"DISCONTENT EVERYWHERE."

Colonist, Volume LVII, Issue 13795, 16 June 1915, Page 2

"DISCONTENT EVERYWHERE."

CONDITIONS IN AUSTRIA

An .Englishman who has resided in Vienna for a number of .years and who arrived in London from that city recently, makes tho following comments on life there as he experienced it: —

Food is scarce and dear. "Whtte bread is not obtainable, and the ordinary bread—Kriegsbrod —costs 7d a pound. Flour can only be purchased a pound at a time, with which a like quantity of ryo flour mu&t be bought. To obtain milk an official check has to be got, wirhout which it- is unobtainable. Milk lias increased in price and decreased in quality. Meat costs 2s Ida-pound. Potatoes and rice are twice as dear as usual. English tea of poor quality costs 9s a pound, sugar fetches 6d, and lard as much as Is 3d a pound. Coal and wood are getting scarce, and petrol is practically unobtainable. ;

The newsijap/srs aro no longer so bitter towards England as they were at the beginning of the war, and the fact that the greeting " "God punish England" has ■ been. officially forbidden to ho used in Austria-Hungary is a sign that the feeling towards England is not as in Germany. The better-class people, indeed, openly expiess tlieir disappointment as' being unable to obtain the- English luxuries they are used to. In the mutter of healtrt it is known that cholera has made its appearance among the troops, but great care is taken to isolate the cases in special hospitals in villages outside Vienna. Few cases of cholera have occurred among the civil population, but hundreds of oases of smallpox—for the most part among civilians —aro under treatment. Elaborate preparations aro being made to cope with both diseases when the warm weather comes. Many wounded are seen in 'the streets of Vionna. Numbers have lost limbs, and while they do not beg they accept- coppers from passers-b3 r. The theatres are open, but the attendance consists chiefly of soldiers an-.l their wives, who are admitted free. The British in Vienna who are not interned aro forbidden to go to any place- of amusement, restaurant, or cafe. They must be home by 8 p.m.. and have strict orders not to go near barracks or any of the schools,, whicn have been converted into hospitals. They are not badly treated, bur naturally suffer with tJie rest of the population from the increased cost of living. There are about 900 Enuglislimen interned in three differeut centres who suffered considerably at the beginning of the war: x Now their situation hag been greatly improved. In Hungary, subjects ;oi- enemy countries enjoy their full freedom as in times of peace. My impression of the general ■situation is that .Austria-Hun-gary is in a thankless • position, and svould be pleased to see an early ■ end >f the war. There is discontent every* ivhere.