Sistersville daily oil review. [volume] (Sistersville, W. Va.) 1902-1905, 1904-03-25
HIGH PRICES

1 4AClC oAC kAS1oSeJ - 80
that are selling at a lower price
now than some time ago, bat they
Iare indeed few, and as the cost Of
one thing that Is considered neces
Isary to the life of man decreases q
a tiny bit, the cost of others 60 up,.
and so, taking the matter In Its
Ientirety, there Is a steady upward
tendency In the cost OF living,
Statisticians have figured an In
crease, averaging 10 per cent. In
one year and the ordinary house
holder will believe the figures.
We have safely passed the monu-
mental era for eggs for this season
and they are once more getting
down where they can be reached by
others than the bloated bondhold-
ers, but theyaare about the only,
articles that have decreased In
price, and the majority of articles
are soaring at figures that make a
thousand dollar salary look very
weak indeed.
Some of the increases can be
seen to be quite natural result Of
natural conditions, as the price Of
| articles will naturally 60 up when
/ they are scarce or ont of season, but
by far the most of the high prices
lean be traced, directly to the man
iipulation of prices by the magnates
twho are In a position to do what
1they please, without regard to the
feelings or the kicks OF the public.
The worst of 1t all Is experienced
when sickness comes upon some
one In the family. The wage
learner has nothing saved for this
lemergency. High prices on every
thing the family eats and wears,
! the high rent that Is advanced
Isome more with every new year
Ihave depleted the family exchequer
and fixed things so that the weeks
|expenses clean up regularly the
weeks salary, and so there Is never
any surplus when sickness comes.
Coffee Is on the upward road, all
canned goods are higher than they
were, potatoes are elevated, meat
has tall price tags tackled on 1t, ap'
pies can be dimly seen peeping
down from behind the clouds, and
there Is perhaps not a single article
In the long list of necessities that
has not been increased In price any
where from 20 to 100 per cent In
In the past couple Of years, and
from present indications 1t appears
that the end Is not yet, and that In
the near future we will be paying
still more for things that we con-
slider necessary to the enjoyment of
life liberty and the pursuit of happi-
ness.
And sickness Is certainly an ex.
persive luxury. 1t was costly
enough before, but now with the
Increased rates of the physicians
and the high prices Of drugs, 1t Is
practically impossible for any PERI
son to pail through q sickness
without going into charity hospit.
al or going miles into debt. Medi|
cine Is different from other things,
and q higher price for that Is harder
on the public than anything else,
the reason being that If the price
of clothing Is increased a man can
do with fewer suits and though 1t
may be disagreeable; and An exh Or
bltant price of eggs means that
there will be less eggs consumed,
and even though the poorer living
will be distasteful, 1t will not really
mean death. But when one Is sick,
they want medicine and not know.
ing what kind of medicine they
need, they call physician.
The physician arrives on the
scene at $I.5 per arrival and usual
ly changes the medicine at each
visit, while the enormous cost of
prescriptions gets higher and high:
e1 and even should the unfortunate
sufferer recover from the illness of
his body and the worry of his mind
that the bill will cause, he has poor
chance of ever getting out from
under the pile of bills that have &C
cn,unlated dnrinp his Illness.