Daily Arizona silver belt., 1907-09-12
BALLOON PRICES
 COMING WINTER
Wholesale Grocers Say that the Recent Increase in Prices Has Scarcely Been a Circumstance to the Prices Already in Sight for the Country.

It is going to be "hard pickin " for the man with small salary and q family on his hands this winter, says the Fl Paso Times.
 Foodstuffs of all kinds, groceries, ce- reals, produce and even kitchen uten' sils, according to the wholesalers, will be from 40 to 200 per cent higher than last year, and everybody thought they were high enough last year. Accord ing to the schedule of increase in the Various lines the man whose grocery bill has been running in the neighbor- hood of $35 to $40 per month vii have the unpleasant alternative of either digging up $45 to $6O per month or cutting down either the quality or the quantity of his table supplies.
 The wholesale dealers say that the recent increase in prices has scarcely been circumstance to the advance already in sight. Canned goods of all kinds will be up more than 40 per cent. Owing to the backward spring, and late frost, the fruit crop, they say, has been ruined. Not only are the prices almost out of sight, but it is diff cult to get the goods even. Orders for canned goods are cut in two usually and frequently are not filled at all, ac' eording to the iobbers. One or two of the local wholesalers who were forum ate enough to make large purchases in one or two lines in advance of the sea son are greatly elated with their good luck. Others seem to be much worried over inability to get their orders filled.
 Other canned goods are striking the high note in sympathy with the fruits. Canned vegetables are going to be 40 per cent higher than last year, while salmon, etc., will be even higher.
 According to MT. M. Ainsa of M. Ainsa X Sons, wholesale groeers, it will not be very long before salmon will be practically extinct. Already Columbia river salmon are almost out of the mar ket. The encroachment of civilization is driving theHe fish further up the riv- CTS, and it is o2ly a question of a few years until thera won't be any more. Red Alaska salmon form the largest part of the market supply at present, and according to the same authority even the crops of red salmon are rap idly diminishing. The increasing short age of the annual trop and the greater demand on account Sf the higher prices in other lines has resulted in the in creased prices in this class of canned goods.
 The rise in flour prices is ascribed to the short crop in e,reals this year. The dealL4s predict an Increase of over loo per cent. The present. prices run from s3 to s3.5O, as compared with s2.5O to s2.75 last year.
 Even various grocery sun9ries, kitch- en hardware and the like are on the boom, owing to the higher prees of iron and other metals and to tle higher prices for labor. In fact, the high price of labor is mentioned by the deal CTS as likely to influence retail prices more than wholesale.
 But there is one rift in the clouds. Everything else will go ballooning, but the prices on coffee and sugar, usually the aristoerats of high prices in grocery lines, will remain stationary.
 The commission merchants also have story of crop shortage to relate. Prices on various lines, according to the D. M. Payne company, are 40 to 100 per cent higher than last year. Whether the high prices on produce will continue to go higher the commission men are reluctant to say. They express a hope that prices will go down, how ever.