Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-09-21

(Continued.)
The worst deprivation was in the
lack of fats. The people showed it
very plainly. One seldom saw fat
man or a fat woman, although be-
fore the war fatness was almost
characteristic of the German ply
/ sique. Indeed, l saw a rather stout
woman being followed by at least
twenty boys who were jeering at
her and making slurring remarks
about the manner in which she had
retained her avoirdupois. A fat
person in Germany to-day is re-
garded with suspicion.
How long the young people will
! be able to exist in the state of un-
der-nourishment which is becoming
more serious in Germany every day,
Will not venture to guess, but l
know that before 1 left conditions
were so bad that the older people
were dying off rapidly, and the flu
ture of the race must be seriously
Jeopardized by the limited nourish-
ment which the children are re-
ceiving.
Naturally the weakened condition
of the people makes them all easily
susceptible to disease. Epidemics
spread rapidly and I am inclined to
| bSiASNS llIdl lllllc care was ldhSH
by the authorities to protect the
| older people from infection I know
that my secretary's mother fell and
broke both her legs last summer
| (191D and was taken to the acci-
dent ward of a hospital where her
/ fellow patients were all crippled
Ten of the inmates of that ward
died in single day from dysentery
and the following day the death list
was increased by twelve, the old
flady with the broken legs being one
of them. Twenty-Five more bread
cards saved at the expense of
twenty-five useless women in one
hospital alone-a fair record for
two days! I have no proof that
these unfortunate victims of disease
were deliberately infected by the
authorities, but the mere fact that
twenty-five patients in an accident
ward died from dysentery in two
days is certainly evidence of gross
carelessness if nothing else.
If the clothing problem had not
been so difficult and the Germans
had been able to secure clothes to
fiet their now slender figures, they
would be to-day far better-looking
race than they ever were before in
the days of food-plenty.
Unfortunately for their appear
ance, however, many are still wear
ing the clothes which were made for
them when their figures were less
attenuated, and some of them made
very ludicrous pictures. Imagine a
/ man who had once boasted of a
well-defined corpulence still wear
ing the same clothes although his
contour had changed from con-
vex to concave! Their collars fasten
on their chests, like horse collars
their clothes hang like bags, and
even their hats have become too
large since the rolls back of their
necks have dwindled.
To buy new clothes II is neces-
! sary to secure certificate from the
! government to the effect that you
are absolutely in need of clothing,
and, even then, you are compelled
to give up the suit you are discard
| ing.
Branch offices for investigating
the necessity of replenishing ones
wardrobe have been established all
over the cities and they are always
crowded Women are in charge and
| they seemed thoroughly to enjoy
their authority and their power to
deny an application for new cloth
ing.
When left Berlin the law per-
nitted a man just two shirts, two
| collars, two pairs of socks, ETC., a
year. Since soap has disappeared
from the market so many made
! quate substitutes have been tria
that ones laundry always came
full of holes.
When my white office-coats got
into such bad condition that they
were no longer wearable, I made
! an effort to buy new ones.
After wedging my way into the
| ill-srnelling, crowded room where I
had to make the necessary applica-
ton, I was given a large paper to
| fill out-a printed form asking for
my life history and a foil explana-
ton of just what I wanted to do
with the articles in question. I had
to submit my income-tax receipts
to prove that I was accustomed to
| such luxuries as office-coats.
| While my application was beiny
| prepared, I had an offottnnity to
oysrhcar some rather ludicrous con-
versations between applicants and
/ officials.
One woman. who said she was
Frau Major -" was asked
whether her husband had been an
officer before the war or had been
promoted from the ranks since the
war. It seemed that the original
army officers had greater privileges
than those of more recent creation.
Another woman was trying to
obtain permission to buy her gov
erness some underwear for a Christ
mas present. There was a great
hubbub in the room and the girl
Lwho was examining the record Of