GERMANY DAY BY DAY.

Mataura Ensign, 12 February 1916, Page 7

GERMANY DAY BY DAY.

THE FOOD LAWS. •NO BETTER FOR BREAKFAST.'' Along with two "No Meat" and "No Fat" da.vs ;\ week in the restaurants and butcher shops, Germany now has a "No-Butter-for-Brenkfast" law. The iirst one to bo enacted, as announced in the •Frankfurter Zeitung' (December '2B) has just come into force at . Frankfort-on-tho-Main. Henceforth it will lx> illegal for any hotel, ro.stan.rant l or iMiarding-house to serv(V~T>nttor or margarine to guests either in the form of individual portions or already spread on bread or mils. Neither may it. be served as sauce for fish —in which style the Frankforters, who enjoy some reputation in Germany as epicures, would i appear to eat fish for breakfast. i The new law. which was passed by 1 the Frankfort municipality, deals a bod.v blow nt. one of the Fatherland's most cherished, institutions —das erste Fruhstuck (the first breakfast., as distinguished from Hie second light meal which the German is accustomed to cat. before his principal meal of the day. Mittagstisch. or lunch). Elites Fruhstuck consists of coffee, rolls*, and butter, .«.nd to be deprived! to the butter mo'.'.ns almost as great a sacrifice for the Hun as to be debarred from his beloved pork. Bv order of the Saxon Government butter-cards, whereby butter will be served to the iieooie on the ration basis are now to be introduced through - mt the kingdom. Hitherto they have been in vogue only locally. "N'aval Triumphs." New Year's Day numbers of German newspapers are tilled as usual with rosy reviews of the war during UM.i ami pompous prognostications; for 1010. Taking their cm 1 from the Kaiser's appeal to <>o "forward with Got! for the projection of the Homeland find for Germany's greatness," mostly all the commentators harp on the theme that •'victory" has already been so firmly, assured' by the military successes of the oast that the future can only be contemplated with .serenity. Much space and many distorted figures are devoted to depicting Germauv's "naval triumphs" during flic first' 17 months of war. The 'Frank : niter ZeiUing" is particularly aiuiisiuj.and inismforminu on the naval sitna- : ion. After scoring'up I2S enemy men-ni-war destroyed since August. 101-1-autl failing to enumer-iie German !os- i -es —the financial organ remarks: "We mav safely assume that fo-i-verv one of our warships lost a new ■me "automatically comes into being and that our dockyard* have built husil.v even beyond that rate. If one furthei takes into consideration that reentlv theYaid of our North Sea Fleet •letinitelv established that the entire North Se n up to' the Skagcrak is freed >f enemies we may Im> quite well satisfied with the successes we have :>rhieyrd/ a.t sea thus far :uid enter wind it. r •o he honed wdl be the hist woriß-war ve.ir of I*olo with roolnte courage and i'nil co.'i'idcnce."

A Mysterious Achievement. Mysterious hint.- of some marvellous -eieiititic achievement which enables Cermanv to 'vmile" :>.! the plan of tin Itritisli 'Fleet to starve the German •nunitions indu.stry ot indisponsanh ■awstull'.s a.p;-ear in the 'Frankfurtei Zeitnii".' After acknowledging that ■■it woTild lie idle to deny thai England'is waginir economic war against uvith ver.v "great success," the linanoia' and com'inercial organ declare- thai •when some day i here become- ueir . rallv known what ; s now knowiv te mlv'a small circle of initiated oersonit 'will constitute a. glorious ehaptei n, the history of (Jerman industry am. . cience."

Hardships of Winter. Frank admissions of • l>f" nivai-at'oled hardships and sufferings which :i sec ,iihl winter's campaign is imposing tiror i lio Gorman Army are comaim-d m Major Moraht's l:itost review of the military .situ:it ; on in the 'Berlinei Taeeblatt' (December 2*l. Hi' ;,oknowedges tli ■« t the conditions under winch Kaiser's troops est a.nd wd-'t are ■•resolutely enduring" are mure sever* •han were even suffered in any campaign in the world's history. 'Hie armies in tie Alps •.-.nd oiv the Ison/.0. Major' Moraht assorts, are no hotter off. It is apparent from the manner in which the loremost Gorman military export liferents those revelations that he ha-, hoot urgently requested Ivy officers and mee in "tin l trenches to bring the facts to nublie notice. It needs i<> he reniein he rod that the an ti-Governuiont 'Berliner eaccustomed to spoi'.k with greatei plaiime.ss on snob topics than any othei newspaper in Germany. Socialist 'V orwarts' not excepted.

Confiscating Animals' Hair. The Ivto-t -rtiole confiscated _by the Norman niililary authorities. in- coniiect'on with their raid on a.!) materia'.■apab'c ol being worked up into tex ; ilo nroduots. is the hair of animals neluding that, of calves, goats, ponies uid horses, "except manes and tails.' Citizens are required' under penalty t-e make monthly reports of the possesdon of hair of the alvove-mentioned -oris to the "Weaving Stuffs" division of the R-.w Materials Den-art in put of •he (Jermar, 1 War Office, provided the quantity amounts to 2201b. The firsi reports were to he in rule of hair supplies- existing on January L IPdfi.

Proposed Tax on Cats. The Town Council of Guben. in East Prussia, in order to increase communal revenue, on which war necessities have made heavy drafts, propose a tax on house cats. The project was voted down last week by a small majority, the opposition- representing that Gulven wou'd be orerrun bv mice and rats if cat-keeping were to be made a luxury.