Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1893-02-05
EATING IS COSTLY.
MARKED ADVANCE IN Ia.
BILE SUPPLIES.
Facts About Wholesale Prices,
and an Explanation of Why
They Are High.

osk the man with wife and mother-in-
law and thirteen children. He will con-
vince YOU pretty soon. Unfortunately
or rather fortunateiy-humanity IS COM
pelled TO eat, otherwise life would IN
deed be an empty dream; and what
is more. the emptiness would not be en-
tirely confined to dreams. Housewives
have literally been on pins for the last
five or six weeks. for the matter OF sup
PLYING their tables is by no means an
easv one. There are many reasons Tor
the advance in prices, and the explala-
tions involve number of circumstances
which il would take whole dictionary
10 relate.
WHERE ARE THOSE MISSING HOGS?
Tn the first place 100000 hogs that
were expected by the merchants either
weren't born or they haven't shown up,
and so all kinds OF pork meat Is up
terribly up" OF course the hogs are
not altogether to blame In the matter,
but at the same time that doesn't aile'
yiate our su1erings The cold weather,
too, has made their flesh more valuable,
for it has been exceedingly difficult to
transport the diSecta meDlbrd from the
West (the great heaven of swire). and
hence the wholesale grocers have raised
their figures. They sell hams to dealers
for 16I cents per pound and charge IA
cents for breasts and III for salt meas.
Not satisfied with this, and with the
ever-maniiest desire to make the Ameri-
can hog appreciated, they charge l32
cents per pound for pure lard and lOs
for the common article.
CHEESE ISN'T JUMPING, THANK GOODNESS.
SO what's anybody to do? Eat her
rings? Oh no ! They have taken rise
of from 7Jc. to 81 per barrel, while Hour
has likewise made small advance.
Canned goods have gone up about &c.
on the pound. Cheese hasn't been
jumping OF late. 1t remains IN Statu
quo, but when summer comes 1t Will get
very animated.
After the wholesale grocer had told
me all the facts which | have cited
above he calmly informed me that his
business had been just as good as ever.
"Great Scott !" said. "We'ye got to
eat; you don't expect us to starve, do
you?" :,
NO." he replied, with chuckle
which sounded ike the jingle OF dollars
aud cents L" but then you might make
out on herrings instead OF ham.
OLD HAREs GALORE.
In the last few days have seen those
horrible pop-eyed, bald-headed "old
hares" everywhere went. They have
been served by my housekeeper at every
meal, and have even begun to haunt me
in my very dreams. Where they ali
come from IS more than | can see.
The store-k keepers say the Dummies
have been selling all the way from to
II cents apiece, and when tho cold sea-
son was at its height the " Molly-cot-
ton-tails got 50 abundant that they al
most had to give them away.
Thousands of the varmints hayo
persisted in the snow, and it Is truly
wonderful that all the little animals
have not been exterminated.
That modest and unassuming yegeta-
BILE, the Irish potato. has jumped mp to
s. 10 and Sl.25 per bushel, as "bugs
helped to destroy the crop, which wasn't
very good anyhow. Last year they
could be bought for fifty and sixty cents.
As for their first cousin, the sweet
potato, why he's little "uppish too.
You can get bushel Of yellow ones for
81. rs, while the same quantity OF vans
can be purchased for fifty cents less.
THE HENS ARE ALL on A STRIKE.
Owing to some whim Of the domestic
hen she has ceased TO lay of late, and
her holiday has naturally caused eggs to
become much higher. The present
craze for antiquities, by the way, has
not yet extended to her superannuated
oval productions, but. Notwithstanding
this, the merchants charge you all the
way from 28 to 80 cents per dozen for
them. The clerk told me could buy
dressed hens (he didn't specify whether
the garment thrown in was of crepe dc
chine or organdie) at the rate Of from
80 to 80 cents, while chickens Vintage
1874 could be procured at prices
ranging from 20 to rs cents. Dressed
turkies bring from - to 1Jt cents per
pound, and 1--we chaps are sold at prices
ranging from 10 to ii cents
The apple crop fell short, too. They |
are worth ell the way from S2.50 to 81 |
per barrel. Very few pippins are on the !
market, and those sold here are OF an in
ferior grade Nearly all the good ones
are sent to England. and have even
heard that Mrs. Victoria Guelph is
quite fond of them. The "bloody |
Englishman is willing to pay as much
as Sl3 barrel for tho Albemarle fruit.
PLENTY OF BANANAS AND ORANGES.
Dried fruits are also very high. APP
pies bring6l cents per pound and peeled |
peaches command all the way from IL !
to Is cents.
The merchants have good stock Of
bananas on hand, and they are selling |
very cheap. They can be bought at
prices ranging from 81 to SIT per |
bunch. These stalks have from five to |
thirteen dozen bananas on them. There |
are plenty of Florida oranges in the mar
ket, and they can be purchased at from
81 to 81 per box. These boxes have
from l12 to $50 oranges in them.
A friend OF mine was once reading q
very patriotic selection, and III some man
ner he made a mistake on the word
"union" and placed very suggestive
meaning to it. He read the line "In
onion there is strength" and although
he was at first greatly grieved over his
error he has since learned to realize that
he was not altogether wrong. The
strength of onions, as embodied in this
redolent vegetable, can be purchased at
from $l.40 to $3.50 per bushel.
After finished my visit among the
commission merchants L dropped in to
Superintendent Charlie Boiling, and
was immensely gratified when he told
me that water was selling at it's normal
figure. But soap has gone up little.
However, that's luxury and not neces-
sity of life. The MAgKET-MAN.
The Authorship of 6Diyie."