Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-06-27
THE ApvANcE in PRICES.

Ih6re is comfort for those lncllneu
to rail at the increased cost OF living
in report made public today by the
statistical department of the bureau OF
commerce and labor of the advance n
prices abroad of articles imported y
the United States. The report t
list Of twenty-five articles W
when aggregated form one-half of
total value of all merchandise impoi :
ed into the country and gives a COM
parison of the prices Of the present
time with those of a decade ago Touch
Ing upon some Of the more important
increases the report says:
The advances in prices shown IN
these principal articles imported, com
pairing average prices in the ten
months ending with April, 1907, with
those of the corresponding months of
1897, are as follows: Pig tin, an ad-
vance Of 207 per cent; copper in pigs,
bars, ingots, etc, 1877 per cent; un,
manufactured fbers, III per cent; iron
ore, 108 per cent; shellac, LOT per cent;
raw cotton, So per cent; lumber, 81
per cent; hides and skins, 63 per cent;
india rubber, SO per cent; raw silk, 81
per cent; wood pulp, Sc per cent; wool,
80 per cent; nitrate of soda, 81 per
cent; and pig iron, % per cent.
While the figures above quoted show
merely the percentage of advance OF
decline in each case, the actual adj
vance or falling off in price per unit
of quantity is equally interesting. COM
pairing the figures for the ten months
of 1907 with those Of the same month
of 1897, pig tin shows an advance
from 13 cents per pound in. 1897 to 40
cents per pound in 1907; copper in
pigs, ingots, bars, etc. from 81 cents
per pound in 1897 to 10 cents In 1907;
manufactured fibers, from $61 per
ton in 1897 to $133 per ton in 1907;
iron ore, from s1.44 per ton in 1897 to
So per ton in 1907; shellac, from 16
qsnts per pound in 1897 to 80 cents
iIfI907 tea from a little over IL cents
per pound in 1897 to fraction above
"a cents in 1907; raw cotton, from
111s cents per pound in 1897 to 10
cents in 1907; hides and skins, from
ia cents per pound in 1897 to % cents
in 1907; boards. planks, and deals,
from $40 per M. feet in 1897 to SIT In
1907; raw silk. from $2.41 per pound
In 1897 to 1915 in 1907; wood pulp,
from $40 per ton in 1897 to 500 in 1907:
india rubber, from 40 cents per pound
in 1897 to II cents in 1907; cacao, from
az cents per pound in 1897 to Ia cents
in 1907, while sugar is in each case
valued at practically 2 cents per pound
the advance being slightly less than
! per cent, and coffee shows q fall
from IL cents per pound in 1897 to 8
cents in 1907. Thus coffee and sugar,
which form by far the largest items
in the importation of foodstuffs, show
in one case decline and in the other
no advance, while tea and cacao, OF
which the value of the imports is less
than one-fourth that of coffee and sug.
ar, show an advance
The bureau calls attention to the
fact that the increase largely affects
manufacturers materials, and In 8
more limited way, manufacturers, and
that foodstuffs show but little advance
and In some cases a decline.
The principal articles imported FOL
food purposes in the order of theil
n value are sugar, coffee, tea, cacao
fruits, wines, liquors, spices etc. TAX
ing the average price for the ter
months ending with April, 1907 ant
comparing with that for the cores
ponding period Of 1897 sugar show:
an advance Of slightly less than i pei
cent coffee shows a decline of owe
20 per cent, tea an advance of 100 pei
cent, cacao an advance Of 48 per cent
distilled spirits an advance of Is pc
cent, and champagne and other spark
ling wines an advance Of 2 per cent
While 1t will be agreed it might hav'
been worse still the increase which
averages 55.21 per cent on all imports
and 1906 per cent on exports Is no
as reassuring as it might be.
HENRY PECK LOCATED.
Council Bluffs Is the home of tn
original Henry Peck. Proof Of this wa