The following appeared in TA issue 37 (September 1990)

The following are extracted from the Tanganyika Standard in the last quarter of 1940 – Editor

LETTERS TO ENEMY COUNTRIES
A Government statement announced that persons in enemy occupied territories wishing to reply to letters received from persons living in Tanganyika should address the letters via P.O. Box 506, Lisbon, Portugal.

SOCKS
The Arusha correspondent reported that women there had knitted over 3,000 pairs of socks for the troops during the previous six months. Mrs Baldwin had knitted 73 pairs closely followed by Mrs Bailey with 56.

MARCH OF THE CORNED BEEF
Under this heading there was a long article describing how Liebigs, the Kenya Meat Processing Company, was now working 24 hours a day. When the factory had first opened in 1938 they had been slaughtering 30 beasts every night. By the beginning of the war in September 1939 the figure had reached 75. And on August 19th 1940 it was up to 300. 80% of all the beef was being converted into corned beef – 20,000 tins a day all destined for the troops.

‘And every day, unhonoured and unsung, a northward migration Comprising a caravan of some 250 to 300 cattle is wending its way 600 miles from Tanganyika to Kenya to keep the factory supplied. The journey takes 30 days and is not easy. There are East Coast Fever, tsetse flies, hungry lions, irritable rhinos (the herdsmen frequently have to rush to the nearest tree to escape) – but, in spite of everything, normally only 5% of the animals are lost en route.

CRIME STATISTICS
There were 1,000 fewer cases of crime during 1939 than in the previous year. Of the various people dealt with by the Police during the year 636 were Europeans, 1,471 Asians, 153 Arabs, 55 Somalis, 709 Alien Africans and 6,890 ‘Aboriginal’ Africans. There were 98 cases of murder (30 convictions obtained).

BISCUITS
Huntley and Palmers Biscuits Ltd took the unusual step of publishing a full-page advertisement in the Standard on November 8, 1940 – the first time in the year the paper had presented such a prominent advertisement :

Some people may be surprised that it is still possible to buy ENGLISH BISCUITS in Tanganyika even though they are rationed at home. But biscuits furnish a good example of the kind of manufactured article Britain particularly wishes to export. The UK imports wheat, sugar and butter …. Hand these over to one of our famous biscuit manufacturers and their value increases enormously; workers have earned wages, manufacturers have made a fair profit and, because the whole world recognises the supremacy of the ENGLISH BISCUIT, the money that goes back to Britain is much greater than the money she originally paid for the wheat, sugar and butter. So, in buying Huntley and Palmers Biscuits, you are helping to finance Great Britain’s WAR EFFORT.