The daily gazette., 1877-09-11
THE COSE or LIVING IN
ENGLAND. :

NAV have been the case; with families o
moderate means, it certainly is not 81
nov. say families of moderate mean:
for. up TO a certain amount ofineome, IN
one item Of food inevitably Consumes
half, or nearly halt, the entire amount
but,when the yearly income passes above
/ five or six hundred dollars, the part eS-
pended upon the tables is no longer half
and the per cent. SO raid out constantly
diminish.s as the income increases,
hence the cost of living woIld then main
/ " rest not upon ths p ice of food, but
I upon - cost Of rent, clo~hing, and luvu-
ries. In Great Britain food is necessarily
always high; rents are by no means low;
and clothing and other manufactured
articles are generally coeapcr than in the
/ United States. Some title since a New
paper noticed the departure of forly-six
skilled carpenters and ioiners, from New
York for the English city of Manchester,
and cited some authority as saving that
$l.75-the stipulated wages per day in
ADMINISTRATORS a purchasing ppwei
equal 10 $3.50 in New York. fS-re is
really no such difference, One dollar and
seventy-tive cents per day Is the max
mum of mt chanic's wages an Z GLAND,
and, al, er stay of nearly year in thi;
country, have no hesitation in saying
that f1lnilies live quite as chelply in the
eastern and cent al par : of the L n,ted
States As anywhere IN England; and with
Ills advantage in .Ayor OF the former,thal
The climate gives a great variety OF f,1ttts
aud vegetable, most of which are TO be
bad here only by paying very exoro.lant
prices.
" ben Americans come to England they
always notice the meagre variety Of The
average bill of fare as compared will the
generous American style 10 which they
have been accustomed. Here, it is a
dreary monotony Of bread. meat, potatoes
and greens: no tomatoes no green corn.
little or no fruit, aud generally none Of
the iunumerable toothsolne relishes that
American and French housewives under
stand so well.
The British food supply Cones manly
from abroad. From year 10 year a con-
staatly and rapidly Increasing amount of
the great staples is brought from various
continental countries aud the United
States. In 1875 CEREALS were imported
10 the value of S259, 90 100; meals OF all
900; butter. S4S 0O0, coo; CHI ese. ST.. .OOO.-
OOO; eggs, 5000, 600; potasN>, $780,
900; lard, SI,S00,0Oo. The chief con-
t1outor Is our own country. | mentor
these items to show the dependence of
Great Britain upon other countries, and
because they naturally teach that con-
sumers must pay higher prices than in
the countries from which the supplies are
| drawn.
The average wholesale price Of whe. I
or ten years has been about 81 Sc . r
bIshel; the present price about s. ~.
The present retail price offopr is about
s. 80 per barrel. Corn meal is 3 cents
per pound. Meat of all kinds is much
higher than in the United States. Beef
is nearly double the price l have known
in Ohio and Michigan tor many wears
past, and, in general, is from 6 cents to
10 cents per pound higher than in the
Easter States. The Introduction tf
American fresh meat made a reductit n
OF, perhaps 8 cents pound generally i.
English butchers fought against it, ana
tried by every means, both fair aud foul
TO discourage its use: but it won its way
into public favor, nevertheless. Meal
holds an important place in the diet of
the British people, and the high price of
this one article is a large factor of the
entire cost of living.
Vegetables of all kinds, when cour lr.
ed with American prices, are also high.
The universal potato rarely gets below
81 p per Rushel. American housekeep-
es are often able to lay in theii winters
supply OF potatoes al 40 or 30 cents per
bushel, but no such prices are ever known
here. OF all kinds Of gA-Len produce. il
may be said that prices are often reasor
able but never positively cheap. There
are great many mouths to feed in this
lntle island country. Land is very valu-
le, aud the prodltts OF the soil are al
way in demand al sood prices.
Butter and eggs also command high
piloes- lrlme butter, duriug the past
yea has been about 20 cents Pc pound;
a good article may now be bad for $
"enis. Fresh eggs are 50 cents per dozen
Immense quantities Of artificial butter
are sold in England, though it is rarely
sold as such. Comparisons Of the oual,-
tttiss Of rcal butter made and impo. .ed
With all sold under the name of butter.
show this to be the flcl. Ii is estimated
! that II only genuine butter were sold
hene. the price could not be less than 81
per pound.
! FRUITS, except apples and pears, COM
mand such prlces a, 10 make them mere
! 1lxuries. Len those have excepted
/ have not sold a, any time for a whole
Year past at less than 81 per bushel for
sound, not extra qualities. Cnoice ap-
pies ane never 10 be had al less than S9
per oushel. Grapes are worth not less
than 10 cents per pound in their season.
and choice quantities would never be
less than % or so cents. The small
fruits, such as cherries, strawberries, cur.
ran-s, gooseberries, and raspbelries NAV
be quoted at the minimum price al
around Of ~ cents per quart, though {
nrst-rate quality OF strawberries is by nC
means TO be had as low ss that-40 cent:
per quart Vo1ld be more nearly their rs
ual price.
Tropical and sub-;ropicsl products
such as coffee, ,tes, sugar, rice, oranges
and lemons, a e trife cheaper geuer
ally than In our own country, Eng
land superior Commercial faciltiei
! readily account for this fact.
Fuel commands higher price thai
would he expected, eDnsidering Eng
lsnu's wealth Of coal. The aversp