Germany a Land of Substitutes

Horowhenua Chronicle, 10 December 1915, Page 3

Germany a Land of Substitutes

(JLoiiuuii nines.j One oi uie mosi soiiuiis uiiurs inr,o uiiicu mo puuiic ci tiiia cvMintiy ap pears to Have laiien seeing io be tmii oi unuer-estimating tut , uern.an puwji to ilo without products winch me wat proven Led iier irom obtaining, or at least rroni obtaining in stillicient quun titles. it was not realized io what an exteat even before the war Uormany had bocome the classic iand, in •■"substitutes. . Somebody who knew liis Germany once said that a gentleman was the only thing under the sun that Uernuirs could not manufacture uy chemistry out of coal tar, and that was becauso they had no adequate analysis oi the natural product. The knowledge oi a number of suoBtitutes tor articles of every<lay use was widespread, oven among the unscLuitiliic population, before tne war, and it is important to remember uiat the popularization of substitutes nns been officially encouraged in Germany for a good in any yeara. Food exhibitions in various cities rl Germany, and "more especially ill Berlin, have had as one oi their most prominent features uiosqucs or booths where you could t=;uuple substitutes of u lands lor coll'cc, yeast, eggs, butter, olive oil, and the like. Even befoie the war substitutes like kathreiner's Malt Coffee were a household woi\l, wiulst tiie roasting ol acorns lor au-

mixture wiUi cuilcu was uot only a aociet practice ol some- lamihes in the Wei uiiudio class, bin wiuj even so generally lecogmzed a cusioai oi tne pCuicx loiii unit the chuuiun ol pool lannhcs were given specui pinned purby tile police to yaUur aeoi ')..- lor ihe purpose oil uie sacied grass u; tiic .piiuiic pariis. li is necessary lo ny io piciuie jiLh^itoil -JlUltafH'lVCa Ol tile yciUo' Ucl'oi'L , tile war taking an interest in substitutes lui , iua to realize what Uie Herman .u----loresc in substituted lor eoit'ec chon nieani aim has nicanc io Them since, luere can be no doubt that the use ol thwe inauiiold substitutes, one oi wiiuu could be uougiii before the war su about 3d. per ib., partly accounts K.'J tlie- fact that the price oi coffee in Uernuiuy is now very littie Higher (actua.n about eight per cent. , ) than before the

A ciUso now notorious oi lood substitute is, of course, the Uernian war bread. Despite all statements to 'In. contrary, it has to be admitted th>u the war bread oi Germany neither loo'is noi tastes very appetizing. It is true tl-at this is less the case in Austria; but in Germuny, at any rate, the w.-j bread was only definitely disagreeable when the potato meal substituted tor jyc or wlieatmeal was uadiy mixed or b.'idly prepared. Fantastic propositions, such as the conversion of sawdust into edible matter, although they may have been experimented with, we<-e never taken very seriously. Nobody pretends tliat the Germans like Wdi broad, partly because of its monotony: but the early complaints of its iiuJiHilthfiilnoss Jiavc disappea'rod since the bakers acquired skill in its preparation.