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britons living better than ever tiikke is no shortage of food or clothing economist contends wage increases more than equal higher costs the working population of great britain has not suffered from the high prices of food clothing and other ne cessities bcause in almost all cases their wages have been increased pro portionately and even more than ro- portionately to the rise in commodi ties according to prof w j ashley dean of the faculty of commerce in the university of birmingham in an article in the london times prof ashley who is a prominent english economist says that with the exception of certain persons with fix ed incomes such as annuities pen sions or soldiers wives with large families to care for on government allowances the people of great brit- air are now able to save money and to live far more comfortably than in the days before the war prof ashleys article follows tho cost of living in this country has gone up by rather more than one- third since the war began yet the great mass of the people so far from suffering from deprivation has never keen so prosperous never so well fed the rise in living expenses has not been due to restriction of supply it has been due chiefly to the fact that the people have been able and willing to pay high prices an important immediate cause has been the rise of freights but these freights could not have gone on being paid had there not continued to be an effective demand the proof of all this is not difficult food goes up onehalf as to cost of living the increase in the retail cost of food of the working classes is reckoned by the board of trade as about 50 per cent this is on the supposition that they made no change in their marketing as a fact they have to some extent lessened the pressure by resorting to cheaper but equally wholesome sub stitutes and food is not the only item to be considered there is cloth ing which has not advanced in price to anything like the same extent there is rent and here an incipient rise was checked by legislation and there is fuel combining all these elements in their proper proportion wo reach some 35 per cent as a reas onable estimate of the total increase in living expenses there is superabundant evidence that the money incomesefthe people au have risen so much gelhcr are relatively so fw that the attempts of a ttop the war agitator here and there to make capital out of i them have altogether failed to catch the ear of the working population supplies well maintained ability to pay high prices will not enable a nation to be fed if food is not available but though at particular periods during the war there have been difficulties with shipping and at the ports on the whole supplies have been maintained remarkably well the total quantity of wheat deliver ed by farmers and imported during the cereal year september 1914 to ugust 1915 was not quite 1 per cent below that in the preceding sea son during the current cereal year that deficiency will probably be more than made up for already in its first thirtysix weeks the supply that has reached the market has been more than 7 per cent greater than at the corresponding point of last year and the experts estimate the quantity now on passage to be substantially larger than it was then as to meat the information is hard ly so recent but it is encouraging to be told that the supply reaching smithfield for civil purposes in 1915 was only 12 per cent less than the total supply in 1914 this looks as if the civil population was quite as well provided for as in the previous year it is stated that throughout the year the demand was readily met and there was frequently n surplus at the end of the week science facts russia leads the world in the pro duction of flax fiber and argentina of its seed of the 23332 miles of railways in the united kingdom 10306 miles are single line for automobile upholstery an arti ficial silk is beirjj made from spun glass in england sliding racks for silverware instead of shelves feature the bottom of a new sideboard irrigation projects under considera tion for india involve about 10000000 acres of land sharp points in the inside of the lid of a new egg cup cut the shell away without disturbing the contents fortyeight different materials are employed in the construction of a pi ano which sixteen countries are called upon to supply italians maintain wireless telephone communication between rome and tripoli a distance of 000 miles main ly over water operated by a gasoline engine an illinois inventors post hole dijing machine is claimed to do as much work as fifteen men could with hand tools new regulations ofths united states steams inspection service requireptrsons to be 21 years old before being licensed as masters or chief engineers supported by spectacle bows from the ears a respirator has been in- j 1 me ears a more than the cost of living that they ventec or surgeons dentists and bar- arc not merely able to meet the ad ditional charges they have n sub great london in time of war plenty of money in worlds metropolis servants are scarce and good cooks have o be handled very gently fashionable london on cursory inspection seems to have suffered from the effects of the war less than any other part of the metropolis there are few empty houses to depress the eye in miiyfair or belgravia and to let boards arc not more frequently encountered than usual people still have the money to buy or to take on long leases the expen sive mansions in these two select areas and house agents frankly ad mit that they experience no difficulty for the most part in disposing of any property which is to be let or sold but the necessity of cutting down expenses has come home to most of the tenants of fashion corner no mat ter how prosperously they may be placed and visible signs of economy are the absence of the customary spring decorations and the cutting down of the motor cars in use bargains in garages this last measure has had a serious influence on garage property before the war