The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1901-04-26
MONEY A CENTURY AGO.
fits Purchasing Power Was Small in
the "GOOd Old Times" in
England.

Nothing throws into holder or more
striking relief the progress achieved
by the masses of the English people
in the direction of comfort and good
living during the century now closing
than a comparison of the purchasing
power of the sovereign of hundred
years ago with that of the same SOW
ereign to-day, says the London Mail.
Take bread, for example-the staff
of life then to a far greater degree
even than it is at present! On Janu-
airy /, 1901, the quartern loaf was SELL
ing in London at Is. 9Ad., and in March
it had risen to Is. 10%d. Its present
price varies from 4d. to 3D., according
to the quality of the flour and the To-
cality in which it is retailed. 1t fol-
lows, therefore, that the housewife of
a century ago had to expend four SOW
ereigns to purchase approximately the
same quantity of bread as is obtainab BILE
to-day for one.
Barley "griddles" and oaten cakes
were, it is true, largely used as a sub
stitute for wheaton bread, but little
was gained thereby, for the selling
price of these inferior grains arose in
sympathy.
Nor was this enormous disparity be-
tween prices prevailing then and now
confined to cereals alone. Beef fetched
a shilling pound, mutton 13d., and veal
lad. And these were average prices.
For choice cuts one-and-siX and one
and-eight were asked and obtained.
No butter was to be had in 1901 at
less than 16d. pound, and cheese cost
a shilling. Candles were quoted at Id.
loaf sugar at I'D, and soap at 10d.
ury in those days. Coffee fetched 8
per hundredweightl in. bond. and to
this had to be added e2 IS. Sd. duty,
making the price to the wholesale
merchant 6 1G IS. Sd. The price now
is about Ell los. per hundredweight
Even tea, which is now found in COM
parative profusion in the poorest cot
tage, was then the luxury of the we'll
TODD only, the commonest kinds being
quoted at from rs. to 9s. the pound
This quality. moreover, was largely
adulterated with sloe, licorice and ash
tree leaves. Really good, pure tea cost
10s., 12s.. and even lis. the pound.
1t was much the same with other
minor luxuries. The high price of
sugar of course affected sympathetical-
ly everything into the composition oil
which it entered. Jam was considered
cheap at 1sd. the pound pot, and all
kinds of dried fruits were from 300 to
500 per cent. dearer than at present.
We grumble at the price of Goals
now, but in the winter of 1s00-1S01
they were being hawked in the streets
of London at e2 lis. a caldron. A load
of hay fetched e7 3s. in Whitechapel
on January 5, 1901. Small turnips were
retailed at one penny apiece. large
ones were worth twopence to three
pence.
Even wearing apparel was expensive
beyond all conception. An ordinary
suit of WOODEN clothes cost between es
and go. A pair of boots fetched SOW
ereign. Yet, withal, trade had never
been worse. Manchester, Leeds, Shelf
field, Coventry all told the same tale
of factories closed and workpeoplt
starving. These were the days wher
raw silk was quoted in the Londor
market returns at 6 12s. per pound
and "scarce at that" This was largely
due to the war then raging will
France, the risks due to which added
enormously to the cost of freight ant
Insurance. Thus a small ship of les
than 400 tons burden charged e 10000
for bringing a cargo from Calais t.
London. From Bordeaux $4,000 wa
asked and paid; and no wonder, whel
on an average three out of every fiv,
vessels flying the British flag home
ward bound were overhauled by Frencl
privateers.