STRENUOUS SAYING

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 256, 17 July 1918, Page 5

STRENUOUS SAYING

GERMAN WAYS, OF GOING WITHOUT NECESSITY AN AMAZING INVENTOR CURIOUS SUBSTITUTES When the blockade of Germany began, no one believed that sho could hold out without things from tho outside world. In a short time, it was thought, her people would bo starving and she would be out of raw material. In the few months before the blockado was declared Germany shipped into her ports as much cotton, copper, rubber, and food as was possible. After the blockade began • muoli stuff was brongiit in from Holland and Scandinavia. From the very first days of tho war Germany set to work to utilise all the material that sho liad on hand, and her watchwords to her people were "Waste nothing." The first collection, in Germany was a metal collection in-the fall of 1!)15, just after 1 (Mary Ethel M'Auley in the New York "Evening Post") came to Berlin. This collection extended all over Germany, ayd was. made in different ' parts at different times. Every family received a printed notice of the things that must bo given up to the State: It was a long list, but the main thing on it was tho brass over doors. As nearly every room in Germany has a stove with two of these doors about a foot wide and three-quarters of a foot high; you caji get some idea of how much material this collection brought. Since this collection, the doors have been replaced by iron ones, that are not nearly so pretty. All kinds of brass pots and kettles wore collected, but with special permits people were .allowed to keep their heirlooms. Everything was paid for by the weight, artistic value counting for naught. Vacant stores were rented for this collection, and tho peoplo had to bring the things there. In some of tho cities tho peoplo willingly gavo up tho copper roofs of their public buildings. Copper roofs have always been very popular in Germany. In Berlin tho roofs of the palace, tho cathedral, and the Reichstag building aro of copper, and in Dresden the roofs of

