The Paducah evening sun. [volume] (Paducah, Ky.) 1906-1929, 1909-12-15
.BVEN LYING
is A LUXURY
BUREAU OF STATISTICS SAYS
BAD DEBTS A CAUSE.
In II Years Cost of Living Has In
creased BIB Per Cent-Advance
In Food Has Exceeded.
PRICES ARE HIGHEST IN CITIES

Trenton. y. j., Dec. 1.-THE bu
reau of statistics of labor and in
dustry in its report for 1909, jus
Issued here, shows some startling re
sults of study OF the cost of living
lgivlng among other things, a com
parison OF retail prices as reporte,
from 20 cities. towns and villages il
the state for a selected bill of good
containing upwards of so article
chosen with view to making tn,
entire list as nearly az possible repre-
sentative OF the standard varieties O
table supplies in use by families o
average incomes.
In recognition of the equal eco
monte Importance of prices and
wages the bureau has for the past Il
years given an accurate presentation
Iof the trend of both In its annua,
reports.
The statistical presentation con-
sists of three tables. the first OF VIII lch
gives the total cost OF the entire bill
OF goods, consisting of upwards of
Ififty articles (the quality in weight
Tor measure OF each being speclfied)
In each of the 20 municipalities. and
also the average cost for the entire
lstate.
Table No. is a comparison Of the
price quoted for each separate article
in 1903. compared with 1908. and
table No. 3 is OF the same character.
except that the comparison is be-
tween the prices OF 1909 and those
OF 1908. thus showing the advance in
prices which has taken place during
the intervening IL years.
Prices High in Cities.
The highest price reported is s15.e3
and the lowest s11.lT. In three To-
calities the cost of the bill is less than
si2, in twelve localities the cost Is
more than sl2 and less than sI3. in
twenty-folr localities II is s13. but
under sli. in fifteen localities Il is
from s14 to SIS. and in thirteen To-
Icalities less than SIC. The average
cost of the bill of goods for the en-
tire state is $13.S2. In 1895 the
average cost for the state was $500.
The Increase for the year is there
fore SO cents. Ga per cent.
The fact is noted that as a rule
prices are highest in the larger cities
and towns and lowest in the smaller
communities.
The report attributes the larger
prices in the larger places of popula-
ton to rents, wages OF employees, cost
of delivery and bad debts resulting
from doing business on credit. The
trade of country stores Is usually free
from these membranes. rents are
How food supplies are as a rule sold
from general stores which handle
many other lines OF merchandise.
customers carry away their purchases
and practically all sales being on the
basis Of cash or barter, there are no
bad debts.
Some of the Advances.
The comparison between the prices
quoted for the test bill Of goods in
1898 aud those furnished BY the same
dealers from the same localities for
1903. shows that the aggregate price
of the same has increased 37.13 per
cent during the last eleven years.
The Increases for teas and coffees
have been comparatively slight.
Butter shows an advance of 65.5S
per cent; -four. per barrel. $685. per
cent: fresh meats OF all kinds show
increases that are very large, the
greatest being 5l.56 for fresh pork.
Bacon leads among the smoked
meats with an advance of AGA per
cent.
The average increase OF 37.13 per
cent in the cost of food supplies
which is shown TO have taken place
since 1898 means that a family
whose consumption OF goods selected
from this list in 1898 amounted to an
average of Sc weekly, finds itself In
1893 obliged TO pay $S.23 for the
same quantity'of similar articles.
The advance In cost of food is only
partly offset by the increase in aver
age earnings OF persons employed in
manufacturing industry, which for
the eleven years amounted to only
10 per cent. The cost of living,
therefore, so far as the table supplies
are concerned, IS shown to have out
run the advance in wages by approxi-
mately Is per cent.