Meade County news., 1917-05-31
STARVATION IN GERMANY PROVEN
English Woman, lnterned Until
Recently, Tells of Conditions
as She Saw Them.
HEALTH OF PEOPLE IMPAIRED
impossible, She Says, for Germany to
Hold Out Much Longer-Food
Riots Are Becoming Worse
and Worse.


London.-That 1t is impossible for
Germany to hold out much longer Is
the considered opinion of the wife OF
an Engllshman 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-
thorlties 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.
"The people," she said, "are starv-
ing, and yet most of them think tat
II they hold out they will be the VIC
tors. Only defeats on the battlefield
will bring 1t 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 a
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 home and 60 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 l met mine for
the first time after his arrest. You
can perhaps imagine the shock l got
when saw him again-thin and hol-
low-cheeked, as he had lost 45 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 l
had brother also there and many
others knew.
Money Is Held Back.
II held out as long as possibly
could because then could occasional
ly see my husband, and besides had
money, which, us soon as / came over
the frontier, l 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
$25. Thanks to the help Of friends,
1 am now being financed In small
way, but am only too thankful for
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
knows the worst times are yet to
come. These will be in May and June,
until some of the new crops are avail
able; but if they eat these as soon as
they come out Of the ground there will
be none for the coming winter. And
what then?
"That is why there were many Ger
mans knew who envled me for be-
ing able to leave the country, where
things are going from bad to worse
as the weeks pass on. Now, 1t seems,
the bread ratiOns have been made
smaller, instead Of larger as was prom
ised to the people some months ago,
and 1t Is less than three and half
pounds a head per fortnight, and very
poor stuff at that, 1t being made chief
Iy Of swedes. The largest amount Of
meat allowed per head weekly is one
half pound. including bone, and for
the last seven months we In - did
not see anything In the shape Of pork,
bacon, lard or any other fat. The
fat problem, of course, Is for the Ger
mans the worst. All we saw In that
way for the last seven or eight months
was about three ounces Of butter a
head per week, and there were many
towns that were allowed only half
that weight and even less. You can
get nothing unless you have plenty Of
money. Jam-dreadful stuff 1t is
costs 1.b0 mark pound and one can
get only half pound of that every
fortnight-and the same with coffee.
"You can imagine that, with this
slight amount Of nourishment, the
health of the people as whole is
giving way. OF course the rich can
now and then get extras, such as n
small fowl of from two and half to
three pounds for from $3.50 to SO,
while at Christmas geese were bought
at prices up to $50 and S75, and there
were folks who were glad to have
them even at that price. Foreign lard
can now and again be had at $3.50 a
pound, but there are very few who
can buy that.
No More Sugar.
~All sweet shops were closing down
when left, as there was no more
sugar to make sweetmeats, and choc-
oIate and cocoa were not to be had
the last three or four months. Milk
was hardly to be had any more, and,
in fact, there are many towns which
have not seen drop Of milk for
weeks and weeks, and when I came
away last month 1t was publicly
known that In April and May there
s-,ot,Id no hardly anv meat or milk m