Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1911-09-11
SUGAR MAY REACH
PROH|B|T|VE POINT
IS NOW PRE- EDICTED
Has Already Attained Its High
est Price in Fifteen
Years.
POTATOES AND COFFEE
ALSO SLATED FOR A SOAR
Housewives May Find SOlace in
Fact That Other Staples
Will Descend.

There is CONSERVATION in the minds
of thousands of housewives ambitious
at this season of the year to decorate
thei- cellars with many rows of canned
fruits and jellies over the phenomenally
high price of granulated sugar. 1t is
higher now than it has been for fifteen
years.
The demand for refined sugar during
the months of September and October
is far greater than in any other two
months of the year, and the demand
of the present season, owing to tn in
creased general consumption, is much
beyond that of previous years.
There was a time when granulated
sugar was looked upon in most house
holds as a luxury. The luxury char
act .istic has long since disappeared,
owing to the fact that sugar at FIVE
cents a pound made it possible fc. the
good housewife to use the refined
article in the place of brown sugar or
molasses. With this increasing dis
regard for inferior substitutes and the
wholeE-le and universal use of refined
sugar, the present situation is met with
a great deal of interest and grave con-
Germ.
Anticipation Governs Price.
The price of granulated sugar is gov
erned largely by anticipation. Here
tofore the refiners have always antici-
pated the increased consumption at this
time of the year by holding a large
stock in reserve. This year it has been
impossible to meet the demand owing
to the large and general consumption
- ..;N tr,, Dc
further embarrassed by the poor con-
ditions of the beet crops in Germany,
and 1t Is believed that the Cuban sugar
cane crop will not reach its normal
standard. It is predicted that the sugar
beet crop in Germany will be short one
million tons this year, and while the
exact shortage is problematical there
is certainty of a most serious de-
crease in this Seasons production. II
is this anticipation which warrants
spectators in indulging in the present
system of high prices.
There are two other comm ndities.
regularly and universally used. the
prices of which are much higher than
year ago. They are potatoes and cof-
fee. The reason for these high prices
Is not dissimilar to the cause Of the
advance in sugar prices.
1t is the opinion of the stock brokers
that the coffee crop is much below nor
NAL. Rio No. I. or Santos, roasted
coffee. now is demanding at wholesale
from IS to 20 cents a pound, as against
10 to II cents last year. Eastern po-
tatoes, per. 1870 pounds. cost $2.75 whole
sale, as against s1.75 one year ago.
1t was stated by one of the leading
local wholesale merchants that the
wholesale price of granulated sugar
for the next four or five days would be
from 6% to cents pound. and that
a prohibitive price would be main
tained for at least several weeks.
The potato crop this fall is estimated
to be about 40 per cent short of the
usual production.
While these conditions confronting
the anxious housewife are of serious
nature, there is some relief offered in
the knowledge that many necessary
commodities are much cheaper than
they were last year. In fact, economic
experts say there will be no repetition
of the high-cost-of of-living cry this win
ter. With the exception of sugar, cof-
fee and potatoes and few canned
vegetables the present month wit
nesses q more favorable condition to
the consumer than was the case year
ago.