Meatless day in London

The fact that yesterday was a meatless day in hotels, restaurants and clubs had no visible effect in relieving the situation at the meat markets. Butchers had great difficulty in getting the smallest supplies for their week-end trade and were unable to give anything but vague promises to anxious customers. The Sunday joint in fact seems to be more uncertain than it was last Saturday, and much of the meat which does get into homes will be chilled beef or frozen mutton released by the Government. The total supplies arriving at Smithfield weighed 625 tons, an increase of four tons over last Friday, but a decrease of 593 tons on last year.

Food queues were numerous everywhere. At an early hour there were long lines of people outside the butter and margarine shops, and the fact that women were prepared to wait two or three hours to obtain half-a-pound of margarine shows how acute the scarcity has become. The queues are still being abused by people who try to get more than their share, and various expedients are being adopted to reduce the evil. In some places an arrangement has been made that all the shops with supplies shall open at the same hour. This puts a check on the type of margarine hunter who, having been served at one shop, joins another queue to augment her purchases. Many shops, too, are refusing to sell to children in order to circumvent the practice of placing two or three members of a family in the same queue. Until compulsory rationing comes into operation it is only by such expedients that harassed dealers can attempt to solve the problem of equitable distribution.