The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-12-27
SLUG FIVE TAKE B GERMANS HAVE
 LEAN FARE FOR
 CHRISTMAS FEAST
Food So Scarce It Is Almost Impossible to Obtain Ger tain Articles Even at
 Fabulous Prices

Berlin. Wednesday. December 26.-(By
 the Associated Press.l--The Germans.
 particularly those living in the larger
 cities, are today having lean fare for
 their Christmas dinners.
 So much has been said about the food
 situation that 1t is understandable if
 there is an impression in some quarters
 that the situation has been exaggerated
 Here. however, there is one excellent
 barometer of the situation, namely
 "schlechthandel," as megitimate tranick
 ing in foodstuffs is termed, and this Is
 beginning to diminish markedly.
 A month ago it was possible to buy
 butter, sausages and some other articles
 from these surreptitious dealers at high
 prices During the last fortnight. how
 ever. it has become Increasingly difficult 10 find these things, and even the best
 connections and sources are now un-
 able to produce more than occasional
 small portions at greatly increased
 prices.
 When the crafty dealers in this bus-
 ness cannot longer secure articles, there
 can hardly be a doubt that it Is because
 they do not exist. Wealthy people. it is true, can still obtain limited quantities of what used to be considered necessi- ties but are now considered luxuries. though at terrifying prices. In one par ticular case man in Berlin paid 5f0 marks for a ham. the eggs to go with it costing three marks piece dinner recently purchased at an Unter den Linden restaurant. consisting of thin soup. fish, meat and a baked apple, cost 62 marks Coffee would have cost three l marks additional.
 What such prices mean can best be
 realized when it Is considered that the highest daily wage of a skilled German mechanic rarely reaches % marks. Those in the poorer walks of life all declare that 1t Is absolutely impossible
 to keep body and soul together on the rations distributed on food cards. The correspondent can declare on personal Knowledge that it was impossible even in the winter of 19i6-E to exist on the offi- cia rations. In other words nearly every one was compelled to resort to "schlech- | thandel.
 | Another factor in the food situation is the lack of fat Even after such a meal as cost @ marks one becomes hungry, even ravenously hungry, within two or three hours. When l get my weekly allowance of l 50 grarnmes of butter.'' said one woman | in discussing the food question. T spread 1t all on one slice of bread, so as to have one real meal every week. ] It Is the normal state of every Ger. man, at least In the greater cities. to bs continuously hungry. A keen political observer said to the Associated Press l @If I had COCO tons of fat I could | everlastingly squeloh bolshevism in Ger many and if had some condensed milk too. I could set up almost any kind of d government except the one we used to | have.
 l It is not only that food Is so dear as to be out of reach of the poorer classes almost completely but all articles of clothing are correspondingly dear. The correspondent was offered 600 marks for an overcoat which was purchased in Berlin in 1916 for ITS marks
 1 There has heen no general discharga