The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-10-20

1 the country informed that there Is no
 more room.
 NOT, A VACANT HOUSE
 A city which, three years ago, was estimated as having 5000 vacant houses and S000 vacant apartments, now has
 not a single vacant one. The search
 for homes has extended to all the sub
 urbs, where cottages have trebled in price. The crowded condition of hotels
 and boarding houses, every traveller knows for himself. One of them has
 aptly remarked that on coming to Wash ington on business one has to engage a place in Baltimore or Philadelphia to sleep.
 Soldiers in uniform have been put to making house toulouse canvass asking the occupants to double up" as a pa-
 triotic duty and take in war worker Absentee householders, having large do- mains which they have been accustomed to visit once a year, have in some cases feared that the premises would be com mandeered by the government and hur- riedly have returned to keep their draw ing rooms from being converted into dormtories.
 One may well imagine that where there is so much difficulty in housing so many people. there is equal trouble in feed ing them. Cafes and cafeterias have sprung up about the city like mush
 rooms; it is no common sight to see, a line of war workers standing in line outside restaurant, waiting for chance to spend money inside-just- a line of ticket buyers before a theatre box
 office.
 NOBODY WANTS WOMEN Nobody seems to want to take in a woman war worker The few who ad- vertise rooms prefer gentlemen of ficers" The discrimination hurts the girl war workers feelings but has no practical result As a matter of fact
 the gentlemen" have just as lively time getting a room.
 Some one has estimated that the war workers are Hooking into the city at the rate of 500 day and depart ing at the rate of 300 day discour- laged homeless, sometimes foodleSs There is no verifcation of the latter figure, but there seems to be no doubt about the former. There also seems to tbe no doubt that there are 10000 war work CTS here who were not in the city a year ago. The result may be com5 pared to an attempt to put a quart of water into a pint measure. A reading of the want columns of | the Washington newspapers is sure to arouse feeling of pity for the unfor- 1 tunates who plead for place to live, ! even at profiteer prices. Tn fact, the natives now read the want columns | for amusement in preference to the funny papers. Here are a few typical samples which bespeak the despair of war worker trying to live in the cap l ital:
 WANT ADS AMUSING | The first woman confesses at the out l set that she is desperate. She says sG 1 Here is her plaint:
 | Desperate-Does anyone feel enough 1 patriotic duty to accommodate a re- fined widow of an army surgeon with a cheerful room? Another feels the stigma of the men only' policy. She pleads: twill some kind woman who has a room not for men only rent a furnished
 room to two Canadian girls? Don't want l to rent the whole house-just one room
 1 Some others confess the faith they have in the old adage that "it pays to ladvertise" The first says: Does it pay to advertise? Twenty | five dollars to any persoh intending to iadvertise an apartment or housekeep