New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1902-04-19
EAST SIDERS PROTEST.
THE HIGH PRICE OF BEEF
HITS THEN HARD.
MANY DEALERS DRIVEN OUT OF BUSI-
NESS, AND MUCH SUFFERING Is
SURE TO FOLLOW.


and unprecedented increase in the price of beef
The $500 900 tenement house dwellers living be-
tween Houston-st, Bowery and East River
mite in their outcry against a scale of prices
that means not starvation, but diet that can
onlv result in a weakening Of the physical con-
stitution of thousands. Day by day as the poor
reople go out TO make their purchases they find
that the same amount of money viii buy hardly
half the amount Of provisions that OBJ
tanned a few weeks ago The time Of holidays
among the Jewish people, the festivities that be-
long 10 this season. are no longer joyfully cele
brated A feeling of dread and anxiety OPP
nresses each housekeeper who has nightly to
, calculate how far 80 or 60 cents will go in
urovidirg for family of ten twelve
II IS not merely that the price Of beef has
risen from Il to IS and 90 cents a pound; that
cf7ops that could be bought for u now cost 16
cents q pound; that even fat. a very important
article in the diet, which used sell ten pounds
forS1. now costs 81 30 for the same amount, that
causes apprehension. That is only one Of the
sources Of worry. Eggs, chickens, prunes. beets,
butter-indeed, every article Of diet that the
-eople have been able TO purchase in the past
have now scared far beyond the reach Of the
East Side housekeeper.
WILL DRIVE MANY DEALERS OUT.
There is also the religious side Of the Ques-
-ion TO consider The strictly orthodox Jews are
hound 10 buy only kosher killed meat. This is
always more expensive than the ordinary meat
To-day steaks in the kosher market bring over
90 cents q pound, where they were only worth
i cents short time ago. On May the leases
of many OF the kosher stores expire They Will
not be renewed. The apprehension aroused
among the small dealers will result IN driving
them out Of business Already in the holiday
season. when the people Of the East Side spend
bA business kosher
markets has decreased % per cent When the
season IS over they cannot expect business
enough 10 exist. Their margin is narrow enough
ef hest and the kosher markets will be prac-
ticaIly wiped out.
The attitude Of the East Side to this situation
is one Of protest-not violent for the people are
TOO used to oppression to be deeply moved. The
factory workman who has had meat for one
meal in the day will be obliged to subsist with
out IT, Men are working fourteen and sixteen
hours a day in factories and sweat shops.
and subsistfng from weeks end TO weeks end
without meat. Canned goods to some extent
supply the place. Vegetables are introduced
into the rneagre bill Of fare. but East Side vese-
tables are neither very fresh, since they come
from pushcarts, nor likely in the long run TO be
very healthful.
I'VE shall not starve,' said a prominent East
Side citizen to e Tribune reporter yesterday.
This: People will live on food that does not
sufficiently nourish and the result will be that,
not to-day nor tomorrow, but il the hot sum-
mer days when life the East Side IS scarce
" tolerable under any condition, the underfed,
overworked people will break down, and you
viii have q condition that will react, on the
health condition OF the entire city"
HARD ON THE HEBREW BUTCHERS.
Meyer shoerfeld the fusion candidate for
alderman in the With Assembly District had
the same story TO tell. we are not able to
separate the question Of the prices Of meat from
that Of the Sunday closing Of stores over here"
said he The Hebrew butcher has only five
days TO keep open He must close on Saturday,
the Jewish Sabbath; he must close legally on
Sunday. The result is that he has only five
days, while his rent is the same as the butchers
that keeps open six days. But kosher meat is
what the great mass of the population are
bound TO buy There you have the situation
Now the kosher dealer is being driven out Of
business Meanwhile the Union Beef Company,
which believe is part Of the trust, is opening
dozens Of new stores all around the district.
They sell for less than the local dealer. BY and
by, when he is driven out, this company will
also raise the prices.
DO I know Of suffering? Certainly. Next
door 10 is poor family large family-that
They have only so much a day that can be ex-
pended in food. To-day they pay the same
price and get only a pound. The question Of
beef is only part Of the story. Where We used |
10 get prunes for six cents a pound they now |
cost 10 cents. Onions used to be three cents a |
pound; two pounds for five cents; now they cost |
from four TO five cents pound Butter has |
risen from 16 to 10 cents a half pound. In |
deed bread is about the only stationary article |
OF food. Rents, too, have gone up tremendously |
In the last year. It's a pretty hard outlook the |
East Side has.
PATHETIC SIGHTS AT THE SHOPS.
The sights to be seen at some of the small /
butcher shops pathetic. Women whose hus- |
bands allow them 80 or 40 cents day to Pro-
VIDE Tor the family food for the dav wistfully /
price the different scraps Of meat and bone. try /
ing TO find some piece undesirable that their |
scanty funds secure il. The refuse in the /
SHOPS is greedily snapped up at from 10 to 10 |
cents a pound. Women hasten back to the /
tenements closely grasping the few ounces Of |
meat which they have secured. Even the chill |
cren are sent out to haggle with dealers, in the |
nope OF getting better terms.
Christian butcher at the corner of Delaney |
eno Allen SITS. had the same story Of conditions |
70 relate. Il have the best and most expensive |
trace IN the district" said he and yet that has |
cents in the pound recently. Calves have come /
~ half cent this week. The result Of all this |
Is that the small dealers being driven out |
" business. Their margin is narrow enough IN |
any case They barely subsist- Now they will |
nave TO get out"
Throughout the whole East Side there is the |
same cutlery Men women and children are suf- |
lerlng, and the of their suffering, rightly
or wrongly, is laid to a trust which they be- |
heVe 10 be growing rich their miseries The |
protest protest that they make is not loud. it is not |