garages could not be had for love or money they commanded easily a rent of 55 a year now there are scores available and nobody wants them such bargains in gar ages as mayfair and belgravia have to offer today were never heard of be fore expenses have been saved not only by retrenchment in motor ears but in the number of servants employed and in the outlay on fruit and flowers florists and caterers have passed through the worst season in their his tory war widows in receipt of an ade quate income from marriage settle ments have not given up their houses but have drastically cut down the em ployed staff the day when every daughter had a maid is long since past people going into the country for six months have chosen to shut up their houses or leave them in charge of a caretaker rather than retain their servants on board wages but offers of 14s a week with sleeping accom- modation light and coal fail to find a caretaker today a west end firm of house agents after a months search have to give up the quest as hopeless and yet it was not long ago that they were besieged with appli cations from caretakers for houses to mind fairly obvious vishiiik chaplain i triinl youve kwt all you want london bystander still plenty of money that there is still plenty of money in london may be gathered from the stantial margin wherewith to add to their comfort to save for the future or to multiply their pleasures whe ther wise or unwise it cannot be ne cessary to labor the point statistical ly and to adduce the easily accessible figures as to rates of pay output and overtime or to do more than make passing reference to the thousands of women who were not wage earners before and to the allowances to sol diers wives the patent results arc enough for our purpose here in birmingham for instance there is less illness be cause people are better fed homes arc being made comfortable and the second hand furniture shops arc al most empty the pawnbrokers shelves arc getting bare the children are bet ter cared for underclothing shops 4 a brisk trade and people are opening savings bank accounts who never bers to prevent their breath mingling 1 invariable reply of the fashionable with that of the patients or patrons i house agent that it is useless to seek the discovery in an austrian cemc- a mayfair or belgravia house worth tcry of glass mirrors dating from the i living in under 300 a year second or third century upset the where residence in the west end theory that the ancients depended up on polished metal to see themselves in fearsome awe and with munition work always offering criticism of the spoiled dishes or of unsvory omelets has necessarily to be gentle with consequences that can be imagined german in allied armies deserted teutons and french and joined lie belgians the record of max kohlcr a clever and crafty german aged 20 who made a brief appearance at marl borough street london police court is intcrestiilsr his record follows served in the german army and de serted served in the french army and de serted joined the belgian army married a french girl in paris two year ago was being taken from england to france as a deserter in the sussex when she was torpedoed was rescued ami taken to folke stone where he escaped rearrest and went to london worked in the west end of london and was again arrested when he ad mitted that he was a german kohler speaks english french and german fluently at the age of 20 kohlcr was called up for service in the german army but after a few weeks service he de serted from the army and made his way to england and then to ameri ca he served in a weird variety of occupations he is an electrician by profession but he has been a sailor a mechanic a waiter a pantryman a fitter and an associate of criminals from america he went to france and for some time lived in paris where he was captivated by crime bonnot the famous motor car bandit was one of his friends a few- months before war broke out he mar ried a french girl in paris he join ed the french army at the outbreak of war and was among the first troops to be sent to the front on the very first day he was in action august 22 1914 he was reported to be missirlr and later it was found that he had deserted and had been taken by the germans at charleroi he told them he was a german and per- suaded them to allow him to make his way through belgium to holland he then saw a chance of going to england he posed as a belgian re- great britain no longer insular french statesman pays tri bute to the british is imperative and 300 a year cannot fugec and as such was admitted he be afforded a careful search reveals visited several towns in england and for vessels using the suez canal newly developed property at half this scotland where he obtained employ- there has been developed a search light throwirfc branched rays of light to prevent blinding the pilots of ves sels coming from the opposite direc tion an electric searchlight less than three inches in diameter but very powerful has been invented to be mointed at any convenient point on an automobile to aid in picking out objects along the roads at night hard luck in the trenches some incidents which tell of the uncertainties of war price improvements have been tak- ment in a wellknown munition works ing place in the property opposite that was in the early part of 1915 dreamed of doing so before after fighting at neuve chapellc fifty per cent business growth an1 loos aml getting a commission significant is the experience of j from the ranks a young lieutenant j the birmingham industrial co-opera- 1 j the british army was given a years tive society with its well nigh 40000 j leave to recover from rheumatism almoct as one hour before leaving the trenches members representing many separate families as it doe a ready money business a rapid ex pansion of membership must mean a widening circle of improved condi tions its membership in fact has grown 50 per cent during the war meanwhile the figures of sales per member have been mounting up high er considerably than can be accounted