LIFE IN GERMANY.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXIX, Issue LXIX, 24 May 1915, Page 2

LIFE IN GERMANY.

SIDELIGHTS-FROaI^THE PRESS. 1

[Compiled after a survey of current j , numbers of leading Gorman news-<| papers.] r • t ( Berlin is particularly indignant about . the "usury" that is practised in potatoess But whilst a i ran Schneider, in Charlottenburg, is fined 30s for charging id per lOib in excess of the maximum price fixed for potatoes, the law cannot touch the greedy wholesalers who withhold their stocks from the lialf^teimd public, in the hope of a rise in thfc maximum charge. Indeed, tfefe «3fea*tk of potatoes ofime to a sudden end the moment a higher price "ft-as authorised by the Government. In Frankfurt the Jmtchera appear to be reaping a golden harvest, the price of veal has gone up 10 per cent, and of jnutton 5 per cent, the reason being an alleged rise in the price of live stock. As a matter of fact no sufch rise has taken place. Indeed, pigs have considerably decreased in 'value, but the price ot pork has not experienced a corresponding decline. 25,000 Motors off the Streets. The increase in the price of beer throughout the country, which is felt as a, very severe hardship,, has now been followed by a Vise in methylated spirit amounting to about 6d per gallon. The dearth of petrol is engaging the serious attention of the government. To it, rather than to the scarcity of labor caused by the calling to the colors of all capable men, is due the terrippi'ary withdrawal cf fourfifths of Berlin's taxicabs. ■ Eurther restrictions will remove .a large number of motor vans and. private cars from the streets. After the 15th of this month Berlin's 50,000 motor vehicles will be reduced to half that number. At Bernsgrun, in the Principality of Reuss, a new law has just been passed to debar those who have been remiss ih paying Government and local taxes from frequenting inns, bars, and places of amusement. The names of these shirkers are to be posted at the inns. The official appeal to German schoolboys, who are encouraged to ransack the parental home for gold and to obtain gold coins "by fair means'1 or | foul," has led to remarkable results; > The boys at the Bonn Royal College delivered 3G,000 marks (£1800), which they had collected in four days. Dureri College did ntffc do quite so well, five weeks being needed" to bring forth 30,500 marks. But the Augustinian School at Friedberg beat all records with 50,660 marks, collected by the boys in one week. Fruedenstadt, a little Black Forest town of only 36,000 souls, has handed 460,000 marks in gold to the authorities. , The Sale of Loot. The infinite trouble taken by the German press 'to prove the exemplary conduct of the German troops in Belgium and France seems wasted in view of a significant announcement made recently by the Berlin War Office. In this remarkable communication to the press the War Office refers all enquiries about the sale of loot to the prettily-named ' 'Kriegswirtsehaf tractiengesellschaft"« —a limited liability company organised for the best exploiting of war loot or the sale of the enemy's "lost property!" The experience gained by the Germans about the time of the retreat from the Marne may be largely responsibe for an announcement issued by Prince Hatzfeld, Military Inspector of Volunteer Care for the Wounded. It is to the effect that "love gifts" of rum or brandy will not be transmitted to troops in the field. Stock Exchange business seems to be in a facrly critical condition, if one may draw conclusions from a law recently passed by the Federal Council. According to this law, the publication of figures at which securities not quoted in the official list have passed hands, and which might indicate their present value, is an offence punishable with a fine up to 1000 marks or six months' imprisonment. A Sort of Leipzig Fair. Meanwhile the art business seems to be flourishing in the Central Empires. Seven valuable pictures, including a famous "Fete Champetre" by Pater, valued at £4000, changed hands recently. They were the property of | Mr Josef Kranz, in Vienna. The transaction took place by night, and tne ! pictures appear to have suffered through being cut out of their frames. The great Leipzig F«ir, though by no means as important an affair as in former years; h"as attracted 2500 exhibitors from Germany and neutral countries. One of the features is a special -section devoted to an "exhibition of substitutes for goods from enemy countries." One of the leading German newspapers expresses lively satisfaction rt the alleged extensive English purchasesf of German toys though fche ag-eney of American buyers! An important Army Order issued from the Great General Headquarters Staff, under date February 24th, will not fail to be of the most'far-reaching consequences upon the future conduct or the war: "Officers, non-commission-ed officers, and men are allowed to wear the ribbon of the Iron Cross, the Military Cross of Merit, and other military medals and decorations in the second buttonhole from the ton on their overcoats."