Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1918-08-04

10 rounds for II lunch for two in one
OF Bcrlin's most fashionable rcstau-
rants--and they came away hungry.
About the Same time. he paid II .hll-
| lirss for one uncooked cabbage and :,
shlinES and pence for a pound OF
sprouts. obtained as a great favor.
One result Of tho long continued
privation has been tho advent OF tho
terrible hunger typhus." which first
made it's appearance in epidemic form
carly last yeIr, and by the summer
had spread practically to every par,
of Germany, where II Is now moro or
less endemic. FriGhtful iavaEes. too
are being made in many districts by
dysentcry. as the result OF Improper
| and insufficient food.
These facts are fully borne out by
letters found on the prisoners taken
by us and by our allies. the French.
! OF several thousand letters examined
since August last moro than one
half contain references to the spread
/ Of these twin scourges. among the
! places mentioned as infected being
such important centers OF population
as Cologne. Mulheim. Coburg. wi"s-
baden. Halle. Altoona. Mayence. Ham
burg. Munich. Stettin, Mannheim and
/ EinEen.
| CHILDREN LOOK LTxE
LITTLE SKELETONS
Some OF the letters make very pa
thctic reading. In many hundreds Of
! the letters there appear such phrases
as we are nil Of us little more thar
! skin and bone" There is no fat TO
/ he given to the children: they are like
/ little skeletons"
| Face to face with starvation the
mass OF the German people arc simply
/ ignoring. whenever II is possible for
them TO 60 SO. the carefully framed
regulations desiGned by the govern
mcnt to prevent profitcering in food
/ >tuhs Hundreds OF offenders are be-
/ ing prosecuted daily for Illicit selling
and huyinE: but thousands. according
to the Eerliner LokalanzeiEcr, escape
/ detection.
/ The prices realized for their COM
:noditics by the unauthorized vendors
OF Illicit focdstuhrs alone suffice 10
/ show the straits to which even we'll
to-do peoule are reduced Thus, an
! individual: prosecuted in tho Berlin
/ courts recently was proved to have
done roaring trade in smoked hams
at - pounds apiece. Anotl er cnlprti
had been disoosing OF secretly fat
D
/ pounds each.
/ Nor is it only in homegrown food
s;urs that this kind OF secret, sub
/ terrancan traffic is carried I'm
ported articles, such as coffee, tea and
cocoa are TO day practically unprocu--
able in Germany In the ordinary way.
Small quantities are, however. SNUG
G!ed occasionally across the Swiss and
| Dutch frontiers. but these never reach
the open market. They disposed Of
secretly for practically any price the
/ holder chooses to demand to wealthy
! people who happen TO be in the
know
Ordinary individuals have TO he con-
tent with Substitutes" OF which there
are many 10 be had, most OF them. be
ii said. competing with one another as
regards nastiness. The favorite coffee
substitute, for instance. IS made from
burnt acorns and the resultant dark
colored and evil-smelling beverage IL
about as nauscous as anything one can
conceive Tea substitute Is made prin-
cipally from dried mulberry leaves. and
is almost equally uninvitinE. Alto
Eether there are scores OF substituted
for food in use, most OF which"
plaintively remarks the Hamburger
Fremdenblatt. have no food value"
MOST SERIOUS
SHORTAGE IS IN FATS
The most serious famine OF all. how
ever. from the point OF view or the
health expert, is that in fat and oils.
II is the almost entire lack OF these
indispensable articles OF diet that Is
slowly yet surely sapping the vitality
o: the German people. somewhat
curious sidelght is thrown on this
phase OF the food shortage by an an
nouncement in recent number OF the
Berlin Vossische Zeitung in the eff
feet that new source Of edible oil
production is now being drawn upon
tomato seeds. These seeds" the
paper goes on to say, are being col
lectcd everywhere in Germany and In
the occupied territories. particularly
Roumania"
Another recent announcement. in the
Berlner Lokalanzeiger this time. runs
as follows: oil collectors for the
government are paying cash or soup
cubes for fruit Kernels and melon seeds.
from which TO extract oil for mar
garine" The same paper gravely ad-
viscs its readers to use dried apple
parings as a substitute for tea. OBJ
vious!y. a nation which is reduced to
such shifts as these must be very hard
hit indeed.
SEA FOOD COULD SAVE
ENGLAND FROM STARVATION
Here In England we have at our dis
posal the harvest Of the sea. II the
worst comes TO the worst. this alone
would proba bly, suffice to save US from
actual starvation. But Germany has
no sea fish to speak OF, with the ex-
ception OF a very small supply OF the
coarser kinds from the Baltic. while
practically all the fresh water fishes
in the country have already been
caught and consumed.
How is the nSh famine NAV
Good uaed furniture IL In grent de-
mnnd. TimeK-Dtspntch Want Ads Will
find a buyer for You.