ican war, and the Russo-Japanese war. If the American is detained he might prefer to end his captivity by adventurous escape. Escapes of this kind have been most successful into Holland. The case of the American, private dentist of the Kaiser, who received a passport from the German Government, and arrived here -March, 1918-is a special one, and cannot be compared with others. Q.-Did the Germans use negroes against General Smuts in Africa? A. There were only 2,000 Germans in East Africa, but they had drilled about 18,000 natives, and they used them against the South African forces. There were also African natives under General Smuts' command, although he chiefly relied upon Afrikanders and Indian troops. The Belgian Army, which advanced from the Congo, was almost entirely composed of natives, and the Portuguese forces which entered German East Africa from the south were native, too, for the most part. Q.-Is it true that the German Government has been willing to spend large sums of money in the United States to suppress evidence that the Kaiser planned the war? A. It has been stated with authority that an American journalist, during a yachting trip with the German Emperor ten years ago, got an interview in which the monarch expressed ideas that seemed to imply a plan of something like worlddomination. The journalist prepared a magazine article for a New York magazine. The German Ambassador, von Bernstorff, heard about it after the magazine was printed and before it was published. The German Government bought all the sheets of the magazine, packed them in tin-lined cases, and sent a German warship for them. The article has never been published, but one copy of the magazíne has found its way into the hands of Secretary of State Lansing, and has been added to the evidence in the case which will probably be published at the conclusion of the war. Q. What is -Why are the Germans called "Boches"? A.-"Boche" appears to be an abbreviation of "Alboche," an Alsatian word for "Allemand" (meaning German). In Alsace-Lorraine, it has been for some time used as a synonym for drunkard, liar, barbarian, and adjectively for "unmentionably cruel." The French adopted the word in the beginning of the war as typifying the Prussians. Many other explanations are given from time to time of what the slang-word really means, and how it came to be applied. It was probably used also in the FrancoPrussian War in 1870, for Zola, in his novel La Débâcle, a story dealing with the war, puts the term in the mouths of French soldiers to designate the Germans. The term ce boche was used, before the Franco-Prussian War at least, as equivalent to "that_chump," and tête de boche is given by French dictionaries of slang as equivalent to "wooden-pate" or "blockhead." It is, perhaps, for this reason that some French scholars derive the present use of boche from caboche, a French word meaning head. Q-Are outside newspapers censored before they circulate in Germany? A.-There does not appear to be any attempt to censor the Allied journals going into Germany. The Germans, no doubt, regard them much as we regard the Teutonic newspapers, that is to say, as inaccurate and misinformed, and take no more notice of our comments on the war than we do of theirs. Q.-Was the German Emperor on a cruise when war began? A. He was away on his cruiser yacht when the crisis began. He got back, however, before war broke out, and immediately sent personal telegrams to the Czar and King George. Q. Who signed the order for the "Hymn of Q.-Did the Germans have con- A.-A German poem of hatred against England, written by Ernest Lissauer, in 1915. It has been set to music and appears in some of the German school song books. A. That was one of the romantic tales supplied to the world early in the war. It was the sort of thing that appealed to the popular imagination, and during the time that the story enjoyed the greatest belief, similar concrete gun-emplacements were "discovered" in scores of places in this country, even as far away from the seat of war as the mountains of California. The knowledge that has come to the public since then regarding the methods and strategies of war, has served to indicate that even the most skilful plotters cannot quite plot out beforehand just where a big engagement will be fought or just where the hostile position is going to be. Military men knew that the story was probably fiction of a rather absurd kind, but it was no part of the Allied military experts' duty to disabuse the world of the idea. Q.-Were German soldiers worse than others in the march on Pekin? A. According to revelations made by correspondents who managed to get through to Pekin, and by officers after the trouble was over, there seems to have been very little to choose between the conduct of the various troops. Of all, the Japanese emerged with the cleanest record, and the Tonkinese troops of the French with the worst. The Kaiser's message to Count Waldersee, who commanded the expedition, has, however, been everywhere reproduced, and consequently it has been assumed that the atrocities attributed to the international troops were all committed by the Ger mans. Q. What was the object of Berlin's gigantic Hindenburg statue? A. The object of it was the same as that of the raffles and similar ingenious devices we see every day, namely, to raise money for certain funds. People paid a mark, or more if they liked, for the privilege of hammering a nail into it. The money thus obtained was devoted to assisting the dependents of those who have fallen in battle. Q.-It must be pretty solid to stand all those nails? A. It is. The wood used weighed 26 tons. Three solid blocks were used, the statue being carefully carved under the direction of a well-known sculptor, George Marschall. No less than 87 expert wood carvers worked on the hard wood night and day. As it was expected that at least 30 tons of nails would be driven in, special steel reinforcement weighing six tons was deemed necessary. A smaller statue to serve the same object was erected to von Müller of the famous raiding ship Emden, in the town of Emden. Q.