The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1917-05-25
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 Longer-Food
Riots Are Becoming Worse
and Worse.

the considered opinion of the wife Of
an Englishman who for the whole
period of the war up till now, has been
informed 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 a 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 it's truth.
"The people," she said, 'are starv-
ing. and yet most Of them think that
if they hold out they will be the vic
tors. @ y defeats on the battlefield
will bring it home to them that their
starvinsis no good, and then they will
u 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 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 it 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 l saw him again-thin and hol-
l~ow-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 l
had a brother also there and many
others l knew.
Money Is Held Back.
II held out as long as I possibly
could because her / could occasional
ly see my husband, and besides l had
money, which, as soon as I 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 / crossed the
change came to not much more thar
$50. Thanks to the help of friends,
/ am now being financed in a small
way, but l am only too thankful for
this, because things are so distressing
ly bad in Germany that l 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 II 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 l knew who enyied me for be-
Ing able to leave the country, where
are going from bad to worse
as the weeks pass IN. Now, it 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 a half
pounds q head per. fortnight, and very
stuff at that, it being made chief
ly 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 eve 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 it is
costs 1.50 mark a pound and one can
get only half a pound CT that every
fortnight-and the same with coffee.
you "a imagine that, with this
slight amount Of nourishment, the
health Of the people rs q whole is
way. OF course the rich can
now and then get extras, such as a
small fowl Of from. two and a half to
three pounds for from $3.50 to So,
while at Christmas geese we're bought
at prices up to $50 and SIS, 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 q
pound, but there are very few who
can buy that.
No More Sugar.
*All sweet shops were closing down
when I left, as there was no more
sugar to make sweetmeats, and choc-
olate and oc0 were not to be had
the last three or four months. Milk
was hardly to be had any more, and,
Ii 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
would be hardly any meat or milk to
be had and the shortage would be
lcute. Soap Is scarcely to be got. and
inc piece Of toilet soap. costing about
M&F $50 MEE24 lAM "a VIM XFN&E 80 y