The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1902-04-23
Coarser GIades Advance.

These figures are. for the best kinds of
meat only. Brisket has advanced from
to 10 and 121k cents a pound. The
eoarser grades of meat have gone up dur
ing the past week from 5 and 6 cents to
125k and Is cents. These grades include
chuck. shoulder, skin, flank, neck, and
rump.
It is these latter kinds. together with
the round steak and the brisket, which
have formed the stock for the soups,
stews. potToasts, and other everyday
food Of the men and women who labor
with their hands. 1t Is not otter that
they have INDUCED in porterheuse or
sirIoin steaks and the higher-prieed
roasts and boiling pieces" were enjoyed
only occasionally for the Sunday and
holiday dinners
Now the luxury of a good piece Of
steak is entirely beyond their reach even
occasionally, and meat of any kind is be
coming to be regarded as an extrava-
gance If they want a piece Of the
s'cOarsCr grade" Of beef Of any kind to
cook with Their cabbage: potatoes. or tur
nips they must pay nearly twice as much
for IL as heretofore.
Attitude Of Retail Men.
The operations Of the Beef Trust, which
have brought about this advance in the
schedule Of prices and effected a corner
on the blood and muscle-producing food
Of the people, have also forced the retail
dealers into an attitude of underpaid de-
pendence- They admit that the trust has
a s-cinch" on the business. In discussing
the situation this morning one of the
dealers who used TO kill from eighteen
to twenty-five head OF cattle a week, but
who says that he has not made anything
out of the business for two years, said:
Prices have been high before, but it
has generally been when there was a
scarcity OF meat Look through the pack
ing-houses now and you will see that
there IS no such thing The concerns
which have combined to hold the prices
up have plenty OF meat. They can also
say just what we must pay for it. and we
have TO pay il.
Scarcity of Cattle
They viii tell you that the scarcity OF
cattle, induced By the partial failure of
the corn crop last year, is the cause of the
advance in prices The limited number
Of cattle On the market is not due to that
so much as the fact that the trust de-
HberateIy discouraged the production of
cattle by the farmers that they might
control tie market. This they could do
because Of the fact that the concerns
which form the combine got together and
agree5 on certain price to pay for beef
cattle, and the farmer must either take
that or noting. As cOnsequzE zee the
farmers could not aGoTg to sell their cat
tie and it was easy for the trust to corner
the entire output They have It, and they
are going to get all they can out of it
while it lasts. They can ship Il from
place to place They do not even need to
unload it from the cars. but can send il
on to the next town TO be disposed Of
They don't need to unload in any one
place and break the market The Only
Keller 7 can see for the situation is to let
in the Mexican cattle"
Other Foodstufs Rise.
Out Of sympathy with the price Of beef.
all focdstufTs have risen Fresh vege-
tables are from 33I-3 to so per cent
higher than they were a year ago. Po-
tatoes are $40 per busheI Beans are
25c per half peck, as against 35c a half
bushel one year ago Lard has doubled
in price in the last twelve months EIgin
butter has increased I0c per pound In that
time. Eggs have advanced from I2c TO
zoe a dozen, and chickens have gone up.
Cottolene and butteriBe. artificial sub5ti-
tutes for lard and butter respectively, have
also increased in price with the demand
Tor them
The agents of the large packing com
panies deny The existence of d beef trust
The Retail Meat Dealers Association
is waiting for the result of the inve5ti-
CATION by Attorney General Knox before
taking any further steps to fight the
octopus"
IN the meanwhile many in the poorest
classes are going without beef: those in
better circumstances are paying more
money for q cheaper grade. the boarding
house people are putting norezloodIes in
the soup. and the vegetarian cafes are be-
coming popular
TO CURE GRIP IN TWO DAYS.
Laxative BroH.o-Quinine removes the cause. E