for by prices and notice particularly that the weight of bread purchased per member in spite of its abnormal price has remained practically un altered perhaps birmingham is rather more flourishing than some places but it is common knowledge that material well being b prcity generally diffused over the country if confirmation be rought it is easy to refer to the stat istics of the sales of the cooperative wholesale or to those of unemploy ment or pauperism this is not to say that nobody is distressed by the prevailing high prices putting on one side middle class people with fixed incomes those who find it hard to manage arc such old age pensioners as have no rela tives to help them and soldiers wives with large families of small children there are also certain small classes of day laborers whose wages arc said not yet to have been adjusted to the changed conditions and whose cases will doubtless be carefully considered by the ministry of munitions but ell these instances of hardship put to- buckingham palace and behind buck ingham palace road dingy houses formerly occupied by lodging house keepers have been enlarged by the process of knocking two houses into one and in streets where one never expected to come across any sugges tion of fashion one now discovers several m ps in residence the luxury streets that cater to fashionable london have undergone a much greater change motorcar shops and picture dealers galleries have to let signs in the windows and several of the most handsomely appointed floral stores also give warning of im pending removal there are a tremendous number of upper parts to let here smaller businesses used to thrive the owners have either gone to the war or the war has ruined them on the other in newcastle he made the acquaint ance of the daughter of the foreman of one of the departments in the muni tion works proposed to her was ac cepted and they were married about six months ago 1 i hand upper parts made available for object of verdun drive germans hope to insure safe re treat when time comes writing to the new york tribune regarding the object of the german drive on verdun concerning which there has been much conjecture a- mong military writers and observers l ardin of new york says the military advantage that the invasion of belgium offered to enter france has created for the germans the most difficult problem of the war says they have performed a miracle in raising huge army in record time m clemcnceau the redoubtable french statesman and editor of that most pungent of newspapers lhom- mc enchaine contributes a remark able preface to the french transla tion of a book describing great bri tains effort in the war by m jules destree the belgion socialist deputy m destree gives almost unmeasur ed praise to the british nation m clemenceau endorses his eulogy with enthusiasm and his endorsement has a special value as m clemenceau is the most typical frenchman of this day he frankly takes a purely french standpoint and starts by stating the french willtowin from this standpoint and by that aim england is approved for what she has done and is doing a military power this war he writes is not be ing waged for the possession of a town or a province or a colony we are fighting for our freedom for the ex istence of our race monsieur destree in the book be fore us tells us about england about her naval and military effort the re solutions that inspire her and he tells us the finest and most comfort ing things england did not want war one must repeat this in her praise but one must add alas to her confusion that she did not at all foresee it but for the violation of belgian neutrality no one can say when she would have drawn the sword behold her now in the struggle slowly but with an obstinacy that nothing shakes or disturbs great al bion has made herself a military power she has piled up guns shells and battalions she bristles with 4 000000 bayonets over the whole vast globe wherever the german net tle has had to be torn up her soldiers have turned up their sleeves and cleared the field german officer is just germany begins to learn his trade at ten years of age news from england news by mail about john bull and bis feopl occurrence in the land that reign supreme la the commer cial world the bishop of derby waa fined 5 for allowing a bright light to shine from his study window at the vicar age nine women are now being em ployed as enginedrivers and stokers by the london hydraulic power com- pany an insult to him is an insult to the uniform and the flag if i can make the prussian officer clear i can rrake modern germany clear says a writer in the new york tribune who is a german by birth has served in the german army as an j london dock laborers are now ea v officer and who appears to have as much os e0 a wccki it w emancipated himself from the spell during a case in tl city of of his earlier environment he says i london court that the prussian officer is germany thirty wo emploved by the the germany whom the allies are j islington borough council have asked trying to defeat in this war he t they like the men shall have writes of the german officer with a war bonus understanding and with sympathy the lancashire cotton operators al- at birth the prussian officer is like any other baby what he becomes is not his own fault it is the fault of a system brought up under this system he finds in the majority of most solidly voted in favor of a strike if an advance of 10 per cent in wages is not granted 15000 was paid at christies for pair of william iii pilgrim silver cases that itjvorks to his advantage j bottles probabiy belonging originally and he becomes a supporter of it just as the child of a socialist if he happened to be adopted by a member of the capitalistic class might well say that all happens for the best in the best of all possible worlds the prussian officer though he is partly a dupe has a pretty good timo of it he does not protest the system may be bad but it suits him the training of an officer as a rule the german officer begins