Evening journal., 1921-06-03
GERMANY TAX
ONPLEASURES
Detectives Watch Hotels
Patronized by Wealthy
to Catch Violators
DANCERS ALSO
HAVE TO PAY

are having a hard enough time as It |
n and the labor organizations keep |
their shrewd eyes on the haunts of
the wealthy and see to 1T that pleas J
ure seeking Is made as difficult as
possible Tho Government. 30 sat
isfy the masses. has put a tax on
every sort Of public entertainment;
1t has passed laws to keep the rich |
from spending their money lavishly |
without paying a severe penalty for |
so doing. and the Governments
policemen and Inspectors are con-
tinually on the job hunting for vio-
lations of these laws
Everybody IN Berlin these days is |
supposed to eat a very black bread |
From personal experience l know |
the bread is almost as black and |
heavy as that which the Bolshevild |
imposed ON the Russian public. AS
a matter OF fact very few people |
except the very rich who dine In |
public ever eat this black bread
In the little medium-priced res
taurants of Berlin it Is possible to !
get bread that Is almost white; as
white at least as the bread which |
now is used in Paris In the very
cheap restaurants, of course. only |
the black bread appears
But. strangely enough. II you dine |
at one of the ~aristocratic' restau-
rants or In a dining room OF one of
the big hotels you win get only black
bread 1t is on these restaurants
that the inspectors keep their eyes
trained, and the high-class restau-
rants dare not take the chances that
little middle-class restaurant will
run to please its patrons
There is a luxury tax fixed for
persons who dine in the high-class
restaurants. When you seat your
self at a table a boy puts at your
plate a slip of paper showing that
the hotel must pay a tax for what il
serves you This slip must remain
in sight during the meal At any
time an Inspector may enter the
room and go from table to table.
checking UP the number OF diners
II there is not a alp for every diner.
the management Is Liable to a heavy
fine.
There a also a tax on dancing. If
you are sitting at a table and sud
denly take a notion TO go onto the
dance floor with your partner, you
cannot Immediately act on the I'M
pulse You may step onto the floor
preparatory to taking your first
glides. but before you shake a foot.
you must wait for a check boy to
come to you. He win hand yon a
white slip Of paper; he viii do the
same to the lady with whom you
are dancing.
During the dance you must carry
this slip in your hand II It Is not
in plain sight-perhaps in the hand
which is placed on the lady's back
any inspector who enters the hotel
has the right-and he will unhesi-
tatingly exercise ito stop you and
demand to see your dancing check
Folks in Berlin who are city-broxe
always keep their white slips in
plain view while they are on the
dancing floor so that no precious
moments of music win be lost in
conversation with an Inspector.
Butter is one of the scarce things
in Berlin Milk is even scarcer. for
the simple fact that so much of the
little mil's that can be found is turn-
ed into butter. Berliners say that
the rich folks use. in the form OF
butter, milk and cream which ought
to go TO the babies of the city. There
are CHASTITY pictures in the auto
buses of a wild-eyed mother holding
out a starving child, it's hand in its
hungry month, pleading for funds
for milk for German babies. II is
so graphic drawing and SO fun Of
genuine horror that it makes a bus
ride seem like a nightmare.
And yet butter is obtainahle IN
most good restaurants II is very
good butter. With butter SO scarce
none of it goes into storage; It finds
It's way TO the tables of wealth al
most as soon as It leaves the chIrn
In some restaurants It Is served TO
you. slyly, In a cup. The cost runs
5 from four marks (nominally SD to
; six marks.
In the high-class and suspected
restaurants bread cards are needed
20 secure even the unWh olesome
black bread In the lesser restau-
rants cards are not needed even
for white bread Some weeks ago
the meat card system was abolished
and now one can have meat three
times a day IL he desires It. The
prices OF meat, and Of all foods in
deed, are much lower than they are
In France or Belgium. A good meal
which can be obtained In Berlin for
the equivalent OF an American dollar
win cost more than twice as much
in Paris or Brussels
The Belgians are the only people
in Europe who, as a common thing,
have white bread There is no other
bread in Belgium unless II is baked
especially than white bread.
Breakfasters on tho night train
from Paris 10 Berlin go to the dining
car which is put on the train in Bel
gium, and there. as a matter of fact,
are served with the whitest and finest
2 bread that can be baked. For years
, in Paris the passenger has been eat
ing gray or dark bread. while he is In
! Germany he viii probably eat gray
or black bread, but during this short
breakfast while the train is spin-
! ming across Belgium. he may have
all the white bread he can devour.
The Hollanders have considerable
supplies of American wheat, bought
. year or more ago, when the price
of wheat was high. The millers are
selling white -four in Holland at the
high-price rate The rich there
have all the white -four they want:
! the poor get along with mixtures.
, Batting. when it is possible to in