all tho royal buildings are of coppor. Tho Last Peal of the Bells. - A friend of mine, who is a Catholic, went to church one Sunday just before 1 loft Berlin. -Before the scrvice opened and just as tho priest mounted tho pulpit, the church bells began to ring. When they had stopped the priest announced that that was the last time tho bells would ever ring, for they were to be given, to the metal collection. Tho people began to cry as tho priest went on, and before he had finished many were sobbing out loud. Evon the men wept. My. friend said that it was the most impressive 1 thing she had ever lived through. In that first copper collection thoy got enough metal to last several years, but if a second collection is necessary they can take-the bass door-knobs, which are very large and heavy. All the dooi'- . knobs in Germany are'made of brass, and they would mako a vast amount of metal. In April, 1917, they took an inventory of nil the aluminium in tho Empire. People had to send in lists of what they had. Tho waro was not collected, but it was to bo given up at any time tho Government wanted it. Tho aluminium is to be used in making money. Tor a long time they have had iron 5 and 10-pfennig pieces, find now they hare 1-pfennig pieces made out of aluminium. In Leipzig and Dresden they have 50-pfennig pieces made out of paper, and Berlin will soon have them, too. Before the iron money was made, in •the winter of 1915, small change was .very scarce. Tho storekeepers would rather you would not buy than givo you nil (heir small change, At this time in Turkey small change was so scarce that peoplo stood in line by tho hour to Ret change. Tho reason for the scarcity in Germany is that tho German soldiers have carried it away to the conquered lands, where Gorman' money is used as well as native money. In Germany postage stamps are beiiig used for small change, but this is very unsatisfactory, as they get so dirty iii the handling. Oil from Fruit Stones, Tho collection of old paper never ceases in Germany. All over Berlin they havo places where tho paper is l»ught, tind women work all day bringing it in. 'Every kind of old paper is bought— l»oks, magazines, newspapers. Everything that is brought must bo flat. A good price is paid. Another collection that is always going on is tho fruit-stono collection. They collect cherry stones, peach stones, plum stones, and apple and pear seeds. These collections' tako, plaeo in tho public schools, and all over Berlin you sec pretty posters, "Send tho stones lo t ho school-hoitso with your children." Tho seeds aro used for making fat and oil. Everybody wondered .what they were going to do when they advertised that 11 marks would bo paid for every load of common thistles. .But the thistles are being mado into cloth. Hair is also •made into cloth. Coffee grounds aro also collected, but it has not been decided how they 6hall bo used. When the clocks are changed in the summer it saves a great quantity of gas, and since tho first of January, 1917, all tho stores must closo at -seven o'clock instead of eight. All electric-light advertisements are prohibited, and all theatres and public places closo earlier. Jn tho city of Hanover, on account of tho scarcity of water, tho water is shut nff from tho bathrooms, and no ono can tako a bath. In Copenhagen thoro is nlso a scarcity of water, and when I was thero tho water all over tho city •was shut off between two and four in tho Afternoon. This coming winter the people will "ho urged in every way to save coal, and if possible, to heat only ono or two rooms. They havo plenty of coal, but no way of delivering it, 'and last winter peoplo had to go down to tho freight yards and fetch tho coal themselves. I often saw fino-looking ladies wheeling poal in baby carriages. Baby carriages are used for hauling everything—and tlicy «ro very practical. No Wrapping Paper. In every way paper is being saved, especially wrapping paper. Every woman, has her bun W, and when sho goes to the baker shop to buy buns she takes it .with her. I havo seen men buying buns in stores, and they nearly always have their own paper bag with them. Bread is just wrapped in tho middle of tho loaf, «nd if you don't tako your own bag with-you for eggs you will havo to carry them homo in your hand. In the markets nothing is wrapped. 'Every Gorman woman has what she calls her "Tasclio." It is a black bag witn handles, and is used in preferenco lo n basket. . Everything that is bought in tho market is put into this bag unwrapped. If you buy anything that is too large to put into the bag, you havo to ca-n'y it homo in your hand unwrapped. Ehubarb is carried in this way. Meat is first wrapped hi a thin piece of wax paper, and then in a newspaper. Wherever _ possible, newspapers aro used for wrappings, We were never fussy n bout, carrying a newspaper .bundle in Germany; we were glad wo pot the newspaper. One night- a friend of mine, an American girl, came to stay all night with me, and as \ve had only two quills sho had to bring her own. Sho hud no paper big enough to wrap Hie quilt, so she just carried it in her hand. The people in tho street ear and on Hie street did not even stare. Tliey merely thought she was a (?ood German women who was sparing paper for the Veterland. Tn the department stores they don't put strine on small packages, and ill large packages thev tie the string only one way around. Tf the purchase is a very small object like a spool of thread or a paner of pins, it is wrapped in the bill. Many people entry their own wrapping paper with them, and it is always wise to carry a pifee of strini;. None of the department stores will deliver anything 'hat costs less than five marks, and notic-** arc posted everywhere a-kiitr pernilc !o carry their purchases home. Orly ono store, Borehardt's grocery; still wraps up things as nicely as in day 3 of peace, and when you buy

