FOOD FIRST.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3386, 15 January 1920, Page 2

FOOD FIRST.

2 GERMAN EXPERIMENT. ! 5 N 0 TRAIN PASSENGERS FOR 11.- } - DAYS » 3 Last night. at 11 o’elock the entire passenger service throughout G2l-Inatll.V iceased; not a single passenger train twill run for 11 days, wrote a correstpondcnt from Berlin, and aftef that i there will be only absolutely necessary trains i In the industrial regions t.he work iers’ trains will not be tulr.:‘ll .off, and tin and around the cities a restricted lloeal service will be kept up. But that Ms all. For I]. days Ger-many will by '.witllout the usual passenger trains. 1 Yesterday I travelled from Drr-sclen Eli) Berlin; an hour béfore the train i.“:‘.t2u'l:e(l, e\'e.v.'_‘»' Compartmellt had been f;;acl:e«l full, and when the train set foff th‘ C01'1‘i(1o1's were so crowded that {it was quite impossible to move. j At. the_Berlin Station the crowd of ip£LSS4CIIgCI‘S arriving ‘and departillg I was as vast as a C‘.r_y.<tal Palace cup-tie crowd, and at all the other great Berlin termini the conditions were the fl-':llll0. UNIVERSAL FLIGHT. I T-here is something like -:1 gen.-ral I {light from Berlin, but that is balanced by the flight into the city. All those ‘who are un<l~r 11ecessit_v of travelling iv.-itliiii the next fortnight have been rushing to their destinations during itlie past few days. j i To lllEl.l{O r.l:ltt'l's worse, the hotels‘ [in all the great cities are overcr-owd—i ted; in Berlin and ClSev\'llel‘C people are lsleeping in hotel bathrooms and in all i iodd corners where it is possible to put I 3up a bedstead. Every hotel in the C!f“,‘.-itill is tit:-111:3»; away hundreds of pee;>l- daily. (“»'<‘ll though they wired da._‘,'ss beforehand to reserve rooms. ’i"i:- tr-legrarlh servie: is something lilw chaotic. Telephoning is almost an impossible achievement. t Added to that, the greatest confusion reigns in the post office. Letters from all over the country and from! abroad are weeks late in arriving; I parcel post officials are endeavouring in vain to cope with the impossible! mountains of packets. Insome parts ofthe country the parcel post has been l suspended Stations throughout the country are conge-_=ted"\vith goods traffic. and to make matters worse the: canal services are almost at a stan<l—l still_ '" ,

Thv mails will have to be fol-xvardml by goods: trains. In fact, the only travel service of which the .':r)ulltry will be able to boast for J 1 days: will be the Zeppelin :se~rVice running between the capital and Friedrichuuaveri Wlla.titlle result of this trafiic stoppage will ‘be to thg business world can be imagined when it is combined with chaos and confuslion in other means’ of communication. ' TO CARRY FOOD ‘AND C-OAL.

Sudden and early Winter has swept all over Germany from the "south. This, it is oflieially stated will have a bad effect on the poor service to~‘€e run during the rest of the month. Vast quantities of perishable goods will rot where they stand‘. Oflicially this stoppage of pa.Ss:.‘ngCl‘ traffic is explained as being necessary in order to secure adequate distribution of coal and potatoes. Labour conditions have not impi-ov—-ed. The iron and steel Workers’ strike, which has now lasted some weeks, threatens to become more bitter, and there is talk of a general ~:ti-ike. Bel'lin"S gas and“ electricity, supported by very small reserves of coal. are again threatened. The bulk of the people have so little light zmd heat that they are forced to go to bed when darkness sets in. In the westend_ flats of the wealthy people sit at meals Wrapped in heavy furs. Food conditions are perhaps slightly Worsie than they were six weeks ago in Berlin, and prices show a decided tendency to rise again. Germany, indeed, is in a sorry condition, and is in ‘one of her severest fits of depression_ The future looks blacker than ever, in whatever direction one cares to look. '