The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-05-13
3ccorcitv of Raw Material and De-
mand the Only Cause-A Coh"f-
ton Welcomed by Butchers-
Larger Sale for Cheaper Cuts
,r Thus Insured-NieWs Oh "e"' "i'
ID. Flower.
MARKET SUMMARY.
FINANCIAL

1t is not at all surprising that the
prices of fresh meats should have risen
during the past month. Some com
plants are heard, in different directions
that such a thing should have come
to pass. but the rise is legitimate, ard
the fact ought to be accepted with APP
prevail rather than comparatively.
The advance has come at season
If the year and under certain control
ling conditions which, it is claimed, af-
ford justification. Shoulder steaks of
beef, which were selling at Easter
time for eight cents per pound, are now
selling at ten cents. Round steaks,
which only a mnnth ago were sold at
retail for ten cents, now command
twelve and one-haIf certs Per pound
Sirloin steak, selling then for fifteen
cents, now brings eighteen cents. Por-
terhouse stakes, readily disposed Of
then at from fifteen to eighteen cents,
are haing sold at from twenty to TWEEN
ty-:wo cents par pound The rib roasts
which sold then for twelve and one-half
TO fifteen cents. are going now from
the butchers blocks at from eighteen
to twenty cents per pound.
OF course 1t is understood that there
figures apply to only first-class beef.
1t is possible to buy second-grade beef
as low as twelve ana one-half cents
per pound for rib roasts, while second
grade porterhouse steaks can be bought
at about fifteen cents.
The advances in the price of mutton
have kept pace with those in connec-
ton with beef. At Easter time the top
price for mutton was from fifteen to
eighteen cents per pound; now the
prices are fifteen and eighteen cents for
legs and eighteen and twenty cents
for the best chops. There has been a
corresponding advance in the rougher
meats. Dealers have been receiving
right along, through the winter sea-
son, five cents for stewing meats; now
these cuts have risen to eight cents per
pound. These come from the shoulders
and breasts.
Pork retailed a month ago at from
seven to ten cents per pound. The price
now is from ten cents to a shilling. A
couple of years ago veal was sold in
st. Paul at from ten cents to q shilling
per pound, and calves were coming in
so fast that the butchers could not take
care of them: now the fine cuts are
bringing from fifteen to twenty cents.
The complaint is heard from some
sources among consumers that these
higher charges are in the nature Of a
hardship. Perhaps 1t may be appro-
proate to remark that not the serpent
alone, but the four-footed beast, will
turn when trodden upon. The quad
ruped, identified with the flesh that
contributes to human support, has had
his day Of depression under the heel
of hard times. He Is turning now by
force of circumstances; and his turning
IS In the nature of an index to an i'm
p provement along the line Of Industrial
enterprise.
Almost every commodity has gone up
In value during the past thirty days.
F. w Luley, the well-known butcher,
said yesterday that he, for one, was
glad to see it, although, for the time
being, it might be difficult to make
any money in the process Of trade; but
the general evil, he said, would afford
an opportunity for the retailers to
realize a fair profit. He explained the
point in this way:
when we buy a carcass. It consists
of So per cent of rough cuts The re-
naming 80 per cent consists Of those
commanding higher prices. Just now
there are many people who will not
pay the higher prices for porterhouse
steaks, for instance; these will turn in
and buy sirloin instead, and so on down
the scale. The result will be a more
general distribution and falling back,
by some, upon the cheaper lines of
meat While the choicer cuts were
cheaper than they are now, everybody
sought the best The result was that
the butcher was often left with a lot
of the cheaper grades Of meat on his
hands which he found it difficult to
dispose of, and often, in disposing Of
carcass, he came out in the end at
loss. The butcher buys his quarter or
half In lump, at a fixed price for the
whole; and he must rely upon the de-
mand for the different qualities to
bring him out with profit, or some
times without loss. If we can get the
people to buying more generally, to
paying more attention to the cheaper
grades, such as pot roasts and the like.
the distribution will be more even: the
community will be just as we'll served
and the butcher will be able to square
his accounts much easier than if every
body insisted upon having the best
because 1t was low-priced and within
easy reach.
Speaking yesterday on the subject
of the rise in price of fresh meats, Gen.
NJ D. Flower, president of the Union
Stock Yards, at South st. Paul, said
among other things:
70. THE advance in the price Of fresh
meats, and meats Of all kinds, is legi-
innate, and only in pace with the ad-
vance in the value Of other commodities
like wheat and corn, and grain gener-
ally The advance in the price of corn
has naturally advanced the value of
fattened animals such as cattle and
hogs. At South ST. Paul today three
well fed steers, brought here from Iowa.
were sold as high as s4.75 per hundred
on the hoof With such prices for the
raw material it simply means that
dressed beef must advance in propor-
sion. If you compare the prices of all
kinds of slaughtering animals today
With those of two months ago, you will
discover that there has been a clean
advance OF 20 per cent, which Is about
In keeping with the advance in the
dressed commodities. And il grain.
and notably corn, advances more. as ii
bids fair to do, the public may expect
that the price Of meats will continue
to advance in the same proportion.
- While to the consumer this NAV
4eem hardship, the fact should be
taken into account that we lare living
In an agricultural country, and that