GERMANY WITHIN.

Greymouth Evening Star, 3 May 1917, Page 2

GERMANY WITHIN.

INTERESTING LETTER.

FROM A NEUTRAL COUNTRY,

COPENHAGEN, February 26, 1917. The following letter has been received in Greymouth from a native of Denmark, who was for some years a resident of the Britir.li Dominions: 1 was more than pleased -to receive your letter, which arrived via Trondh.

jem, in Norway, 'i ou will he surprised to learn that I am still in Copenhagen, but so faxall my endeavors, to get back to England have been in vain. 1. cannot get a passage because there are no steatnus ;aiiimg, aud there have been no passages booked this month. 1 am simply stranded, and it is awful to be held up this wa.y, without any prospects of improvement. Of course, 1 am very comfortable hero, and all that sort of thing, but this forced inactivity is an awful nuisance, and I am sick of it. The papers here publish long lists of our vessels which the Germans have sunk without any regard for life, but I am informed that the “blighters” cannot keep it up much longer. I hear from certain well-informed people who are supposed to know what tlu-y are talking‘about that the war will be finished by the middle of April, and I understand that the Germans- cannot hold out any longer. Of course, there will be. a tremendous burst-up before then. Jt is, very difficult to get any information irom Germany, but travelkxs and Red Cross doctors arrive here now and then and i understand that people are dropping- in the streets of itcinn and dying all over Germany from starvation, so that it cannot last much longer. Doctors tell that the children are being born without skin, and the newly-born look like monkeys-. Terrible diseases, in the digestive system are contracted because of using finely chopped straw in the bread, and, in fact, the whole nation is near collapse. I have it from a reliable source that a member of the Danish Royal Family once a week sends a small parcel containing one piece of soap and a. little cold meat to her near relative the Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg in Germany to keep her alive. This almost seems incredible, but it is a fact, and shows how desperate the siination is for the Germans. We must hold out another few months and the German bubble will and must burst. They are carrying out one great game of bluff and are Hooding the Scandinavian countries with papers and magazines full of lies in order to impress upon the.se countries the “strong’’ position of Germany : but most of their yarns, are too thick to sound true. Denmark has already lost more than 100 vessels, and the feeling here is very bitter. The country is on the verge of a famine. There is no coal for the gasworks, no oil, “no nuffin.’’ Streets are dark, shops close early, trams are running reduced service, and there will be no warm dinners m another couple of weeks, all on account of the U boats. Everybody here now expects a big burst-up in the final round, and most people think that the chances are that part.of Denmark will be overrun like Belgium or Boumania; but it is the belief that the Germans will be kept v.ut of Copenhagen and surroundings, although this city may sutler severely from Zeppelins and bombardments. This is not a cheerful kind of letter, but I am bored to death just now. I hope to get to England somehow before long, with or without the Kaiser’s permission