-Did the Dutch claim damages from England for a ship sunk by Germany? A. Yes; in the case of two ships, the Bernisse and the Elve. The cases were similar. The Dutch claim was as follows: The Bernisse was stopped by a British auxiliary cruiser. A British officer boarded her, and then, on a signal from the cruiser, proceeded to navigate the ship to the British port of Kirkwall, where the cargo could be examined. The Dutch captain protested, "because the ship would then enter into the area blockaded by Germany, stating that there was no ground for such an order, the ship being entirely Dutch property and of Dutch nationality, the shippers being a French concern, the cargo being consigned to a Dutch company." The protest availed naught, and the Bernisse continued on the way to Kirkwall, still flying the Dutch flag. On May 23 she was attacked by a German submarine. According to the account of the Bernisse's skipper: "The submarine continued to fire while the boats were being lowered, without, however, hitting either the ship or any of the crew. She then launched a torpedo, which struck the ship starboard near the stokehold." The Elve case was almost identical. The British Government declined to recognize the claim, but said it might be presented to a prize court. Q. How much power has the Crown Prince of Germany? A.-Technically he has none (except of course such military power as is given to him by virtue of commanding an army). Politically he occupies about the same officially unimportant position as does the Heir-Apparent to the British throne (Prince of Wales). His importance in the national and international politics of the day comes from two main causes: (1) he might at any moment become Emperor through the death of Wilhelm; (2) he can gather around him, or be used as a rallying point by, factions that want the Empire to hold by the sword what it has gained by the sword. This would make a sharp rift between his father, the Emperor, and himself, should the Emperor lean to the liberal and moderate factions in Germany and declare for concessions and more or less democracy. Of course it might prove a double-edged weapon. The Crown Prince's faction might win; but should it lose, or should it involve the Empire in ruin, it might end the reign of the Hohenzollern dynasty. Q.-Did the present emperor, while Crown Prince, try to over-ride his father? A. Yes. It did not reach the extent of a quarrel or even a serious disturbance of family relations; but the present Kaiser's father was altogether too placid an Emperor to suit his very strenuous son. Friedrich III (lovingly called "Unser Fritz" by the Germans) was a singularly tolerant, kindly, easy-going man, very simple and old-fashioned. His Germany was the old, deliberate Germany. The son, Wilhelm, was intensely modern-a foremost exponent of the "strenuous life" made famous by Roosevelt. He was eager to build up the great economic and social structure that he did succeed in building up. It was inevitable that he should urge his ideas, and that he should become desperately impatient with the mild Friedrich and with the stiff conservatism of Bismarck. Q. What would happen should the Kaiser be killed? A. The present Crown Prince would succeed to the Imperial office by virtue of the Constitution. There is hardly a doubt that the military party would proclaim him Emperor instantly, in order to prevent any possible move by the Socialists and others to change the existing provisions of the national law. Q.-Is it true that the Germans are officially encouraging polygamy? A.-The charge was based on the circulation of a curious and absurd pamphlet advocating not only polygamy, but bigamy and various other forms of union which were even more unsavory. The author was one Carl Hermann Torges, who appears to have been an elderly man of eccentric mentality, as is suggested by the title of his pamphlet: "The Secondary Marriage as Only Means for the Rapid Creation of a New and Powerful Army and the Purification of Morality." He says of himself that he is "over 70 years old and has worked through life with open eyes." The pamphlet was apparently circulated free, and this fact gave color to a charge that it had been published with the connivance of the German Government. As such a policy (quite apart from the question of morality and the love of husbands and wives) would shatter the very foundation of any such economic State as Germany, it seems hardly important to expatiate on the matter. GERMANY (FOOD) Q. What did a German get to eat Q.-Was the German bread ticket in 1918? A.-The German bill of fare was about as follows: Meat: In Berlin, 250 grams—about onehalf a pound-per person per week; in Munich, 200 grams; in Saxony, 150 grams. Bread: 250 grams per day per person; all persons performing manual labor, 500 grams. seven Potatoes: In Berlin, five to pounds per person per week; in Bavaria, usually ten pounds per person per week. Butter and Fats: In Berlin, from 50 to 75 grams per person per week; in Leipzig, from 30 to 90 grams; in Bavaria, between 60 and 90 grams. Milk: Babies and patients in hospitals now receive from one-fourth to one-half quart per day each. A year ago every child and every sick person received one liter (1⁄2 quart) per day. Sugar: 800 grams per month per per son. Vegetables: In season. Fish: Whenever obtainable. Jam or marmalade: About one-fourth of a pound per month. No coffee, tea or cocoa, but small quantities of coffee and tea substitutes. No pure beer, but only beer substitutes. Q. What were the military rations? A. The soldier's food ration was as follows: Breakfast: Coffee or a substitute, with dry bread. Lunch: Soup with occasional small pieces of meat; vegetables and bread. Supper: Bread and marmalade. One pound of war bread daily was allowed. Q. What is the "iron ration"? A. The "iron ration" is the emergency ration which the German soldier carries in his pack. It is called "iron ration" because iron-like rules surround it. The soldier must carry it always, and no soldier must ever, under any circumstances, touch it except in the last extremity. When the starvation-blockade began to squeeze the people hard, and they were reduced to their smallest portions of the poorest food-materials, it became a grim jest among civilians to refer to their "iron rations." intended to effect an equal distribution? A.