THE DAILY BRITISH WHIG. Do Not Watch Without a Chain » Phone 59. || © send anything, anywhere. Just telephone to T. BEST| ll have grown tired of your old - fashioned, very heavy éne. LIFE CCIDENT some of the newest WALDEMARS 'lt play in our windows. SMITH BROS. LIMITED ESTABLISHED 1840 KING STREET, KINGSTON Wear Your | --just because you j --Let us show you | ll ridiculously low cost of living when i reckoned -- They are on dis- || {that rooms with all the modern com- | iforts could be had in the very best you a stranger in town? Wel- Look over our ads before to your shopping. If it is gifts k of your home town or prac- 3 things for your new home- our ads will help you find LE DR. H. C. MABEE 79 WILLIAM STREET Phone 286 bo Room Heaters E | A heater to warm the room before you . light your furnace. Hot Blast Oil Heaters . .............$2.75 Perfection Oil Heaters ...........$8.00 I Famous Oil Heaters . ............$7.50 F Star Electric Heaters ............$7.50 3 with 6 ft. cord to fit any socket. Majestic Electric Heater with 6 ft. cord to fit any socket . .....0.. 00. $10.00 Make your selection at once. 'See our stock of Ranges and Heaters. McKelvey & Birch, Limited y Jebbers of Plumbers' and Gas-Fitters' Supplies, Supplies, Sheet Motal and Tin Work; Blecirie work; Painting and Paper Hanging. Special work of all kinds undertaken, ing A VISIT TO GERMANY AND BELGIUM The Germans Treat Foreigners Well--A Dollar Buys a Great Deal In Germany--Absence of Uniform Is Noted. The following article is contributed {to the Whig by Dr. Edward J. Wii- llamson, Hobart College, Geneva, N.Y., who bas just returned from a viett to Germany and to the battle- || fields along the Belgian line of de- | | fence between Nieuport and Ypres. What was to me possibly the most || interesting part of my trip abroad this summer was the time I spent in Germany, for conditions there seem i lto have changed considerably more | than in France and Belgium, In the latter countries the ordinary travel- {|ler, unless he visited the war dovas- tated districts, noticed comparative ly few changes. Paris, London and Brussels are almost normal one might eay: Germany, on the other | | hand, shows in many ways the effects of the revolution which overthrew the Hohenzollern dynasty, and the inflation of her currency has prodoc- ed conditions quite unusual, Probably the first thing which a traveller to Germany notices is the in terms of dollars or pounds. A person who is provided with a modest supply of these feels, I imagine, somewhat like a millionaire, for all the luxuries of life are within easy reach, We found for instance hotels at rates ranging from seventy. || five cernits to one dollar a day; a din- per including the best domestic wines could be had for the same price. Three people gan travel about in a taxi during the greater part of a day i land even though the bill may amount to 1,000 marks they have spent less than one dollar, Raliroad travel Is very much cheaper in proportion, for the Germans who cannot take ad- vantage of the exchange must travel as well as the foreign visitor and most of the prices I havo qupted are intended for the foreigner. The cos! of a first class railroad ticket from the Belgian frontier to Berlina twelve hour trip--we found to be about 450 marks, less than fifty cents in our money. When our party of three left Brussels we had only thirty francs in Belgium currency, tardly enough to buy a lunch in br 2 In Germany this amount Th d into marks not only pro- vided us with dinner on the train, but also defrayed the expense for three sleepers and paid for our break- fast at the-Central Hotel upon our arrival in Berlin, The Depreciating Mark. We happened to arrive in Germany at a time when the rate of exchange was improving dally, almost hourly, from our point of view, so that by exchanging small amounts from day to day one could make enough out of the exchange to almost cover hotel expenses. On the day of our arrival in BerMn I received for the dollar 970 marks, the next day the rate was 1,040 and it kept improving right along so that on the last day of our visit we were getting 1,400. The ex- changing of small sums of money from day to day also proved at times to Be a matter of convenience as well as of profit. When notes of larger denomination were not avail. able and one had to accept bundles of 20 or 100 mark notes in exchange the matter of transportation became a problem which had to be reckoned with. I remember seeing one lady who was evidently very much em- parraseed by the pile of