Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-12-14
BERLIN FACES TERRIBLE ERA OF ANARCHY;
- CITY'S STREETS MAY RUN RED WITH BLOOD

and heavy fines imposed upon their
proprietors.
The consequence is that today the
wealthy Berlner in quest of a guffi
cient meal regardless OF cost no long.
er wends his way to the gawdy halls
of the "Adlon" or Killers, but sneaks
secretly down a flight of dirty stone
steps into some obscure cellar in a
poor side street, where droshky driv.
ers and newspaper vendors used to
congregate over enormous rouno
glasses OF "Wcissbier" before the war
Here where nobody in the world
would ever expect It, and neither in.
cursions of the police nor OF less for.
tunate and envious fellow.Ctizens are
to be apprehended, he sits down to the
best dinner obtainable in Berlin in
the fatcful year 1918.
Luxuries in Obscure Cellars
lie has TO pay5the price, to be sure
fifty or even a hundred marks for
meal-but all the luxuries that have
long since vanished from the Berliner's
table figure on the bill of fares: Meat,
fish, butter eggs, rice, beans and even
real coffee For these little under.
ground restaurants, hidden away in
filthy lanes and il.famed slums of the
great city, are depOts Of the vast or.
ganization of the SChleiChhaendler,"
np illaeya1 - ,,-hn f.a
their proprietors and supply their
table. The cuisine in these places is
excellent, and financial magnates, rich
aristocrats and high Government Off
cials belong to their faithful clientele.
Those initiated into the secret nat
urally, in their own interest, keep it
10 themselves. and should the police in
the district, in the rare cases when
they have not been bribed by occasion
al dinners, raid this gastronomic haunt
the proprietor, who usually makes a
small fortune in n few weeks can well
afford TO pay the customary fine of
two or three thousand marks and suf-
fer the penalty of having his restau.
rant closed. However, he never re-
veals his connection with the "Schleich.
haendler," for they have promised
to pay him a kind Of pension in food
| If he holds his tongue.
Wear Paper Clothing
Visitors to Berlin today are aston
ished to see at first but few signs
OF the terrible shortage of clothing.
Many persons in the street seem quite
as we'll dressed as in other countries.
The difference lies in the quality, not
| in the appearance, Of the clothes.
| They are wearing clothes made of
paper, or of vegetable fibers,y which
| look quite smart when new but have
no dura bility whatever and fall to
pieces in few weeks. Mems and
women's clothing is universally made
of stuffs which contain from 80 per
cent to 80 per cent of artificial fibers
These clothes are by no means cheap
A suit manufactured from nettle flbers
costs from 400 to 500 marks if bought
legally with clothes ticket and double
that amount if purchased from a
"Schleichhaendler."
Suits made of pure wool and cottor
stuffs, unmAxed with vegetable fiber'
and paper, cost at least 1000 marks!
Consequently, many persons prefer tt
wait to buy clothes until after the wal
and use up their old clothes. Mer
who have worn out their business
suits are frequently seen in the streets
in the morning hours dressed in dres
suits and smoking jackets, which, no
having been worn much, are still "a
good as new" Wooden shoes are quit
common in Berlin now, and shoemak
ers charge from sixteen 70 eighteel
marks TO resole boots with wood, tn
stock Of leather being absolutely eA
hausted.
Savage Instincts Awakened
The vicissitudes of the war hav