Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1911-09-15
With Winter Practically at
Hand Present High Prices
Are Viewed With Alarm
FEAR REPETITION OF 1910
New York Experts in Foodstutts
Market Say Cost of Necessities
VIII Not Be Excessive

| New YORK, Sept. 1I.-W Hllo ChooS
ands are starving in China ana
France is being torn with riots IN
protest against the high cost Of food,
there is renewed attention in this
country to the fact that sugar has
reached it's highest point in twelve
wears, that coffee is soaring, thu po-
tatoes are selling as high as $1.10
bushel in the field. In view OF
! this householders are asking them
selves: "Will this winter see re-
currence of the conditions of 1909
10, when the cost of living reached
it's apex and declined slowly only
after many so-called boycotts against
meat and other high-priced commo-
dities were declared throughout the
land?"
To this question economic experts
seen here today answer, no. Prices
will be higher, they say, in some
instances above those of last win
ter-but they add that the man who
sets his table with plain everyday
fare, avoiding fancy brands and
near-luxuries may await the ap-
proach of cold weather without I'M
due anxiety
Conditions More Favorable
1t is pointed out that generally,
with the exception of coffee, pOta.
toes and a few canned vegetables,
the present month of September was
ushered in with conditions more IA
vorable to the consumer. than was the
case a year ago. On September l
mess pork was quoted at SO bar
rel, wholesale, as against $24 on the
same date in 1910; the wholesale
price of ham is little more than Is
cents a pound, as compared with IS
cents in the early fall of last year;
western lard is selling at a fraction
more than cents, as compared
against more than IL cents in Sep
TENDER, 1910, and butter and eggs
are both comparatively reasonable
and a few cents cheaper at retail
than in last September.
Flour of good quality is selling at
lowest retail prices at $5.95 a bar
rel, the same price that prevailed at
this time last year, and bacon may
be had at some stores for 20 cents a
pound, as against 23 and rs cents
year ago.
Beef May Advance
1.-The average family steak costs
about % cents a pound, as it did
last year, though experts say that
with all feeding crops short it is not
unlikely that beef will go higher as
the winter progresses.
The cost of poulty will be largely
determined by cold storage holdings.
The indications are that the short
age of potatoes is serious, not only
in this country, but in Great Britain
and Germany. In the fall of last |
year one could buy good potatoes in
the field at SIS cents a bushel; today
the prices range from IS cents to
more than a dollar. Canned peas. |
beans and tomatoes also will be
higher, but rice remains cheap. and
unless there is a marked advance in
pork 1t is argued that the man of
slender means can provide for his
family without serious strain.
At Phenonnenaily High Rates
Sugar and coffee are both phenom-
enally high, but those who are
the market predict that de-
creased consumption, which invari-
IDLY follows a prohibitive advance,
Will soon restore these two breakfast
able necessities to a more normal
evel