The Washington herald., 1918-06-23
BY c. C. LYON,


uvan an American imagination
used To increases in the cost Of hV-
ing would be staggered BY war
SrSces as they are in Europe today.
Think Of poor quality coal at
from $50 to $40 a ton; wood. sss
20 $40 a cord: sugar. 20 cents a
pound: coal oil, 20 cents a quart;
eggs. 10 to 12 cents apiece: ana
footwear Chelp! helpD from s12 to
t56 a pair, according &c whether
yoa are buying leather shoes or
boots.
The only cheap thing in France
today is bread.
It's Ave cents a pound. and 1t
furnishes the biggest riddle Of the
war.
France imports enormous guam
titles of wheat from America
makes it into bread and then sells
the bread for less than it is being
sold in the bakeries near the Kan
sas or Dakota wheat felds where
Il grows. In France the govern
fnent fixes the price of bread.
Food Price. Deabled.
Since the start of the war the
prices of practically all foodstuffs
in France, except bread. have ad-
Vanced more than 100 per cent. and.
In some instances. nearly 200 per
cent.
Question-How can the French
people pay these skyhigh prices
when all the men are OF to war.
and the income of the average
family is only a fraction of what
il was formerly?
Answer-They don't pay EN-
that is. very often.
The French family that keeps q
hen or a bee doesn't eat the eggs
or the honey: they hoard them and
sell them to the rich American SOL
diers.
In the eyes of the French every
American soldier must be rich, be-
cause our private soldiers draw al
most as much pay as a French lieu
tenant, and our sergeants, on rations
allowance. about as much as a French
captain.
One Good Restaurant
The average French housewife, after
selling her eggs to the Americans.
win go out and buy some bread and
vegetables and q little bottle Of table
wine and. with that uncanny art Of
cooking that all French women have,
she will prepare a meal that Ii pala-
table and nourishing.
In the entire American war zone
there's only one restaurant that can
be termed first class" In this place
here is what one can get to eat for
8:
Soup. fish. steak. with French
fried potatoes. q cup of coffee. two
cookies. and a hunk of ice cream,
not quite as big as a hen egg.
The cheap restaurants and hotels
for 81 serve a soup, fish, q piece Of
roast beef with some vegetable
other than potatoes. cheese and an
apple. but they charge extra. for
coffee. which Is served without
milk.
For breakfast. practically all war
zone restaurants and hotels serve
two eggs. a cup of coffee. and a
piece of bread and butter for 60
cents.
Even with these prices. France
isn't as bad on as Germany.
wages slightly Higher.
The war has enhanced the earn
ings of those French industrial
workers who have been kept at
home to man the munitions fac
tories. but the increase hasn't kept
pace with the jump in prices.
The average French factory
workers today earn s2.50 q day, as
against s1.75 before the war.
There Is no acute suffering in the
families of soldiers who are at the
front because the French govern
ment gives the wives and daugh-
ters first chance at jobs vacated by
men entering the army.
Mothers who can't go out to work
draw from the government q sep
aration" allowance of IS cents O
day for each child who is too young
70 work. Dad. at the front, gets
5 cents q day.