The times., 1899-08-06

Something more than a year ago house
keepers were complaining Of the rise in the
price OF food-stuffs. At that time -four in
particular was selling nearly So a barrel
above the prices OF q few months before.
while meat products, especially pork, show
ed an advance of 10 to 20 per cent At tha
very time of this advance however. metal
and textile products, including household
utensils, dry goods. and clothing, contin-
ued to sell at the lowest price in many
years.
Today this situation is curiousIy altered
The high prices of breadstuffs have been
broken. Flour sells today nearly 81 a bar
rel below the price Of a year ago, and So
barrel below the high price Of May, 1898.
But in the majority of other products the
cost Of living has advanced, and in metal
and textile materials especially, owing to
the rise since August. 1898, of nearly 100
per cent in iron and tin, of SO to 70 per eens
in copper, and of 30 to 40 per cent in such
staples as joint cloths. the consumer is
decidedly worse of than he was twelve
months ago.
Dry goods men, in commenting on ths
present peculiar situation in the markets
for wholesale supplies, and the general in
crease OF prices. generally said that the
retailer was getting his share OF the bene-
! fits aecruing from the advances in silk.
wooden. and manufactured goods. IN a
clear explanation of the conditions UNDER
| lying the market, the general manager
of one of the large jobbing houses remark
ed that retailers were making advances
fully as radical as those of jobbers and
manufacturers.
He sketched the career Of a case OF
prints from the loom to the sewing-ma-
chine. To begin with, cotton is higher, and
as result the print-eloth market IS now
about three quarters of a cent above the
| price prevailing at this time last year.
There has been a general advance in dye
stuffs and in starch; the pine boards with
! which the box is constructed, in which the
| goods are packed, are about 10 per cent
) more expensive than formerly; the nails
and woven-wire bands used in fastening
j the package are from 10 to 20 per cent
/ higher, and labor is fully 10 per cent higher
/ than two years ago.
All these things tend TO cause an ad-
| vance of about 10 per cent in the cost OF
| a case of prints when it goes 70 the re-
I taller The same excuse which warrants
/ this advance of 10 per cent from second
/ hands does duty as an explanation OF 10
/ per cent advance in retailing the prints.
It would be difficult 10 give percentages
| of increase within the last year or two in
the retail stores The opinions OF diifersnC
/ local dealers vary materially. One merchanr
/ said that hardware had advanced so per
cent within a year; another said that ths
] average advance had not been more than
/ 10 per cent; a retail hardware dealer de-
/ clared that advances in some goods had
been as radical as 100 per cent. while others
/ had not amounted TO more than 10, and an
average would be a very hard thing to ar
rive at.
| Housefurnishing goods are said TO be
| from 10 to Is per cent higher than they
were two years ago. a furniture dealer re-
| fused to make an estimate, SAYING that
VIII Q there had been 4 considerable ad-
vance during the year. the present season
was not the proper one in which 70 take
sOundings at would be better" he said.
| Ito wait until the fall trade is well under
way" Carpets are about 20 per cent higher
\ than they were two years ago. Stoves and
kitchen utensils, owing to the advances in
/ iron and other metals, are from 50 70 90
per cent above the prices quoted twelve
months ago.
The war caused the price of Manila rope
to double. It was cents before Dewey
sailed past the forts at Cavite and Cor
| regidor Immediately thereafter there was
an advance Of fc0 per cent, and the price
has remained at about 10 cents ever since
then. The fight between the Sugar Trust
| and the independent refineTs has kept
granulated sugar at about the same price.
> IL to 5-Se 70 the retailer. who sells at
a very small advance. Nearly all kinds OF
spices have also advanced. peppers being
from / 1-2 to cents above last years
price. Fine salt is more expensive. Tha
eoarser grades, however, are cheaper.