The Key West Citizen Newspaper, December 1, 1947, Page 6

PAGE SIX * " ‘THE KEY WEST CITIZEN es - oe tanta ttn tntntontntntnntntnt tn tnd tn tnt tnt tntn tnt tntn tp dtr tt Don’t Underestimate the Finns (Copyright 1947, Mason Rossiter Smith) AAADDADAD44444ADDAAAAAAAAAAADAAAAABRS | Helsinki, September 3 The four of us, two Finnish relief executives, Reidar Asper of the American agency, C.A.R.E., and myself are smoking over . our coffee after lunch in the dining room of the Hotel Societet- shuset, one of Helsinki’s finest. We have just finished a light meal, consisting of jaloviina (Finnish apertif), small sandwiches, schnaps and a light meat course, and the bill for the quartet is 2400 Finn marks—the equivalent of $20 in American money. A comparable meal in a comparable New York restaurant, even in these times, might have cost us $7 to $10 at the most. The grim ogre of inflation stalks Finland these days—to such an extent that the two Fins who are my guests this afternoon, are enjoying their first dinner in a hotel restaurant in at least a month. Inflation is current in almost all the European countries I have visited, but here it is extremely severe—so much so that the narrow margin between wages and cost of living has re- sulted in a series of wildcat strikes among transport and dock workers, and the threat of more to come. Government control of wages make sit necessary for employer and employe nego- tiators to submit their wage agreements to state authorities for approval. If the wages jointly agreed upon are higher than the level set by the government, the agreement is thrown out. Ples (no others are permitted in This causes strikes. Rents and prices are also subject to government controls, and aside from meat and fresh vegetables, Clothing, if obtainable at all, must be purchased with ration coupons, but there are few garments available in the stores. below the surface of the earth, The lucky family is one whose principal breadwinner can go and protected by a huge thick- ! occasionally to Sweden on business, and pick up some clothing ness of rock above, this series of (But under Swedish tunnels is equipped with central regulations, this must be “used” clothing only—so that if you steam heat, forced ventilation, | buy, for example, a pair of shoes to take home to your wife, you ¢lectricity and running wate; must scratch the soles on the sidewalk to make them look at aS been re-partitioned now, into | if tin yrooms, large enough onl. for his wife and children while he is there. least slighily worn, before you customs). which display any sizeable amount of merchandise are the newsstands, book stores and jewelry shops, the rest are al most bare. After Stockholm, with all _ its natural and architectural beauty its neon lighis and its well-stock ed store Helsinki is drab Throughout the city, — ouiside nearly every apartment block every public building, the lega- tions, the private homes, and in all the large parks adjacent ic residential are: Finland’s prec- ious timber stands corded up in three-foot split logs, to provide} heat. Even the “ in the railroad yards fired by wood. ntial to all of $ economy, i: scarcely to be had in Finland. her forests supply firewood—tim- ber which in normal times pro-' vides. many export _ products,} newsprint, and pulp, not to men- } tion timber for domestic pur-} poses. In every part of Europe, in- flation stalks the land, and in every country the reason is dif- ferent. In Finland, one main cause—according to well-inform- ed Finns who are willing to speak frankly—is the reparations agree- , ment with Russia. Reparations must be paid in goods, which means that the Finns must not only pay for it out of their poc- kets in taxes, but a large share of the output from their mills and factories must go to Russia. This dome: duction would aid in reducing in- flation. Greater export would supply badly needed foreign ex- change to help Finland rebuild and modernize her industri greater domestic and export pro- duction, all of which would serve to reduce the present inflationary | trend. i The only stores® : Soviets proposed to the r attempt to take them throug! what they call “the second war” ity kitchen, and (the first being the so-called “winter war” with the Russians) that the floors, walls and ceilings is nothng short of amazing. There fairly shone. But sometimes, the i senough food to eat, there is ‘lothing enough fo go around, there is fuel in the form of fire. Pumps don’t work properly, «nc wood for the winter. Although the place is flooded. there is no hot water in your ho- tel and although the. ets a only dimly lighted at night on count of rationed elec have come a long wa able people. ‘Phere are few Finns who will| entire apartment was dirty and} spare the time to be sorry for}in a bad state of repair. TT themselves in their present; mother, a woman of about plight. Historically, they are a! years, appeared rather sullen, | people who have always pride i ;|themselves on fulfilling th obligations—as witness the pay ments on the American debt from} and the rent is 2,400. Then there World War I—even though they | is the food to buy for 10 hungr do not believe that ihe present| people, and food—although Russian reparations plan is fair.! is But they have signed the docu- ment and they will fulfill it. To do so requires considerable cacrifice and real suffering, al- leviated in only a small degree by the work of both Finnish and American relief agencies, additional help from Sweden. Housing is extremely sc = 50) that families have not on! dou- bled up,” but are required to take in strangers who have no othet home. The housing situation is the re- ic sult principally of Russian de- mands for territory, particularly the Karelian peninsula. Here the sidents that they could either remain on the land, in which case they tee is 900 marks, and the home could retain their prop or abandon their homes, factories and farms, carrying away only y what they could load on _ their backs. Nearly a million Finns took the latter .course, and as a result even greater demands than normal after a war were all food is rationed. 