MOTHER COUNTRY.

Taranaki Daily News, 29 January 1918, Page 5

MOTHER COUNTRY.

ACUTE MEAT SHORTAGE. WORKERS STRIKE FOR FOOD. ! London, .Tan. IT. Tlie meat, shortage is the most aeuti l'M-orded. Queues assembled at Smith lioid at, o'clock, and the stalls wen cleared before noon. Late-aoiners s<> cured only liver, sheep's kidneys nnt tinned meats. There were msny queue in the suburbs and provinces. Six thousand workers at Peterborougl downed tools as a protest again;, t th< food shortage. Tliey w«it in proclwior to a ground where the speakers nrgp«' that the stfike should continue unti food supplies were adequate. Tons of diseased meat are reaeliinf Smithfield from Jrtlaud, and have beer condemned as unfit for consumption, CONTROLLING FOOD QUEUE?. London, Jan. 27. Moufited police specials were, called oul at Tottenham a,nd Edmonton to nontio! a qittue a mile in length. At Rootle (Liverpool) a crowd stoned a food offieiai who was making an effort to coannaudeei , margarine. A HELL UPON EARTH. SEW ZEALAVDEKS IN GERMAN PRISON' GAMPS. MEN IX PITIFUL CONDITION. Keseived Jan. 28, 5.3.i p.m. London, Jan. 27. New Zealand soldiers from Germany, now interned l in Switzerland, spent much time at Rnltnen. where two attempts to escape failed. Allied prisoners are brutally treated. Many of our men were starved at Dulmen and are in a pitiful condition. There were three camps, each holding 900, attached to Burgsteinfurt. camps consisted of underground dungeoiis in the sand. Tn winter they were awful, and in summer they teemed with fleas. A New Zealnnder spent eight months in one camp where tire German non-commissioiied officers treated the prisoners well, but at Ho'henfurst a similar camp was a hell upon earth. A New Zealander who witnessed the Mannheim air raid states tlmt, though it failed, it had a considerable effect upon the people. He. was convinced that if the raidi were continued drastically tliev would do much to hasten the end of the war. A MISSING NEW ZEALANDER. S'UJCTDE INFERRED. Received Jan. 28, 8.35 p.m. London, Jan. 27. Captain Ward,.a New Zealander, an initiate of Mount Felix Hospital at Wilton., is missing. He back from France ill. His bicycle, hat; and letters 'have been found near the Thames. THE STATE OF SIEGE. RATIONING IN SIGHT CONSERVING THE POTATO SURPLUS London, Nov. 30. Mr. Lloyd. George's cheerful ejaculation that lie was not afraid of 'the submarine menace now was another of those unfortunate incidents which have two edges. It is being l widely quoted a# proof of the general impression that starvation is no longer to be feared, and to that extent the Prime Minister has done the food thrift campaign a very bad service. The week which showed a loss of one large vessel has been followed by one with t«n and another with fourteen ships down; and the outlook for transporting and victualling the American Army i 9 no more secure than it was three months ago. ALLOTMENTS EXTENDED. ' The Parliamentary Secretary of the Board of Agriculture has informed the Peterborough Town Council that the board is extending all tenancies under tho Cultivation of Land Order until after the season in 1020. Where building land Is being cultivated, applications for its return for building purposes will be considered, on their merits. MILLS FOR POTATO FLOUR. Sir Arthur Yapp, at a conference arranged to disseminate information on the food value of potatoes, said that after providing for the normal consumption itliere was a surplus of considerably over two ftiillioft tons of potatoes which, if used during the next six months—a most critical: period—instead of 'bread, would save iialf a rivllion tons of flour, equal to three hundred million bread rations, winch was sufficient to keep the whole o. the United Kingdom in bread for two monthc. lie urged the necessity of breaking more ground for uotatogrowing. MARGARINE AT FIXED PRICES. In the fluctuation of supply and demand we have once more coniu to the point at which margarine is more easily ob.ainable than butter, though at the moment tho quality of the buttev that is | obtainable is very good. It is an admitted fact that practically every home in the Kingdom has permitted the intrusion of margarine during the past year, and the respectable contempt of pre-war dtfys has gone the way of the prejudice against frozen meat." Orders fixing maximum vtcail prices for margai'° irte, 'bacon, bams, and lard have come into operation. The flxed prior- for margarine is Is per Hi, except in the case of makes containing at least 55 per cent, of anirtial fats (which are more expensive than vegetable oils), which may be sold at Is 4d per lb, but packets of'this kind must be marked "Oleo margarine." Makes of margarine which hitherto have been sold at less than Is per ib will continue at the old prices. RATIONING INEVITAIILE. It seems that the provision of machinery Js now the only remaining obstacle to a complete rationing of the nation, a step which everybody is now educated up to. Sir Arthur Yapp has discovered that the nation is actually oatinpf more than it did a year ago. i Lord Rhondda, la » speech to his Mon-