-No. It was issued, at first, that the poor might have cheap bread and that those who were willing to buy more food than the bread ticket prescribed should have to pay heavily for the indulgence. Q. Is Germany's bread very poor? A. The official regulations provided for a bread that may or may not be highly palatable, but that consists of perfectly healthful and nourishing mixtures. "War breads" were a prominent part of Germany's early defense against starvation when the oceanic blockade began. As we have found, these various war breads were awful only in name, and actually have turned out to be decidedly good, on the whole, so that it may be that the United States, as a mere matter of health, pleasant variety, and perfectly profitable economy will retain most of these various bran, oatmeal, rye, corn and wheat mixtures in its normal dietary. However, during the "peak" of the cereal famine pinch in Germany, the war breads were decidedly not nice or good, and in very many places throughout the empire they were quite terribly bad. Some reports say that they were made of less than 40 per cent wheat, the other 60 per cent being sawdust, powdered straw, and other such organic but vile admixtures. That kind of bread means that a part, at least, of the German population was reduced almost to the situation of German peasants in the Thirty Years' War, when they often ate straw. Q.-Is it true that the Germans made many food substitutes? A. Yes. The German newspapers have carried masses of advertising of substitutes for all the various kind of food that are short. According to the reports generally circulated through the outer world, there were as many as 7,000 substitutes in 1917, but expert analysis of the available lists shows that this huge number is arrived at by lumping the following four chief classes of substitutes: (1) normal substitutes like oleomargarines, syrups, etc., such as are used in all countries; (2) natural, though unusual, substitutes, such as potato meal for flour, vegetable and spice, or fish and vegetable mixtures for sausages, sweetened vegetable mixtures for jams, etc.; (3) chemical substitutes, some of apparent utility, many of doubtful value, and some, no doubt, harmful, such as fat extracts from chemical compounds, chemical sweetenings, and chemical compounds aiming to give a more or less balanced artificial ration of proteids, carbohydrates, etc.; (4) swindling substitutes, which the Government prosecutes rigorously (more so than in times of peace even), but which thrive naturally owing to the craving of people for longdenied foods. Among such fraudulent substitutes were "soup cubes," which turned out to consist of 96 per cent cooking salt and 4 per cent coloring matter. Q.-Is Prussia much bigger than the other States? It A. Very much so. Prussia contains 135,000 square miles, against the 29,000 square miles of Bavaria, which is the next larger kingdom of the Federation. has 40 million people as against Bavaria's 7 million-that is, it compares in manpower with its nearest neighbor about the way the Middle Atlantic and Great Lakes States compare with the South Atlantic group. lands. That density of population is one of the secrets of Germany's intensity in economical industries. The people had to do it, or starve, or emigrate. The result was intensive agriculture, intensive industry and now, alas, an all too intensive and "practical" deadliness of purpose in war. Q.-How does Germany's agricul tural area compare with ours? A.-Germany has about 88 million acres arable land (farms, pastures, vineyards), as against more than 600 million acres in America, of which latter, however, only 358 million are cultivated. A. The biggest crop was rye. The next biggest was hay. Then came oats, potatoes, wheat, barley and beets. The Q.-Have our States less popula- smaller crops were vines, tobacco and tion than Prussia? A. No single American State compares with Prussia even remotely. Prussia has more population than New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin combined though in area it is not larger than New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Q. How do the people find room? A. They live 224 to the square mile. This is a denser population than we have anywhere except Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Jersey. hops. A. Yes. Indeed, dietary experts hold that while white wheat flour is one of the large elements for a perfect human diet, mankind (and especially Americans) would do well to use a great deal of rye flour and cut down heavily on the highly bolted and unnaturally whitened wheat flours. Rye flour is coarse, and this has an excellent effect on the intestines, which absolutely demand a certain amount of coarse material. For many generations the people of Germany, France, Switzer Q.-Is the rest of Germany densely land, etc., ate hardly anything except populated? A. Even more densely than Prussia. In Saxony, 829 people live to the square mile. No other German State quite equals that! But everywhere the populations range around 300 to the square mile. Q. How can there be any room for farms? A. There is plenty of room for farms and forests-but there is no room for wild lands, or waste lands, or unproductive "black bread"-bread made from rye flour exclusively. Q.-What has German intensive agriculture done? A.-Statistics collected by Dr. Helfferich in 1913 show that the yield per acre of wheat, rye, oats, barley, potatoes, and hay has increased 77.7 per cent in twentyfive years; and the aggregate yield of these crops increased 87.7 per cent, notwithstanding an increase of only 5.8 per |