" As for the people, there is a sombcr
/ grayncss about them. They are thin |
didn t see a big girth anywhere. Ger
many is stomachless. 1t isn't that the
! people have nothing to eat, all except
the very rich have too little The food
they have isn't the right kind. During
the summer there seemed to be plenty
of vegetables, fruit, and a fair supply
of black bread, but this without grease.
sugar, or meal does not satisfy digeS-
tion. 1t 5 like trying to run u wagon
without oil. It creaks.
HThe German race begins TO creak.
As whole it is pale, thin, sunk eyed.
Sooner or later a crisis is inevitable.
! Whether when it comes the desperate
people will iCin the Won Tirpitz group
and it will be one of ugly retaliation,
or an internal awakening and evolution
depends on the attitude of the neutrals
and the allies. The soldiers as well as
the civilian population suffer The
front-line trenches may be well fed, but
the men home ON leave or in barracks
are noticeably thin. They are pale,
weary, and without life.
All Look Tired
We are told of trip to the railway
station to see a big detachment leave
for Wilma. 1t was a band of veterans
who had served in previous battles of
the present war, and in their dirty-pat
ched uniforms, showing the lack of suf
ficint feed by their empty eyes. they
seemed for all the world like cluster
of tired children. They sat about il
listless groups, talking very little, per
haps not at all All the vaunted Ger
man esprit lie corps was fled. The scene,
of farewell were narrowing. The social
lists estimate that two and half tC
three million men in Prussia alone have
been killed. wounded or are missing. Nc
wonder the soldiers are desperate.
IS Such is the fate of the men; nor is
life any better for the women. They
are to be seen everywhere; in the
streets digging and cleaning sewers; on
the road with pickaX and shovel, help.
ing Russian prisoners relay railroad
tracks; in the subways, clad in bloom.
ers, acting as train starters; on the
trains, wearing husband S motorcap anC
coat. At night they come home to hun.
CRY children and empty larders. Then
tiny savings go for bread and potatoes
Cannot Afford 1t
The day-laborers can not frequent
city feeding Kitchens They can not al
ford it. Berlin prepared to feed $4,000
Last winter $4,000 ate at the Kitchens
In summer the number decreased tC
, 5000 The meal served is a pint bowl
of food, which is cross between sour
and stew. 1t contains potatoes, barley
rye, vegetables, or anything to be had
and on the meat-days some odds and
ends of meat A bowl full is DO
pfennigs, or 10 cents; and a half bowl
20 pfennigs, or 8 cents. mother earn
ing 40 to 90 cents day can not pay iC
cents head for food 1t is the bour.
geois class that patronize the kitchen.
u visit these fceding-stations. A
large central market turned into q
kitchen prepares the food. Here are bic
watts in whica the food is steamed ol
boiled in bulk. From here the cooked
product is sent to feedng-statious in dii
ierent Localities. Women of means pre-
side over these places and conduct then
well. The stewed mass is usually very
eatable. Such placesSare God send tt
the middle class, the small storekeepers
whose business has failed, clerks an(
stenographers, but for the unskilled la
borer the price is prohibitive.
Poor Little Riddles
AS / luoh my eye is caught DN tN(
small children. They have crept in the
big door and sit on Il bench side by side
hand in hand. The Oldest boy of | /
is clad in ragged, dirty coat and trous
crs His face is streaked with dirt, save
for spots here and there cleaned by fall
ing tears y small sister of five snug
giles up to him, She, too, possesses only
boy $ ragged dirty coat and trousers
Her face is smudgcd with black. but il
is rounder, with more color than tho
boys, Her baby eyes are shining
blue. She seems to rest serene in hei
brother s care. 1t is evident the boy is
fighting mantully for his little sister
The lads face is pinched and blue and
lined with anguish. With the aid of q
friendly policeman l got their story
These We're their answers: Hungry --
terribly hungry. Mother dead; father
in the war; no home, slept anywhere
ate anything | drop some money in
the boy 5 hand. His little claw-ikc
fingers snatch at mine | can feel theii
touch yet. Then he slides from the
bench and starts for the door.
An Underfed People
But by this time the women work
ers had joined me. Go get III line and
! YOU can have some food, thew order
The hoy hides his monev hnnaatb HI.