The Washington herald., 1906-11-20
AUTOS TRIPLE PRICES
Leather Advanced Because of
Demand for Car Fittings.
BOOKS WILL COST MORE, TOO
Novelties of All Kinds, and Even the
Actual Necessities of Life, Affected
by Increased Call for Raw Mate
riaIs-Market Depleted by Manu-
facturers of Expensive Cars.

The less prosperous citizen who has
watched the luxuriously appointed auto
mobile speed by with a feling akin to envy
has a new cause for complaint.
The popularity Of the motor car among
the weil-tO-do long ago caused the oil
trus, to lift the price Of gasoline. Then
there was a gradual but none the less in
evitable and permanent rise in the rates
for fine steel and other articles cf COM
merce needed in the manufacture Of these
modern machines.
And now the general advance in the cost
Of raw materials hews q little closer to
the actual necessities Of life. The price
OF leather has gone soaring, too. Books
will cost more, blank ledgers VIII be
doubled or quadruDled in price, and many
other articles in common usage will be af-
fected by the general rise This is di-
rectly due to the fact that IL brands Of
leather. are in greater demand and there
fore more expensive.
All the Fault of the Auto.
Ii is all the fault Of the automobile.
The enormous output Of motor cars in re-
cent years, and the consequent increase in
the demand for high-grade hides. has
caused the prices Of hides TO advance from
10 to 80 per cent.
The automobile manufacturer has sac
rifced all expense in the effort 10 pro-
cure the utmost elegance In fittings and
design. A hide that formerly was split
in three grades Of articles, now is en-
p.oyed without alteration in dressing the
motor car.
The market has been drained TO the
point Of depletion. The prices OF raw ma
terials have been increased materially
and the retailer Of leather-bound books
and novelties has been hard hit.
Books to Go Higher, Too.
Stauoners say that advances recently
have been made in almost every important
line that they sell, the increase coming
from the manufacturers. The latest lift is
about 10 per cent. affecting most grades
OF blank books The talk OF the trade is
that all books are TO 60 still higher.
Il is explained that the cloth and leather
used in binding cost more than formerly.
Manufacturers assert that they are rushed
10 I'll orders. and that the advance In
Price will not check the trade.
Leather novelties OF all kinds have gone
up from 10 to % per cent Postal cards
Of leather cost % per cent more than a
short time ago. Straps have advanced
equally. and coarser manufactures from
10 10 % per cent Dear hides are said TO
be tbe primary cause.
A representative Of one OF the largest
stationery manufacturers IN the country
explained the advance yesterday. He
said
Perhaps the layman would not under
stand al first how the manufacture OF
automobiles could sffect the price OF
leather Almost every article used in the
production Of blank books, Iedgers, and
stationery novelties has increased in cost
during the last year. The cost Of paper
alone has remained stationary during this
period, but a sharp advance is expected
within the next thirty days
Enormous Volume of Business.
Never before in the history of my firm
has there been such an enormous volume
Of business. The capacity Of our plant
recently has been increased 50 per cent
and yet We are swamped with orders that
must be held up indefinitely. our agents
no longer try TO obtain new business. as
no promise OF filing orders within a rea-
sonable length OF time can be made. Bus
mess has been checked by too much pros
perity.'