Evening journal., 1898-07-23
WHATIT COSTS TO LIVE
Causes of Increase in the Main
Articles of Consumption.
ALL MEATS NEARLY DOUBLED

TO THE OLD PRICES HEAVY. |
TAX ON TEA-COFFEE NOT
TAXED.
1t has been generally Observed by
the prudent women who superintend
the domestic economy Of our house
holds that it costs more to fill the
family market basket than It did few
months ago. 1t is natural to attribute
this increased cost to the war, but 1t
Is not so easy to show what the war has
to do with it. It is true that couple
OF hundred thousand hungry soldiers
must be fed, but the same men con-
sumed pretty full ration before they
left home. Some may eat little more
now than before. but quite large
number who are not yet accustomed
TO the pork and beans ration probably
eat less.
To find out just what causes the In
creased cost Of living, a reporter called
upon some Of the leading wholesale
dealers and asked for the facts. The
most important item of marketing was
found to be the one in which there has
been the greatest increase. Meats
have certainly gone up in price; that
is the universal testimony. The Ameri-
can people are meat eaters, more so
than the inhabitants Of any other civ
ilized nation. Meat is on everybody's
table. It's price has nearly doubled
within the memory of the present gen
Grafton.
HIGH PRICE OF 1lEATS.
The rise in price within the last few
months has been 115 cents a pound for
beef by the carcass. This would mean
an increase for choice cuts OF 3 or 4
cents a pound, which is about the ad-
vance charged by the principal retail
ers. This increase, it was stated, was
inevitable, on account of the low price
OF beef for the last few years. Cattle
raisers are said to have been making
but little money, and many Of them
have gone out OF the business. Free
pasturage on the public domain is no
longer available, and the great herds
which formerly fattened on the plains
and were only rounded up" to be
branded or driven to market can nc
longer be drawn upon. The conditions
for cattle raising in the West now
more nearly resemble those existing in
our own state, and have arrived al
such a state that there is more prof
In raising something else.
It was said a year or two ago tina
the cattle raisers had been driven Ou
OF business by combinations betweei
the great meat companies, which ruin
n ed their market by destroying competi
II ton between buyers. This may have
contributed to force them out Of the
business, but 1t is more likely that th'
cost Of production was the principa
factor. The increasing difficulty in Sc
curing coed cattle brought about thu
increase in price, and it is not yet GER
tain that the top figures have beer
reached. Some of the leading shipper
think that the wholesale figures will q
another cent higher. making a differ
ence or 2 or 8 cents more at retail, bu
more conservative shippers beiiev
that after time, there yill be some
what lower prices, but not so low a
have prevailed.
other fresh meats have advances
slightly, but not in proportion to beef
There is less stability in vhe price
than for beef, for the keeping uualitie
of such meats are not so good. Nut
ton, for instance, will not keep wei
more than four or five days, and mus
be sold soon. It's condition, especial,
at this time OF the year, determine
the price at which it is sold to tn
dealer. The only effect Of the wa
upon the price of meats is in the de
mand for canned meats, OF which tn
government has purchased largely
One effect of the permanent rise il
the price OF beef may be to encourag
the raising Of beef cattle in the East
where 1t has become nearly a lost IN
dustry. At present nearly all the bee
used is transported in refrigerator cars
\ method adopted about eighteen year
ago, in small way. Comparativel
few live cattle are now shipped Eas
for butchers use, and the old praetic
of bringing poor cattle from the Yves
and fatting them on Eastern farm
has been abandoned.
BREADSTUFFS AND SUNDRlES.
There has been less change In tn
price OF breadstuffs, canned goods, te
and coffee, and the hundred other sun
dries which go to make up the markG
list. Flour went up to the top motel
as everybody now knows, because
Napoleon OF the wheat S,it "cornel
ed" the grain at Chicago, the gre'
grain centre. He has since met h
Waterloo and prices have resume