t lnontlishire tenant*, said that the Voluntary ration would bo suilictent to keep everybody in a good state of health. He added:—"lt has been carefully considered by scientific people and expsrts, as well as by tlie stall of my IX'purtment. It will be at least twice the compulsory ration allowed to the people in Germanv, where the cost of f.ioil is double that liere. If the appeal made by the Food Control Department is not responded to I am certain that compulsory rationing is inevitable.'' TXDIVIDI'AL SUGAR TICKETS. The success of individual registration for sugar supply ha s begun. The original household sugar e-'ir.is, numbering about 8,000,000, are fTeing scrapped, and in plactjpof them, roughly ■10,000,01)0 individual cards will be issued-one for e.very member of a ho»Be'nnld. As soon as possible ./. cry houv 10l ler must go to the grocer with whom his sugar card is deposited, nnd ask for a declaration form for each per-ion whose name i : ; on the card and who is still a member of the household. The new ticket will not only cna'ble the holder to obtain sugar from the grocer. with whom he is registered, but also he will be" able to use it as a removal ticket. On leaving a household he_ (an exchange his ticket at a post cftice for eights weeks' coupons enabling him to buy sugar from any retailer anywhere. WHAT A SHIP MEANS. Sir Arthur Yapp says that the sinking of one six thousand-ton- wheat ship means the loss of 3,200,000 bread rations of 4Mb, sufficient to feed the whole of Ipswich with bread for 44 week's. The destruction of one meat ship with 30,000 carcases of sheep involved the loss of 3,500,0001b of meat, sufficient to keep Ipswich in meat for -23 weeks. Unless the American and Canadian people ate less bread there would tot br? enough wheat for the people of England, Franco and Jtalv In pleading for more food production, he said thp most difficult part of his food campaign was to get people in the country districts who produced the food to economise. THK POTATO SURPLUS. There is in the country a surplus of over 2,000,000 tons of potatoes. If thiq surplus is used in )>lace of 'bread during the next six* months, t.he most critical period, it will save two months' supply of bread for the United Kingdom, or about 300,000,000 average bread rations of 4Mb. Sir Arthur Yapp urged people to break up ground now, so that more potatoes may be grown next year, when the need may be greater than to-day. I)r Campbell, one of the food experts, said recent research 'has shown that the flesh-forming part of the potato is double the value of the flesh-forming part of bread, 'file food value of the potato is much higher than former investigators have calculated. "If the potato is peeled and boiled," said Dr. Campbell, "you lose nearly ali its nutriment. Potatoes should bo washed, scrapped snd steamed with their jackets and the: eaten The skin is not indigestible when properly Scraped and scrubbed; it is quite good. Two and three-quarter poii id;, of potatoes produce the same emvg;y us lib of bread."

"By hexi vear,'' said j)i\ Campbell, "factories will -be producing potato flour for -bread-making without special ma-flsinoi-v, the lack oi which now prevents large bakeries from .(sing potatoes. A largo nambw' of mills in Ireland in a month or so will be producing potato flour, as v/e want to save transport. Five tons of potatoes produce one ton of fioir.'. CHEAPER TEA. "Tea will 'become cheaper and, unless unforeseen circumstances occur, more plentiful," it was officially stated the .other day. The supplies which Lord [Khondda is to buy will bo sold to ths wholesale tracle at the gross cost to the Government—that is including carriage ■and other outgoings. It i 9 expected that all the "free tea," oil which a maximum retail price of 4s per lb is fixed, will he consumed by the end of the war. In that event the 4s maximum will be reduced.

2fearly .'.,000.0001b of tea (almost a normal quantity) vas sold at the public sales in London this week and only a little less is catalogued for next week. There are good stocks of coffee in the country, and the fixing of prices in order to atop profiteering is at present being arranged. An official announcement on t/i's subject will be made shortly.

The State contemplates purchasing 40 per' cent, cf the Indian and 27 pes cent, of the Ceylon tea crop. RIOH AND POOR. "Here is a painful contrast," says Sir Arthur Yapp. "This morning I received a report, from the East End of a long queue with several policemen regulating it, composed largely of women with babies and small children, waiting to buy half-pounds of margarine. At an hotel to-day the carte du jour for dinner, leading oft' with liors d'oeuvre Is fid, smoked salmon Is 6d, oysters 4a lid, per dozen, and caviare 4s, contained: 1 soups Is to 2s, S fish dishes Is Gd to 7s, S entrees 2s 6d to fls, 12 roasts 4s 6d to IBs (mainly poultry and game), lis vegetables Is to '2<, 0 entremets 2s to 3s fid, ices la (id, fruits. "The manager of one of the leading restaurants tells me that people often j come to him and say that they cannot get enough to eat, and that they can get' plenty in the provinces. It is obvious that they can get twice as much us they mighi to have, and that some people are tood-iiogs.'* ' PUBLIC KITCHENS. Local food committees have been asked io open public kitchens in thickly peopled areas and to make other preparations for suddenTood emergencies. The committees have been requested to compile a census of catering facilities, particularly of establishments sufficiently large and capable of being easily and quickly adapted for use as supplementary kitouens. I\ T o establishment which is not .capable of supplying 1500 portions g>t food per day is to bo taken into account. The oemmittees have been asked for "an immediate report" of the steps they propose to take towards setting up kitchens, arid of particulars of other e»ta,blishments which might be available in emergency.