to learn his trade at the age of ten by the time he is 18 he has become a sublieutenant with certain principles deeply engraven he has learned to obey the orders of his superiors with out question he has learned that the private soldier is a mere pawn that the civilian is of still less account these lessons are not modified by any thing he may learn in the future they are emphasized they are the basic facts of his existence and whatever his subsequent actions may be so long as they are governed by these prin ciples they will be vouched for by his superior officer and by the kaiser himself in a sense the german of ficer can do no wrong so long as he remembers what is due to the uni form he wears the sacred uniform ceased to be an island one renders thanks to the eng lish fleet because it has been able to annihilate the german menace to blockade the enemy to assure sup plies for our armies it is true though silent its mounting guard is none the less full of grandeur but the english miracle is not there the english miracle has not been wrought at sea dreadnoughts cruisers torpedoes well it is all some extraordinary things are due to it it is the kaisers coat and the theory is that an officer must bear himself as though he were the kaiser the uniform is like the flag if it is insulted the insulter must perish and of course an insult to the wearer of the uniform is interpreted as an in sult to the uniform and to the flag we had some hint of the saeredness of the uniform in the zabern affair a few years aijo the tribune corres pondent gives another a subaltern stationed near berlin was roughly handled by a drunken civilian who came up behind him and tore off one of his epaulets then he fled the officer pursued him and after a con siderable chase caught up with the man and ran him through with his sabre the rough died it might have seemed a somewhat drastic punish ment but if the officer had not killed the man he would have been asked for his resignation from the army an insult to the officer is an insult to the kaiser and he who fails to avenge it is not worthy to wear the uniform this is the german theory death to insulters not all german officers live up to the code the tribune correspondent says that he has seen officers on the only the british tradition but what i streets of berlin at night shrink into has made the ancient northern island i or lanes at the approach of to the first earl of egmont mr david webster a superinten dent of the manchester city polico force has been appointed chief con stable of wolverhampton a number of gypsy vandwellers living at shepperton were at felt- ham fined 25 as absentees under the military service act and handed over to an escort a number of afficials of the no conscription fellowship have been fined 500 and 50 costs for the issue of a leaflet which was prejudicial to recruiting school teachers in some districts having volunteered to act as post- women on sundays the postmens federation has lodged a protest with the national union of teachers cannock chase and pelsall coal- owners and miners association have decided to provide an ambulance con voy of 10 cars for the bristol red cross society at a cost of 30000 a scheme for new electricity mains estimated by the islington council two years ago to cost 37500 will now cost 52500 owing to the dearth of labor and increased price of cop per a carved oak reredos and a brass tablet are to be erected in holy trinity church heigham norfolk in memory of nurse edith carvel whose family were connected with the church- at the british music convention which recently opened at harrogate one of the chief objects was to de vise means whereby germans will be ousted from the musical trade in eng land a serious accident occurred in shef field owing to the bolting of two horses attached to a funeral coach twelve women and children were seriously injured eight having to be removed to hospital and many nre in a critical condition mr george cecil ii vyse a mem ber of a distinguished northants and berks family has just died at stoke place slough for over 1g years he had been a cripple but by holding a brush in his teeth he illustrated thousands of childrens books the liverpool roll of honor fund for widows and orphans of the fallen now amounts to over 200000 the lord mayor of liverpool recently re ceived a donation of 5000 from lieutcol harrison who is at the front with the kings liverpool regi ment at the annual meeting of dr bar- nardos homes the report showed that during the year 13424 boys and girls were dealt with the new ad missions numbered 1578 the new income for the year was 1248220 soar in the esteem and admiration of j intoxicated soldier they did not and t expenditure amounted to mankind is that she has for the first wan to see him they did not want for his furlough and while going the rounds taking leave of his little com- upper parts to solvenamely how to get ns he 3s shot through the head fjgw i s w the and killed i the bachelor has gone to the war a private in the irish guard who d d for m conccn had seen service with the rst e l accommodaton hc sought hai and haa j comc from arge num of officers tier the verdun attack and its continu- rsi ex- ance despite all loss was to avoid peditionary force to france and had lxtt itumlr ofofficcrs i the incvilable ea of thc german istry of munitions j sjve shoul ukc pace qn a fronts thc diningout habit at the same time and that the french grenade he was about to throw into j tho german trenches a captain had a line box of home eatables sent him and he was looking oer the goodies when a spent bullet the war has developed the dining- sh j the german lines north out habit and many new restaurants of verdun and after meeting with hit the tin box and glancing off sprun up in the w end par- i eome succe3s shouli resoive to stakc time in her thousand years of history ceased to be an island ceased to think and act as a mere island she has embodied herself into the continent by her fine handsome men who have heroically held the line in the trenches