Evening star., 1921-04-17

children SO without underwear, and
his newborn baby is wrapped in any
rags that come to hand"
Problems In Finance.
The meal which four of US had at
the restaurant to which they took me
was of the simplest-hors d'oeuvre.
veal stew with rice. rolls and butter.
custard pudding and a demitasse
apiece of real coffee. And the check
l took pains to see-was 274 marks
and some pfennig. With Mathildes
as marks and Minna's 40 marks a
month fresh in my mind. l find my
self struggling with problem of
finance utterly beyond me-
The man who took US to lunch is a
German. recently married. recently
the father of a baby-an expensive
ba by-and he is not rich man. Yet
ne spent for a single lunch almost
tnree times as much as my nurse
earns in a month.
The downtown stores show modish
mats and clothing: pastry shops ex-
hibit enchanting Easter rabbits with
pleasing families of chocolate eggs.
BUT the eggs. according to size. are
two and three and four and six marks
apiece. Judge for yourself how many
OF them the child of the small clerk
o. government official or teacher will
have. 1t is these middle-class fam
liies. my banker tells me. that suffer
the most
The laborinS classes. save where.
OF course. unemployment has exacted
from them a penalty OF near-starva-
ton. are earning more. even allowing
TOR the lessened purchasing power OF
the mark. then they ever earned be-
fore. But for the man who. with a
higher standard of living. is trying to
support himself and his family on an
income of few hundred marks a
month q Of J.,
for him just now.
The Man on Low Grade Pay.
This high-erade man on low-srade
pay-I saw him standing at littl
booths and push carts on some of tho
main downtown streets in Hamburg
l saw him with a hi~h silk hat OF
ante -belium vintage. filing worn
leather brief case with bars of william
ously perfumed pink and green soap
a "eelegenheit"-a bargain-at four
and six marks the cake. saw hin,
again at one of. the push-cart cob
bling shops having a pair of thick
woodeny soles. which did not moro
than approximate fit nailed to tat
te-ed uppers. He was always neat
to find out whether he and his wife
and children wear undershirts an
stockings.
Motley mixtures of uniforms and civil
attire confuses one on the question OF
hosiery. A shabby high hat and i
neat serge coat may top. as likely as
not. pair of spiral leggings and in,
tricately ps tched shoes.
The hanke- hauled me unceremoni-
ously away from casino on the river
bank where gay tahIefuls of peopl-
seemed to be enjoying life in wha.
looked like typical German before
the-war comfort You would not be
fNr ri oil hi ~; =,
the shiebers. what you call the wa,
prof1teers. go there. They are loud
and coarse, with. coarse. overdressed
wives. all eating and drinking to1
much"
Standard OF Morals Low.
He had much to say about the NOR
als-or lack of morals-of such peo-
rle, and others. What he said cor
roboratcd what the Missouri girl
with the German husband had said
on the train. Men and women in
Germany-it doesn't matter of what
social station-seem to have no stand
ard of conduct left. They say life
means nothing to them now: every
thing is harder than they can bear.
so they mean to get what little they
can out Of life"
course. A Chicago man who was on
the steamer stayed at our hotel the
first night. and awoke to find his snit
pockets being overhauled. The Wis
itor left abruptly when a movement
from the bed told him that he was
being watched. and nothing was
taken. The hotel management lined
the Identification of the would be
thief. who was never identified. but
seemed not unduly disturbed over the
inc dent.
Stealing there is. seemed to be the
opinion of the august MANAGEMENT,
and one is powerlcss to prevent it.
The only thing to do is to put valu-
ablcs in the safe and keen clothing
under lock and key. A man who was
educated in Germany and has re-
turned mere since the war told me.
You can't judge the German people
by what you see here now. They
used to be the most honest people on
earth- Now they lie and cheat and
steal whenever they get a chance.
But they do it because they're hun
cry"
Promptness is another virtue which
they have entirely foreEone. A bundle
or wash taken to a laundry is swal-
lowed In the nav OF dawdiing indif-
ference for from week to q for
night. You can have it sooner il YOU
Pay 30 per cent extra for the slight
additional advantage OF Friday tn
Tuesday service.
Paper csothing-:f it could be made
SO cheap that it could be thrown AVA
instead or laundered-would seem to
have its advantages.
Mothers Gndernourished.
a little dead baby was born in the
clinic today-its death quite A matter
ot course. sister Frida. who cares for
the new babies. said "Oh, it hannens
often here. These mothers did nj eat
enough for many months, and thev
have tuberculosis, or are undarnomr
ished NIGHT wahr? "oot
For the white flour which eoes into
the little cakes 1 had for nv tea the
manager OF the clinic commissary
pay so pfennigs For my Yesterday
roast beef she paid IS marks a pound
including fat and bones. For NV vca
and ham. some place between 20 and
81 marks pound.
Until her health gave out a shor,
t s,me ago she was a school teacher
but now, real reactionary. she
shakes a foreboding head over the
new era in teaching under the "neue
reSierunE-the new regime. There
~ no discipline. none. says Sister
Emma Ernst. Boys and girls used to
De taught how to mind and had a re.
spect for their elders. but under the
new regime Of teaching thev work
when they please and play when tbsH
please-a bad system.
SISTER Emma Ernst shares the mi.
yersal German hatred of the French
l have been in Germany less than a
week: and two women have said to
me. Il hate war. but If there were an
other war with France mysejt
would go and fight" The Americans
tney IKE: and for the English many
nave little or no animosity, but for
the French their hate is a raging fre
And they do not believe that the war
Germany and Francis
over. -