Evening star., 1918-08-11

the consequent shortage of food sup
| plies has been a move
! Communal ment for the institution
Of communal or national
1AsoneAs. kitchens in several of
the warning countries. This has been
subject Of investigation by experts
from our Department of Labor.
In the latter part Of 1917 there
| were about 100 such kitchens in vari-
ops parts of Great Britain which had
been independently, started by local
authorities for the purpose Of meet
ing the most urgent local needs.
Early in the present year an order
was issued by the food controller
which provided for the establishment
| Of national kitchens, and a director
| Of the communal kitchen section of
the ministry of food was appointed.
In the latter part of March this year.
there were 25O kitchens. with a pros
pect that the number would be in
creased to 1000 in a very short time.
While the maintenance of these
kitchens on the part OF any munich
pality is entirely voluntary. the gov
ernment has adopted plan to en-
courage cities or towns to put in op-
servation of food and fuel. Those
who have looked into the matter for
the department say that 1t is agreed
under this plan that the government
shall provide 20 per cent of the
initial outlay in the form of a grant
and 25 per cent as a loan, and that
the remainder shall be raised by each
municipality or council. Advice and
adaptable plans are at the service of
local committees desiring to organize
certain standard for their manage
ment is also set and all voluntary
kitchens existing at the time the or
der was issued were to be licensed,
or. If they did not conform to the
| new requirements. were to be closed.
1t Is pointed out that some of the
direct advantages of the plan. aside
from the all-important point of max
ing the food supply go as far as pos
sible, are the saving of fuel in the
home and the opportunity it affords
| the poorest classes to obtain both
trial sections it is also of advantage
to working mothers who have little
time to prepare meals for their
families, for 1t is means of saving
them much labor and at the same
time enables them to provide more
nourishing meals for the children.
Prices charged for food are very
| reasonable, since supplies are bought
at wholesale prices and only the
actual cost of the materials and the
expense incidental to the running of
the Kitchen are charged for the cook
| ed food. AS far as possible facilities
already existing are utilized. such as
plants for feeding school children and
places already equipped with steam
appliances. such as public baths and
halls.
One of the most important problems
10 be met at the outset is the forming
OF public opinion. 1t is necessary to
make the public clearly understand
that these kitchens are in no sense a
charitable enterprise, but that, while
they are run on a non-profit basis.
they are to be entirely self-support,
ing.
+
The United States Shipping Board,
with respect to interstate commerce,
Is empowered by the ship
Shipping ping act to prescribe just
D. and reasonable rates, regu-
hates. lations and practices N he
observed by water carriers in lieu of
other rates. regulations or practices
found by the board to be unjust or
! unreasonable. A determination of the
justness or reasonableness of foreign
water rates, however, is not within
| the province Of the board. its jurisdic-
tion with respect to such rates being
limited to the prevention or removal
OF discrimination in their application.
Foreign carriers, moreover, are not
required to file their tariffs with the
board. and their regulations and prac-
tices are subject to correction by the
board only in so far as they relate
Tn re- xxytt he
ing, handling, storing or delivering
of property"
Carriers by water in interstate COM
merce are required by section of the
shipping act to file with the board
and keep open to public inspection
fares and charges. and are prohibited
from demanding, charging or collect
| ing rates In excess Of those publish
ed. except with the approval of the
board and after ten days public no.
tice, unless the board for good cause
valves such notice.
Shortly after its organization. the
board tentatively issued as a basis
for discussion certain proposed tariff
regulations. copies of which were fur
nished to all known carriers by water
in interstate commerce. At the invi-
tation of the board many of those car
riers have proposed amendments to
the regulations. and similar sugges-
tions In few instances have been
offered by traffic associations and
other shippers organizations. The
data filed with the board are to be
tion with a revision of the rules.
Pending the PRONUNCIATION by the
board of formal regulations, carriers
are being permitted to file with the
board copies of the same tariffs and
supplements which they are filing
t. n.
mission or with the commissions of
the various states.
An irrigating system on many of
the farms of the eastern states would
be a profitable invest
rrr;oot;,o ment. Such a system is
an insurance against
SYSTEMS. summer drought, for
timely irrigation during the dry
spells may save a crop or greatly
increase its yield.
OF the three methods of irriga-
ton, spray. subirrigation and sur
face, the last named seems to be
the best suited for the average east
rigation engineers of the Department
of Agriculture, who have made an
exhaustive study of the situation. The
surface method, they say, is simple
and inexpensive, and is commonly
| used in the arid regions of the west.
It consists Of merely running water
over the surface of the soil either
| in small open bitches or burrows be-
tween the rows of plants, or flood
| ing the fields. the latter method be-
ing limited to small grain. alfalfa or
grass. The management of an irrigat-
| ing system suitable for eastern
farms, including the pumping plant
and costs, has been given the most
careful study by experts of the de-