anything there you aro suro that the package will not como open on tho street. Now they have invented a new kind of string made out of wood. It is very strong, but hard to tie. Since tho very beginning of tho war no one in Germany has been allowed to run his own automobile, on account of tho scarcity of rubber tyres aud petrol. All tho automobiles displayed in the show windows have tyres made of cement. This is just done to make them look better. All tho tyres have been taken over by tho military. No 0110 is allowed to ride a bicycle with rubber tyres without a permit. They have invented two kinds of tyres for substitutes. Ono kind is madeoflittlo discs of leather joined in the middle and tho other is made of coilfcd wiro. Food Substitutes, For everything that is scarce in Germany they have a substitute. In this lino German ingenuity seems to have no end. Tlioy have a substitute for milk called "Milfis." It is a white powder and when mi«d wiili water looks line milk. It can be used in coffee or for ' cooking. The funny part about "Milfix" I was that When it first camo out evcryI body scorned it, but all of a sudden . thero was hardly any real milk to bo i had, and "Milfix" was put on (lie Lcben- ' smittln food card and you could buy only . a small quantity of it. 'Dion everybody I was wild to get a little of tho preciour 1 stuff. I Then they have eg? substitutes. Some brands of th=ni are in powder form: others arc like yellow capsulcs. The.v 1 aro very good when mixed with one real | egg. They make very gnud omelette. Then there is the meat substitute. It comes 111 cans and is dark brown in colour. It is some kind of a prepared vegetable. It looks like chopped meal and is said to tast.e like meat. They j have a hundred different varieties of coffee substitutes, and without any execution all brands of Kaffco Erstaz are very bad. The m,osl: amazing thing on the market is tlie "Butter Stretcher." It is a little white powder, and \rhen mixed with n quarter of a pound of real butter it is tnmrantecd to stretch it to half a nound. We bought somo of it, but wo never had tho courage to try it on a good real quarter of a pound of butter, but many boardinghouses used It. Every day something new bobbed un on the market. Butter Bruhe and Schmalz Bruho came in cans, half butter or laTtl and half broth. They wero fixed that way so as not to como under tho butter card or tho fat card. The cans weighed half a pound and sold for fivo marks. Theso were foreign goods from Holland or Denmark. Last spring there appeared on tho market great quantities of "Irish stew" in cans. The Germans stood around wondering. "What was "Irish stew"? None of them had the slightest idea. But finally they bought it, for they said that if it was Irish it must bo good. They have a substitnto for sausage made out of fish._ It is awful-tasting stuff with a lingering flavour that lasts for days. They have substitutes for leather, rubber, and for spiritus. They have what they call a spiritus tablet that enn bo used in lamps. It is used by tho soldiers in tho field. As soaD is very 6carce in Germany hardwood floors are cleaned with tin shavings. The shavings aro rubbed over the floors with the feet, the rubbers wearing felt shoes. "Save the Soap!" All over Germany soap is used very sparingly. Clothes are put to soak a week before wash-day, and each day they are boiled a little. This plan saves all the hard rubbing, and when the clothes (ire taken out of tho water the dirt falls out of them. They don't use washboards in Germany. Pasted everywhere in Berlin aro posters which say, "Save the Soap." Ifc 6ays shake the soap in hot water, but never let it lie in the water, and always keep it in a dry place. Most stores will sell only one spool of embroidery iloss to one person at a time, If you want a second spool you must go the next day. This restriction is very hard on tho German women who loves to do fancy work. We saved everything. When wo boiled potatoes wo saved the water for soup or gravy. It had more strength than clear water. We never ato eggs out of fancy dishes with grooves in them, as too much of the egg stuck in the grooves. Wo served everything: from the cooking kettlo right 011 our plates, that no grease might bo wasted. Many restaurants also did this, and what you ordered was brought in on tho plate you ate from. A great many people used paper napkins for every day. This saved linen and soap. Wo never threw away our coffeo grounds, but cooked them over and over. Wo weren't used to strong coffee, and theso warmed-over grounds were much better than Kaffco Ersatz. Some people cooked rhubarb tops as you cook spinach. It make's a verv good vegetable. "We took pea pods from fresh peas and scraped them mid cooked them with the peas, These aro really fine. It is a well-known Polish dfih. Tho first year wo were in Berlin we could got, cornstarch, and wo used this for thickening things instead of flour. Millions of Lomons. Ono of the funniest things was Unit you could not buy an orange unless you , bought a lemon. This worked two ways. ' Tho oranges wero saved and tho storekeepers got rid of the lemons. I have never seen anything liko tho lemons in Germany—millions of lemons everywhere. Lemons, radishes, aud onions wero tlireo tilings that you could buy any time without a card and without standing in lino to get them. . Hundreds of war cookbooks have been printed. They are generally, very practical and give excellent recipes for making cokes without butter and eggs, or even flour, using oatmeal instead. They tell how to make soup out of plums, apples, pears, onions, and fish. And they contain menus with suggestions of : tilings to lmvo on the meatless days. ' They save tho puzzled hotisowifo much \ worry. i Last Christinas in Germany was known I as the Christmas of a. single candle, and 1 most _of the Christmas trees had only < one light on (110 top. 1