Ottumwa tri-weekly courier., 1910-02-12
TIE HIGH COST OF LIVING.

Guthrie Center Guthrian.-The high
cost of living has stirred the people
from coast to coast and from lakes
to the gulf. Congress has taken the
matter up which will lead to an investi-
cation. In some quarters people have
joined together in non-meat eating
combination. as if the meat they ate
was the only necessity that was eat
ing up their incomes. For one we do
not believe that the producer and the
middlemen are all to blame for this
high cost Of living and think that the
extravaganza of the consumer has
something to do with it. We assume
that like conditions in Guthrie Center
prevail over other communities. Let
us contrast the manner of living now
with thirty years ago. In those days
lit was the rule for every family to
keep a COW, some chickens and pigs.
These domestic animals, with the
garden, about provided a living for the
family AS our population increased.
ordinances were demanded restricting
! the raising of chickens, which drove
many to dispose Of them. Then the
smell of live pork offended the fastidi-
Gus and the family pig had to CO.
Pasture that had for years been free
! to the family COW on the court house
square and the streets was restricted
and the family cow went fifth the
others. Take the housewife of today
and the family COW went with the
of thirty years ago and you will at
! once determine why the cost of living
has increased. Take coffee, the best
| Rio coffee is quoted in the market at
10 81 to, In q
| good old days our wives and mothers
! bought green coffee Drowned 1t in the
oven, and the morning were ushered
| in by the noise of the coffee grinder
heard over the neighborhood Now
we buy it differently. We pay for
Having it Drowned, then pay for hay-
| ing it ground, then pay for nice tin
! can to put it in, with bright flaring
| label, and all this with the middle
mans profit adds to the price of the
product which we pay. Then take the
difference in the kind Of breakfast now
and then and it is enough to make the
! angels weep. Now we must have
some kind of fruit to tempt the appe-
tite to eat the pre-digested fodder that
1 is set before you. No more homemade
sausage and buckwheat cakes, these
1 or l9Ie years nave Deen QlScOVereu 10
! be poison to the system and not con-
ductiye to longevity Still on this
kind of diet some of our ancestors
4 died of old age. Then again electric
lights have taken the place of kero-
scne. Telephones make easy COM
munication. automobiles in place of the
\ family nag. All these, and more add to
the extravaganza of the people which
is bred and fostered by good times
add TO the sum total of the cost of liv-
ine. You never hear people kick on the
/ price OF luxurie.. It's always the neces
sites. The raise of ten cents on a
4 sack Of -four raises howl that can be
heard all over the land A man buys
4 three cigars for a quarter, or a pint Of
drug store whisky for a dollar and he
4 cheerfulIy and sometimes gladly pays
the price with never a kick. He goes
down to the city and pays rs cents for
a big juicy steak and dollar for trim.
innings ard he never says a word, but
at home he roars his head off if he has
to pay 35 cents for a dinner at the ho
tel or restaurant. But when spring
comes and grass grows and the hens
lay. this howl will cease until another
WiDt or romec