Evening star., 1921-05-20
POLISH POTATOES
USED IN PERFUME
Alcohol in Famous Eau de
Cologne Made From
Silesian Tubers.
BY MIRIAM TEICHNER.
Correspondence OF The Star.

| Correspondence OF The Star.
| COLOGNE. Germany May 20.-The
relation between Polish potatoes and
the price of eau de cologne is not one
of the obvious things in life. And
yet. il one is possessed OF a curiosity
as to whether eau de cologne is made
in Cologne. and sallies forth to find
! out, it soon develops that potatoes
and perfume have something more
than ALTERATION in common.
| In the Glockengasse-its old num-
Der was All. which gave the name to
the cologne-a visitor is greeted. at
first. a trifle coldly. There seems to
be an impression prevalent in Ger
man factories that all callers come
fo- the purpose of being shown
through the works and walking OF
! with the priceless secrets of produc-
ton. One is informed. forthwith. that
| the process of manufacturing the real
eau de cologne. which one is told is
initiated but not equaled throughout
| the world. is secret. and that visitors
! in the factory are not allowed. Once
| one succeeds, however. in persuading
those in possession that one is not
perfume spy. and is merely possessed
! of curiosity as to whether eau de
cologne is born in that city, and how
| the shortage and price of alcohol have
affected its manufacture, the tenor
| changes
Herr Georg Leonhardt makes you
| welcome, and discusses potatoes and
| perfume with verve and charm
Alcohol From Silesia.
The alcohol with which the eau de
cologne was made came from pota-
| toes grown in that part Of northern
Silesia which is now apportioned to
Poland. That particular alcohol is no
longer on the German market. and the
manufacturers of the original and
only eau de cologne are able to buy
only Il tenth of the alcohol they need
rationed as they are by the govern
ment. and further hampered by the
fact that the spirit. which before the
war cost from 6S to 20 pfenniS a litre.
now costs % marks, and with the new
tax about to be imposed by the gov
ernment. will cost in the neighbor-
! hood of 63 marks
Manufacturers of the eau de CO.
logne claim that theirs is not lux
ury product. They insist ii is much
used in sickrooms. is excellent for
1t Is necessity and not luxury and
should be exempt from prohibitiv i've
taxation. To this point. however. the
government has given no sign of
sential to the health and welfare of
the race. and the coming tax, it ap-
pears. will not be abrogated.
M Longer in Bath Water.
And SO German ladies' who once
poured the fragrant stun into their
bath water-it used to cost / mark
IS pfenng for a four-ounce bottle.
now costs 25 marks. and II is soon
| to cost between 40 and 5O-now treas
ure it as though it were the distilled
juice Of pure gold. The very manu-
facturers of it themselves admit, with
regret. that they no longer pour 1t
into their bath water. and say sadly
/ that they use 1t only sparingly in
their shaving water.
There are, Of course. other factors
in the increase OF the price. Men
| who make their living In the poetic
pursuit OF getting eau de cologne
ready for the world now earn the
large sum of 900 marks a week. Their
before-the-war stipend approximated
! about tenth of that sum. The young
women who paste the fancy blue and
gold labels on the bottles earn also
| vastly increased stipend-all Of 14O
marks a week.
And as to those blue-and-sold la
; bells. there's another thing The pa
| per Of which they are made comes
from the unoccupied region of, Ger
, many. So does the gold with which
1t is printed. With the new customs
boundaries now established, and cut
ting of the Rhine regions from the
rest of Germany. they are taxed, like
every other product not both produced
and consumed in the surrounded re-
gion. both coming in as raw material
and going out as finished product.
Which is just another small detail
in the numerous factors which go to
raise the price of single relatively
unimportant product like eau de CO.
!! logne 1t is just another detail too,
in the numerous factors which cause
the producers CT All to say that they
Will shortly be working their factory