Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1893-02-02
LIVING III ST. LOUIS.

LIVING IL ST. LOUIS.
| The High Price OF Necessities IN the cits
There Has Been = General Asivnpce Il
almost Evervthins. with the Exception
Of BreRdstuIs and Some Er1tts-CanuN
j Goods Go Up, Also Vegetables, Meals
and Coffee.
ST. Louis, Jan. 26.-Provisions Oh
nearly every kind are higher in St
Louis now than they have been 70,
years. The advance of price is not
nlone in one or two articles, but is gen
eral, including nearly everything ex.
cept breadstuffs and some fruits. This
rise, which in some cases is as remaka.
bic as it is unusual, has come about SO
| gradually that the public has failed
| to realize 1t. Now many articles
OF staple groceries which are
necessaries cost from 20 to
40 per cent more than they did two
or three months ago. Except perhaps
| in one instance, that of hog products,
this increase of price is due to legiti-
mate causes Short crops and cold
weather cut the supply. The increased
! to two causes. A year ago the farmers
realized such low figures on their pork
that they lost money and becoming dis
couraged did not give the hog much
attention and this resulted in heavy
; shortage. This was taken advantage
! of by several heavy packers, who COM
bined and raised the price higher than
it would otherwise have gone Lard,
smoked hams. shoulders, clear sides and
sausages have all increased on an aver
age of about IS per cent. This has re-
suited in curtailing the trade almost so
per cent, and proportionately increased
the sales of breadstuffs and fresh
meats, which are plentiful and cheap.
Of late years canned goods have come
to be as much of necessity as meats
and bread. The advance in this line
has been extraordinary, though as yet
retailers have not raised prices to con-
sumers materially. Some idea of the
advance can be gathered from the fol-
lowing figures: Tomatoes opened at 81
cents per case delivered here; now they
are scarce at s1.20 per case. Corn con-
tracted for at SIS cents is now worth
s1.10. Gooseberries have climbed from
60 cents per case to sl.25 in Balti-
more. Last year 1ow-grade peaches
were quoted at Is cents; now
they are s1.10. and in higher
grades the price has advanced from
30 cents to ST.. The advance in lower
grades is greater than in higher. This
is brought about entirely by the very
short peach crop of last season. There
are plenty of California peaches and
canned goods, but the excessive freight
rates make them very high at any
season, and they are out of reach of the
masses. The freeze up north has cut
the cranberry crop short, and the only
source of supply is from New Jersey.
The prices have advanced 1ah to Is per
cent
Coffees have fallen in with the gen.
eral advance, the crop being reported
very short. Sugar has not ma terially
risen. but it is expected it will. The
situation is in the hands of the reiners,
who can advance the price when they
please, but there is no shortage. The
recent furry in the egg market, when
the price went up to 3s cents per dozen,
was caused by shortage in Chicago,
when eggs went up to AZ cents, and
everybody shipped there. As result
the home market was emptied and Chi
cago was gorged. Prices fell there and
rose here. Then the Chicago commits
sion merchants commenced shipping
the same eggs back to st. Louis, and
now the price is IS cents and even less.
Vegetables of all kinds have adj
vanced. The crop of nearby onions is
entirely exhausted, and the dealers are
being supplied from New York alta
advance of so cents n barrel. No more
cabbage is to be had from the east and
north, and the only supply now is from
California. Since the middle of De-
cember last the price has advanced SIS
a ton. Usually Chicago narketers pro-
duce enough cabbage to keep all the
markets going. but this year had not
enough for home consumption, and
what they have is frozen up in beds.
Irish potatoes have advanced 90 cents
bushel owing to a partia! failure of the
crops of Illinois, Iowa and Missouri.
To Increase the Revenue.
The bill introduced in the lower
house of the Missouri legislature by Mr..
holland, of st. Louis, providing for
state inspection of beer will, it is said
by those who have figured on the result
of it's passage, add about 100000 annu-
ally to the states revenue. It provides
for the appointment by the governor Of
state beer inspector, who shall receive
So, 900 per year and be allowed chief
deputy at $500 per year. Other in
spectors shall receive $1,000 year.
The charge for inspecting and gang
ing beer is fixed at one-fourth of one
cent per gallon, and all fees must
be turned over to the state treas
urer as in the case of other fees, and
the officers created under the act shall
receive their salaries therefrom on
vouchers filed with the state auditor.
The surplus funds acquired under the
act shall be held by the treasurer as
fund to be used in improving the public
highways, as may be directed in the
future by the legislature. The in
spection Of beer is to he conducted with
a view to preventing the manufacture
and sale of adulterated beer, and to
this end the chief inspector shall be a
competent chemist, who can determine
the ingredients used by manufacturers.
To Regulate stock Yard Charges.
Some days ago Mr.. Moore. of Laclede
county, introduced a bill in the legis-
lature to regulate stock-yard charges,
and it has now passed through the COM
mittee of agriculture. and has been
placed before the house on q favorable
report.
Tho Hill In <f irnportapca r., ebip,,aya af live