of flanders their short pipes in their teeth by her guns and her convoys and above all the high serenity with which she has accepted on our ancient soil a destiny of pain and bitter struggle put prisoners at work germans in britain employed on the roads and in mines following thc german example great britain is putting war prison ers to work there are now about 15000 german combatant prisoners him to see them they feared that the drunken private might permit his na tural feelings of manhood to get the better of him in the course of which process he would be likely to say something derogatory to the officer or 1216835 owing to the scarcity of labor the vicar of bourne lincolnshire the rev if cotton smith and the curate rev ii o henderson assisted by the verger emptied a truck of coal at the railway station and delivered have sprung up in the west ana pw- h f in the islands ticular attention being paid to pastries a at p am ca about a thousand of the t and chocolates the women who comumca on provisioning the gcr- about a ttousandm the man armies now in france and bel- i slst n ounaing a great a se will as- dam in thc struck him in the eye killing him an exceptionally sad case was that mlt of a young corporal in a lancashire i te you they sell more chocola- j m arm now ln france and bel conwav north wales regiment who had brought in half a tes t ever gum these armies woui have t0 y t dozen woirided from no mans land j re street has little property surrender or supposing bel ween thc trenches diring the night un but the streets leading from he took a- last trip just before dawn rc s have a different story germans out of belgium the re to bring in a badly wounded comrade i to tell thc to le board assaults treat for th german armies in thc verncss but it was just light enough for a j the vision on cvcry siae ail c narrow space between verdun german sharpshooter to get him and j indication of how the war has crushed maastricht holland across the poor corporal was mortally out t smaller shopkeeper ah this j nvorp woul1 be very congested wounded owing to the increasing unict propertv presently must have a i ff thc aes are t0 crush t light his comrades in the trenches scr effect on thc rates were unable to bring him in and had o explanation of the demand for to watchhis dying agony for several res in the west end and the hours he wns dead when soldiers j prosperity they are enjoying is that went out that night to bring him in the difficulty obtaining good cooks and also the man he had striven to j has forced mavfnir and m- iiiir that the other detachments will be sent to do kecnt srt has tie o d renctzuld puh the iron mining on the island of raasay off skye and timber cuttinlg in in- yorkshire and other places and j civilian prisoners are already at work two i on the roads and in the quarries of i the isle of man and on thc farms in cheshire the military and naval prisoners arc paid the wages prescribed by the hague convention few prisoners will- be employed on farms militarism they have to accomplish 1 this feat the germans knowing it feasible are staking all to prevent such a crushiife blow as it would kill german military prestige forever if wo ever attempt to paint a pic- work which is loved ceases to be a painful toil has forced mayfair and belgravia i largely to have its meals out thc cook today like thc female caretaker ture of cupid it will lookmore like a generally has gone munitionmaking of those j girl with a fish net then a boy with j who do remain thc mistresses stand a bow and arrow enccs no the proof of the cook shall i ask tho cook for refcr- ask her to submit samples even to make an attack upon him in j j y hand truck to various custom- that case the ploin and unescapable erk j the town duty of the officer would be to shoot the drunken man if he failed and his i failure became known he would be boys in german army discharged from the army obligations of officers thc prussian officer is the child of the state he has his privileges such as shooting or stabbing civilians and privates but he has his commensur ate obligations hc has to dress in a certain way he is forbidden to make any display of his wealth if he hap pens to be wealthy if he has an au- returned traveller says- manhood of germany is used up the london times publishes a dis- cription of conditions in germany by a person who left that country a few days ago after a stay which began before the war hc says no man or boy fit for service is left in the village boys of 17 have tomobile he is supposed to offer it in j a been officially called up and turn to every officer in thc regiment j are training at the military depots they are supposed to refuse his younger boys too are actually at horse must not be worth more than a front if a boy is big and strong certain amount he cannot marry ne j taken whatever his age 1 know without the permission of his colonel 0 a 0 14 who has been at the and this permission is given only when j f six months in the smaller it is known that the bride has a con- j towns it is almost impossible to find sidcrable income certain debts he a man 0 military oge in the cities must pay immediately the expenses many men i uniforms are alout but connected with the service he is per- t 0 civiliansof military age arc mittcd to run other bills as long as hc j those in government offices and those f pleases and presumably to run through civilian creditors who present bills he is taught that he has but one business on earth and that is to do thc will of thc kaiser who is his superior officer if this is done all is done all is forgiven if this principle is adhered to woman pins her faith to man but not always with a safety pin cngrcd in financial and insurance work since these are regarded as indispensable for conducting thc fin ancial operations of the country all fhopkeepcrs and men in industry are gone my own opinion is that the manhod of germany is used u there arc no reserves at the present mom ent young boys at school arc being trained almost as recruits would be trained j