DENMARK FACED WITH APPALLING WINTER

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 18, 16 October 1917, Page 5

DENMARK FACED WITH APPALLING WINTER

GREAT SHORTAGE OJ? NECESSARIES. Copenhagen, October 14. Denmark is threatened with appallius difficulties in the coming winter. lushoil is already being used for lighting purposes, owing to the shortage of petroleum, and all working* motors I\ivq suspended operations for a month, qausmg large numbers of men to be idle in many branches of industry. The farmers are allowing cattle to remain Mitdoors as long as possible, owing to the shortage of i'odder.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.

I Soma idea of the conditions under, which the Scandinavian and Danish, peoples are living in wartime i? revealed in a, letter received in Melbourne front Sweden by the last overseas mail. •' J.he writer is of a woll-to-do family. Ihe following is an extract from the letter: — "This vear I haven't bought a single new dre6s, becauso ifs against my principles to pay euch outrageous prices. One can't buy a costume for less than £o 10s. or ilO, and tho material, in ordinary circumstances, we wouldn't have made up for 'house dresses.' The cheapest sergo is 15s. a yard, and it is of that wiry quality that you can shoot peas through. It would never have entered my bead to have bought it when it cost Bid. • . Just think of it, a reel of cotton costs m English money Is. 3d.! Washing soda costs Is. 3d. a lb., and everything else is so outrageous that one has to laugh, otherwise one would cry. iviap cf every description is getting s-iarcer every cay. Coffeo and tea are quite finished. There are one or two shops that lave .1 I'ttle tea left, which they sell at 12s. od. a lb. Oil! wo have glorious times here, and no mistake. ' They say that our bread rations are to bo cut down by onc-thn'd in the autumn if we can't get r.ny imports through. All harvests are spoilt, as it has been quite a drought. We have had only ono millimetre of Tain since the end of April (July 9), and the ground is so dry that it is just like fine powder. The outlook for the winter is very serious, but I suppose we will be able to weather tho storm. The worst is not having any coal, for I would prefer (if they consulted me) to 6tarve rather than freeze. There is no doubt that the world is being punished for its sins. Nobody is going to escape. Here in Sweden everyone has dons everything in his power to avert the evil. Every spare bit of ground is cultivated, and nothing grows. The potatoes that did look a3 if thev had possibilities have in many parts 'of the country frozen. Fancy having n severe frost in .Tilly! Of course, they can't grow any more, so that is adieu to them. Our own garden isn't inneh better for all that we have .spent hundreds of gallons of water on it. It is onlv good in comparison with others, which" are so very bad. The only things that nre' at. all decent are beetroot and lettuce, which we cook like spinach. May there soon be a peace, for these conditions are dreadful."