5), they! live here in two rooms plus al! » the kitchen. The building is in a war. They are truly a remark-' bad state of repair, the paint wth} 1 Yet the work the Finns have placed on available city housing | accomplished since the end of: Some new apartments were ayer as in Grandmother's day, Mince Pie is an all-time Ameri- can favorite. But here is a 1947 version—a modern pie that Grand- mother would have loved—using strong coffee and a soupcon of dry sherry to flavor a packaged Mince- meat. The recipe is taste-tested, of course. Try this Coffee Mince Pie & la Sherry. A mince ple can be a jiffy des- sert these days, and certainly will be on everybody's food calendar sometime during the last months of the year. This Coffee Mince Pie, & la Sherry combines the age-old Pay z 2) favorite, ¥ mincemeat,W with ¥ the ever-popular coffee flavor . . . set- ting the hostess well on the way, to compliments for_her_culinary imagination. : , Coffee Mince Pie A La Sherry Prepare one package dehydrated mincemeat as directed on the package, using coffee instead of water. Cool slightly. Stir in two tablespoons dry sherry wine. Pour, into pastry-lined 8-inch pie pan! Cover with top crust or lattice strips of pastry. Bake in a hot ‘oven, 425°F., 40 minutes. i kitchen, plus a small bath, in a | modern, recently built apartment jroom. If they should be so fort-} | stranger, {hand and enables thousands to LAUGH AWHILE! He Knew your life means to me?” | “Sure; if I die you get my in-! surance-” built before the war, a few in the interval between the “first war” and World War II. Others are now under construction in various parts of Helsinki’s out-} skirts. But city housing has been: delayed on account of high! building costs, plus the fact that almost total destruction of north-! ern Finland by the departing Germans has demanded that pri-! ority be given that area. “We} in Helsinki,” one newspaperwom- an told me,” can get along some- how. But in Lapland, new con- struction is absolutely imperative; for the Germans destroyed over} 70 percent of existing buildings.”: One grim, gray morning I vi: 1 ited a bomb shelter, temporary home for some 35 childless cou-| these quarters), a veritable city cut into the solid rock in one of} Helsinki’s many stone hillsides. | ilt “between the wars” as an} air raid shelter and hospital far tt for a small bed and a few pieces of } furniture. There is a commun-! community an throughout | bath. It was so ¢ Finnish relief executive told me. when the heavy rains come, the TE A few hours later we visited a typical worker’s apartment. ther, mother and eight children} 2 chipping off the doors, a tired, despondent. Her husband earns about 10,000 per month in a state metal factory, plenty in the stores—is tremely expensive. So the moth er takes cleaning jobs at night, to stretch the family income Another apartment was operative housing development built some years before the war, in which the occupants own! their quarters, paying only a small sum per month for main- tenance. Here again, father and mother and eight children, in| two and one-half rooms, plus the kitchen. The husband had pur- ed the place before the war) Ky for 29,000 marks, on which he still owes 23,000. The same apart- ment today would sell for 290,-} 000—so he considers himself} lucky. His monthly maintenance, | 2 en DOU POLOS fairly shines in its cleanliness. The family smiles, the children are clean and neatly dressed. But} there is still the question of how] to live on 10.000 marks pe month. | A middle class husband and, wife occupy two large rooms— one used for living room and d nette, the other a bedroom—and} block. The rent for these quar ters is about 3,000 marks per month. They have a five-month- old baby and are expecting an- other in April, but they cannot; get a maid, because there is no unate a sto obtain larger quar- ters, they would be forced to take in another person, probably aj igned to live with; state. them by thi When I got aboard the Ameri can Airlines plane at Stockhoim, I was the only American on the : list that it i me sat an Englishman, name wag Smith. The stewardess was a Swedish girl, who spoxe (Continued On Page Seven) Deafened Now Hear With Tiny Single Unit Science has now made it pos-/ sible for the deafened to hear| faint sounds. It is a hearing de-! vice so small that it fits in the; enjoy sermons, music, and ériend- ly companionship. Accepted by | the Council on Physical Medicine | of the American Medical Associa- | tion. This device does not re-| quire separate battery pack, bat- | tery wire, case or garment to bulge or weigh you down. The! Ri tone is clear and powerful. 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As Long As You Can READ the Printed Word, You Can : Have the World Before Your Eyes! a lll lll lll llc bo itn bn bb hon bon bn bn nan ann nn Dt bon on nh bn nn nbn nin nbn bn nt WHAT’S GOING ON IN KEY WEST?...THE NEWS AS IT HAPPEN COMES TO YOU WHILE IT’S NEWS . «+ POLITICAL... SO - MRS. JONES’ NEW BABY E FOR YOU TO PURCHASE! Read all, know all through the illuminating columns of the Key West Citizen. Looking for a job or offering one? Got a house to sell or want to buy? Have you a house or apartment for rent or do you want to rent one? The FOR SALE and WANTED columns are interesting!!! Want to have the best of every- thing you can afford? Find it first in the AD COLUMNS of the Key West Citizen, then enjoy it in your own home. Shop in the KEY WEST CITIZEN Before You Shop in the Stores! Read the Advertisements for Best Values! 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