Evening star., 1938-09-18
ADEQUATE MEALS
GAMBLE: IN REICH
Restaurant Patrons Fare
Far Better Than the
Home-EaterS.
By JUNIUS b, WOOD.

ny JON1OS d. WOOD.
BERLIN, Sept. II (NANA).-'
Lotteries and bookmaking are legal
in Germany. but the greatest gamble.
one in which everybody with healthy
appetite places at least two bets every
day, is the food lottery. Coffee and
rolls are sure thing for breakfast,
but anybody will give odds on what
he will get for the other two meals.
Those to whom eating is a pleasure.
as well as a necessity. no longer ask
themselves: What will I eat today?"
But mentally speculate: What can I
get today?"
Nomads who eat in restaurants, and
know the head walters first name,
and tourists need not take the food
gamble so seriously. A restaurant
menu usually has enough suggestions
to make the average customer forget
what he intended to eat. Schlichter's,
where ate the other night, offered
rs fish and meat dishes as specialties
IN addition to steaks chops and a
hundred other regular items.
Housewives Diary.
II present conditions continue long
enough, the home-loving Germans,
certainly the city dwellers. will be
transformed into a race of diners-out
Those who have the responsibility for
filling the home pots and pans are
the hopeless addicts in the daily food
gamble, as an extract from a house.
wife's diary shows:
SlIndov-Holf of a lov,o,,
my grilled founder at the hotel
such extravaganza and every order in
the dining room was enough for
starving stevedore. naturally, much of
1t uneaten and wasted. Tomorrow
We start housekeeping.
Monday-At breakfast we decided on
pork chops for dinner. None of the
neighboring shops had pork but one
did produce two small, not too juicy,
beefsteaks. The days prices, fixed by
the central market. were posted for
Dork and mutton chops and a lot of
other things which were not there.
Vegetable trays had only green beans,
kohlrabi and green peppers. No shop
had onions or lard, and anyway I'd
allowance of lard.
Tuesday-Bought three eggs, which
girl clerk apparently had hidden be-
nind the counter. A woman wanted
two pounds of fresh green beans which
were inside the store. but the proprie-
tor. arrogant since people must take
what they can get said she could not
nave them until the stale ones outside
were sold. Got some lamb chops, the
first I've seen, and the stores had stew
beef and pork which can be boiled
in sauerkraut
No Eggs Till Next Week.
Wednesday-T1ed to get more eggs,
out was told there would not be
any until next week, if then. After
1elephonlng. rode over to a friend on
the ether side of the city who had
found half pound of onions. The
market woman told her the city was
cut OF onions, also garlic, because the
army needs them to make poison gas.
1t may be a joke, but classes the
onion famine with acts Of God, wars
and riots and relieves the dealers of
responsibility.
Ihursday-Found a small grape
fruit, from either Palestine or Spain.
10 vary the usual peaches, plums and
grapes. 1t cost 20 cents. In Mime
sofa, four of that size would be 10
cents. Also good tomatoes and lettuce
Tor salad. which appear about twice a
week. The proprietor, explaining thai
the government had to use foreign
currency to buy rice, made sure that
would not feed it to our dogs before
he would sell pound He sold me
two oranges, though his orders were
to sell the German apples first.
Frlday-Good fresh fish for dinner
but shopped in vain for lemons. Brus-
sels sprouts. red cabbage, green beans
and carrots on the trays but still no
onions.
Saturday-One store had a leg of
samo Tor roasting and others had a
supply of beef and picked pigs feet.
Windows of those handling smoked
meats are full of hams and countless
varieties OF sausages, but cold lunches
become monotonous. All had green
corn In the husks, an idea from Amer
ica, but at caviar prices. A disappoint-
nent when cooked, for it was field
corn. tasteless and woody.
Sunday-Ate in a restaurant and
from the way they are crowded most
OF Berlin must be dining out finally
caught up with pork chop, 70 cents
with fried potatoes.
Restaurants Early Buyers.
In Berlin, the early bird at the
weekly market or stores gets the chops
If there are any Hotels and res
taurants do not get any preference
they are not stocked up to impress
visitors, as the wise ones whisper
but, being big and early buyers, their
purchases affect the small establish
ments. Some days they cannot get
pork and other days it may be mutton
or another staple
Butter and lard already are rationed
and talk is that the police will issue
cards for meat before the winter is
over. Each adult is allowed half a
pound OF butter and as much lard,
each week, If there is any lard. Each
ration card is good at a designated
store. The supply of adulterated but
ter is sufficient but shopkeepers, weary
from repeating: Yes, we have no lard
today" now post signs in their win
dows when supply has arrived, read
Ing: Lard for cards to 500, Tues
day: sol to 1000. Thursday" and so
on. Last year, Germany imported
169,269 metric tons of whale oil, mostly
from Norway, which expands a lot OF
butter
Peace-time rationing of meat and
other foods, If it goes farther, might
have unpleasant results. Little if any
OF the supply is wasted now, as stores
rarely have any which is not sold and
the thrifty German, at present prices,
is not buying more than absolutely
needed. Most Germans s,ways have
bought from day to day. Few have
lcetoxes.