New-York tribune., 1918-02-24

"Following the big haul Of prisoners
in the Italian offensive the dermahs
nut them in the mines, and the latest
reports state that the output is now
,qual to the demand. But the railways
arc unable to distribute the coal as rap
idly as required. Consequently all the
cities and even many munitlon plants,
gas works, etc, have not/ received
anough coal TO meet their requirements.
'This explains why the street lamps
. in Berlin are greatly reduced and why
so many Berlin families arc depending
upon peat for fuel.
'Incidcntally, it is interesting to note
that government commission has
made an exhaustive study of the coun-
try's water power and its report states
that Germany has 100000 horse
power, or the equivalent of twenty-five
horsepower to cach/squarc &llometre.
Smuggling Is Still
Practised by Many
"IIowever, nothing can be done TO
utilize this power until after the war.
Cold rooms, with little or no light, are
not an inspiring place for workers after
a long day in the machine shops. Inc
lack of fuel and light probably. has
done as much to depress the people as
the constant worry over where they can
get the next meal. Though smuggling
across the border is still carried on,
it does not begin to reach the proper
tons Of year ago. However, there is
the constant temptation OF realizing
fancy prices for boots, clothing and
food and quite number slip by the
frontier guards even now.
"Deserters from the army and navy
,,,+, tJr11 md
with tales Of famine at this or that
place but generally their stories can De ,
discounted considerably. AS rule the
soldiers and sailors have little com
plaint on the score Of food shortage.
"rhc same applies to workers in the
GREAT muniton plants. where the gov
crnmcnt makes a special effort to keep
employees in good condition and good
humor.
"Thc civil population is constantly
complaining. The traffic in food tickets
has reached great proportions, and the
postoilicc and railway employees nave
differed packages Of food in transit and
organized bands of food thieves have
operated in many places.
"Recently, at Cologne, whole car
load of wheat was stolen. This is not
gossip, but was vouched for by news
papers and has been the subject OF de-
bate in the Landstag
"Thc shortage Of some things to
which in normal life we hardly give a
thought, has caused much unrest in
Germany. For instance. the supply of
cotton thread is practically exhausted,
forcing the use of 1ottlc thread as
substitutes IN the Italian offensive Ger
many captured several cotton mills, but
it is now reported the yields Will hardly
- i,ct
extremely scarce and the market has
been flooded with various substitutes
which have in turn been followed by
toilet articles guaranteed to repair the
damarc done to the complexion by soap
substitutes.
"The working people complain that
their pancr underwear Will rot stand
the scrubbing now necessary because of
the lack OF soap. The German house
wife grumbles over the lack of soap and
hot water
Then the quality of the beer has
dcteriorated while the quantity has
diminished. The government has
requisitioned many luXuries and taken
away all copper parts to use in muni-
tons No longer can the German sit
down before a stein of his old beer
and smoke his big pine The tobacco
is so bad it is impossible to remain in
the room when two or three are smok
ing at tho same time. Some Turkish
tobacco has been imported, but this
hes gone TO the army and been used
for cigarettes All kinds of tobacco
substitutes have been introduced, but
none is successful"
The compulsory diet has had a dele
tericus effect on the health of the
people, but it is impossible to measure
the extent to which some cpidemics
have spread. because the authorities
have carefully guarded reports The
whole standard Of health has been low
cred: there also have been instances,
last fall and winter, where certain sec
tions of the population have suffered
from dysentery and stomach troubles.
A Budapest sanitary officer in
lecture recently told of an epidemic of
dysentery in Berlin, which he said was
due to the lack of variety of food and
too much raw fruit and vegetables.
Fer two years deaths have exceeded
births in Dresden, and the same is true
Of several other centres. The govern
ment has shown that this situation IS
giving it much worry. A Stockholm
correspondent reports:
in many parts of Germany last
years crops were only half their normal
size. The dry summer hurt the potato
crop. There has been q great reduction
in the number Of swine, largely because
the small pig raiser has been unable to
get the usual amount Of refuse from
the towns. The farmers VIII now only
supply the towns when they can ger
manure and ammonia. The army uses
so much ammonia that the municipali-
ties have difficulty in supplying the
farmers needs.