motes con- fronting her. A hat-box might have solved the problem, but unfortunate- ly she had forgotten to bring hers along. gr the cost of articles which Germans must buy as well as foreign- ere is very low as a rule when reck- oned in dollars or pounds, that is not the case with many articles "de juxe." In several cases upon Inquir- the price of such articles we they could be bought as self, and in one or two cases the price was quoted in pounds. These articles, I presume, had been impont- ed into the couniry and therefore the sale price was on an entirely differ- ent basis from that of goods of Ger- man manufacture. Germany Full of Foreigners, As a consequence of the compara- tively low cost of living Germany is crowded with foreigners to such an extent that it is often very difficult to obtain hotel accomodation. Al- though we telegraphed for rooms at the Central Hotel two days before we arrived in Berlin we were informed upon our arrival that every room was cocupied and that while we might possibly obtain sccommodation that evening it would be wise to look else- where in the meantime. Starting out in a tax! wo visited all the better known hotels but were informed In every case that they had wakiing lista and could do nothing for us. Then we tried several pensions but with no better success. After having driven {rom place to place for several hours we finally secured very unattractive rcoms in a rather poor looking hotel, but deeming them to be better thar no rooms at all we engaged them temporarily. A couple of hours later, much to our relief we secured accom- modation at the Central Hotel and were quite comfortable there. Our taxi bills amounted to abou* 1,000 marks ($1) but then wg had been driving about most of the day. To the rate for hotel accommoda- tion there is added in Germany a Wohnsteuer (dwelling tax) - which seems to vary in different cities. In Berlin the tax amounted to 40 per cent of the bill while in Leipzig we were askod 'to pay 100 per cent. The tax,-T presume, is intended to effect foreigners chiefly, but of course the Germans too. suffer somewhat, In fact when I was paying my hotel bili in l.eipzig I noticed that the man whn paid just before me was inviied to signa petition protesting against the tax. Being a foreigner I was not asked to add my name to the list, --g-- Unpleasant fer Germans. The reason for the extraordinary conditions of' prices in Germany fis due of course to the inflation of Ger- man currency which has been carried on since the signing of the armistice. Germany might be compared to a man with a large check book who amuses himself by filling in the blanks without concerning himself at all about the balance which he may have in the bank. The printing press of Germany, both goyern ! local, have been working game day and night and up to the present the notes which they have issued pass for money. In propor tion to the number of the notes issued the value of the same decreases and the prices of commodities which they are to purchase rises. Finally, wages and ealaries have to be increased in order to meet the higher cost of liv- ing and so the vicious eircle con- tinues. How long it will last is aif- ficult to say, but in the meantime dol- lars and pounds are becoming more valuable from day to day and the toreigner who possesses - them can buy goods for almost nothing. The German, on the other hand, is rot in such a pleasant eituation and ft is the middle class salaried man who is most pinched, What seems 10 bé a fair salary one month may have very Mitle purchasing value a few months later, . The wealthy who were able to get rid of their marks to Eng- lish, American and other speculators at a time when the mark was still worth something or, who have invest- ed their marks in businesses which are fairly stable are able to take ad- vantage of low exchange value of the mark and can pay their workingmen much higher wages than they ever re- ceived before, Salaries however cau- not be raised fast enough to equal- 4 . |'ze the inflation of the currency and the consequent -rise in prices, amd among the salaried classes in Ger- L AEE @ | [il i PROBS :--Partly cloudy, higher temperature. Store Hours: 9 to 5.30 O'clock FAIR WEEK! At Steacy's Greatest Fall Sale ! Offers exceptional economies for every member of the family. We invite your inspection, particularly to our new House Furnishing, Men's Wear, Leather Goods and Pattern Departments, which offer some outstanding special opening at- tractions. 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