Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-11-10
HIGH PRICES ABROAD
United States Has No Monop-
oily of Extra Cost.
FOOD AND DRINK EXPENSIVE
Necessaries of Life Advanced Is to
100 Per Cent.
HOTEL AND RAILWAY RATES
Conditions in Many European Cities
in Contrast With Those in
This Country.
HOTEL AND RAILWAY RATES
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.

Herald.
Residents of Europe as we'll as travel
ers, complain bitterly of the increase in
the cost of living. 1t is quite as marked,
and even more embarrassing, to people
of moderate means. than in the United
States. Food and drink, clothing and
household goods, rents for living and bust
ness purposes, and everything else that is
needed by the human family has adj
vanced in value from o to 100 per cent
during the last twelve or fifteen years.
When / first began to go to Europe the
most comfortable and luxurious hotel
apartments in the principal cities could
be had for i francs a day That
was the maximum, and at the smaller
places one could live zen pension"-that
is. on the American plan-with room and
board, for the same price.
In London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, Rome
and the larger cities a single room cost
; francs, or dollar, a day, and you
could drive anywhere in a cab for a franc
or shilling at the most.
Today the cost of the humblest accom-
modations is equal to the cost OF the
most luxurious quarters ten or twelve
years ago. and there is no economy for
an American to buy clothing or anything
else except jewels in Europe. You can
get as good a suit Of clothes and bet
ter fit from your home tailor than from
the fashionable establishments in London
and Paris; and the dressmakers and mil
liners of Paris and Vienna charge just
as much as those of corresponding rep
utation, in America, although they have
the advantage of anticipating the styles.
Hotel Rates High.
charge the American traveller as much as
10
in New York, and he doesn't get any
where near as much for his money. The
prices on the bills of fare at the frst-class
hotels in the smaller, as well as the
larger. cities, all the way from Queens
town to Constantinople, are as high as
those at the Waldorf or Sherry's. and
the portions served are not half as large.
The highest prices 1 have paid for
hotel accommodations during the past
summer were in Odessa, in the Crimea,
at Tiflis and at Baku, and away off in
Tashkend and Bokhara my hotel bills were
as heavy as those at Vienna or Berlin. A
beefsteak. q plate Of bacon and eggs, or
any other simple dish costs the same in
Turkestan, or in the Caucasus, or Hun,
gary, or Germany, as one would have to
pay in Chicago or New York.
The same may be said of railroad fares.
While agitators in the United States are
tiSlu6 " pass Jaws CutUlIlS tuGIu uOWu
to cents a mile. the railways Of Europe
are advancing their charges almost every
year because Of the advanced cost of
fuel for their locomotives and the in
creased wages for their employees As
the European railways are generally
owned and operated by the government,
this advance cannot be charged to over
capitalization. but is made absolutely nec-
essary by the increased expense of OPP
Grafton and maintenance. There is no
alternative. aforementioned railways
are compelled to pay maximum wages,
and their coal, lubricating oil, lumber.
rails and other supplies for construction
and maintenance cost just as much as is
eminent railways are not managed for
profit, but public policy requires them to
pay expenses and accumulate a sinking
fund to redeem the bonds that were is
sued to build them. In order to do this
European railways very generally have
been compelled to advance rates Of fare
and freight, and there has been no inter-
state commerce commission to hear the
complaints and protests Of the public.
Exceed American Charges.
Second-class railway fares throughout
Europe on the principal railways will
now average per mile more than first
class fares in the United States. First
class fares in Europe are about 30 per
|
United States; third-class fares in Europe
are about 40 per cent lower than first
class fares In the United States, but no
one except newly arrived immigrants
would ride third class in this country.
Sleeping car fares are from 90 to 30 per
cent higher, and on trans de luxe 90
per cent higher than in the United States,
and there will always be a controversy
as to the comparative comfort of the
wagon-lit compartment cars of Europe
and the Pullmans in the United States.
1t is purely a matter of taste
1t costs about one-third more for ali
American TO travel the same distance
| in Europe than in the United States, let
| him go the cheapest way he can. because
| he has got to pay extra for his baggage,
| and the fees and tips that are demanded
| by the porters at the railway stations,
servants at the hotels and other persons
| who help him along in his journey must
| be counted In.
| Carriage hire has advanced everywhere,
and is generally double what it used to
be. The advent of the taxicab and the
motor car has increased rather than
diminished the expense of lOcomotion
You can go farther in the same time by
electricity than by horses, but you have
| to pay more for 1t. And the cost Of
pleasure driving in the cities Of Europe