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Show Yankee Commissioner Spoils Life for Profiteering Turk food Agent Cuts Cost of Living by Selling to , ' Retail Buyers. By WILLIAM T. ELLIS. (Copyright, 1919, by the New York Herald Company AU Rights Reserved.) (Special Cable to The Salt Lake Tribune and New York Herald.) CONSTAXTINOPLK, March 13. (Delayed (De-layed in transmission.) 01 greater interest to the general public here than is the presence of the troops of the entente powers, or even Turkey's Tur-key's future, is the war the American food commissioner, Howard Heinz, is conducting con-ducting against the profiteers. Tho arrival in Constantinople of three shiploads of American wheat has enabled Mr. Heinz, selling to retail buyers, to force the price of a bag of flour weighing seventy-five kilograms from SS , lire (Turkish,; lo 17 lire, thus greatly relieving reliev-ing the disress of tjie people, all of whom, as well as the newspapers, are praising America for this work. Lnough grain already Is In this country to last until within a month of the next harvest. Indeed, Constantinople now has more food than has London. Food Costs Still High. Profiteering in food, however, continues. Sugar is soiling at the .equivalent of $1.50 a pound; beans, 50 cents a pound; oil, $10 a gallon; coal, $125 a ton; milk, 75 cents a quart. A dinner costs from ;i (Turkish) to 10. tne equivalent of about $1.50 American Ameri-can money. The Armenian relief commission now is operating with Mr. Heinz, who is leaving leav-ing here Immediately for the interior. Reports indicate that Rumania is suf- fering moro than either Turkey or Bulgaria. Bul-garia. The policy of feeding friends first is being followed by ilr. Heinz and supplies are steadily going forward to Constantia. However, transportation inland Is very difficult, because of the fact that the Germans stole or destroyed 7T per cent of the railroad rolling stock and equipment-Southern S-erbla also is in great need of quick relief. Re-establishing Mail Service. While endeavoring to handle the food situation, tho Americans also are re-establishing tho mail service. During the last two years there has been no mail received by Americans in Turkey. Now, however, they are again getting in touch with the world. The American government has begun a weekly courier service between Constantinople Constan-tinople and Paris. Letters require three days from Constantinople to Bucharest by way of Constantia and three days from Bucharest to Paris by way of Vienna and Budapest. At the same time the railroad from Salonikl to Bagdad is being reopened from Sofia here, coincident iwith the reopening re-opening of the line from Constantinople to Cairo by. way of Aleppo and Jerusalem. Jerusa-lem. Vessels are plyitig frequently between the Black sea and the Mediterranean. The trade blockade having been lifted, British, French and Italian traders already al-ready are here. American business representatives rep-resentatives are needed in Constantinople if trade between these countries and the United. States is to be developed. In this connection I may say that Americans are in especial favor here. As yet I am the only American news-, paper representative here. |