The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-11-17
HARD TIMES CRISIS
 WORRYING ENGLAND
Feared That Worse Is Yet
 To Come
CHRISTMAS PUDDING
War Has Stopped Supply of Dainties. Politician Sends Wrong Letter To His Wife and His
 Narrow Escape

London. November 16.-(Special.)- England Is not alone in facing the high cost of living crisis is small consolation to the millions who are feeling the pinch of hard times. Recently figures have been prepared which afford pretty clear req son for the social unrest, the many strikes and the generally unsatisfactory condi- ton of the laboring classes.
 Taking 1907 a standard and figuring 1t as 10O we find that at present wages stand at 99.7o. Retail prices in London of the necessities of life at 1O9.9. In many of the staples the divergent is even great CT. For example. the retail price of bread stands at HAS in comparison with 1900, of sugar 1243 and of bacon 1889.
 British labor is none too well paid at best and when 1t Is faced with 10 per cent increase in the necessities of life and a small decrease in the wages 1t is small wonder that they are sulky and restless.
 And there is reason to fear worse is to come.
 Bacon, butter, sugar, cheese. meat, po- tatoes and coal, among the chief necessa- res, will all be dearer. Already milk has gone up penny quart, serious thing where a growing family has to be catered to. Though the summer has been an ex- eeptionally fine one, it has left its legacy in the shape of that extra penny. The long drouth has caused great scarcity of cattle food for the coming winter and dairymen have been selling milk at loss during the past few weeks. This extra penny that they are now forced to charge means some thousands of pounds every week extra to the poor housewives
 Dear potatoes and green stuffs at fam inc prices are also other of the things the family caterer will have to face. Ono big wholesale merchant stated short while ago: "If the worst fears are real ized potatoes, which now range from four pounds for 2d. to Id. a pound, may raise to a price almost unprecedented. The scarcity of greenstuffs will naturally increase the demand for potatoes, but with such bad crops there is a prospect Of serious shortage. Already as hign as 95s. q ton Is being paid for the best qualities
 Strikes and drouths are bad enough, but now that war has broken out be- tween Italy and Turkey the British house. wife will be faced with the unpleasant fact that she may have no Christmas pudding to cook. Christmas without Christmas pudding is almost unthinkable. yet it is no use blinking cold, hard facts. The mere threat of war had a disastrous effect on trade with Turkey. The out break of war has practically killed the trade for the time being.
 The housewife will have good cause to remember the Tripoli trouble, for it is | from Turkey that the chief supplies of | sGltanas, entrants, raisns nuts, citron | peel and dried figs come. This is the time of year when thousands of tons Of dried and dates should be reaching London for the Christmas markets.
 Italy has stopped all that
 Already there is a shortage in the most necessary things that go to make Christ mas jolly, and by the time the housewife Is ready to cook her buildings and pies for Yuletide, prices will have reached a damine standard. Over $5,0OO,OO0 worth of the ingredients wanted for plum buildings, mince pies and desserts come from Fur key alone, and the sudden stoppage of the enormous supply means that many family will have no Christmas pudding this year.
 Facing the prospect of going without her Christmas plum pudding the house. wife has also to face the fact that her Christmas dinner, in any case, will cost her more. If the war should stop at once 1t will be weeks before trade with Turkey
 is restored, and every days delay now means an increase in prices of Yuletide luxures.
 Moreover sugar. necessary in the inak-
 ing of all kinds of sweets pies and pud- dings, has gone up. Eggs, another nec- essary article when pastry Is in evidence. are penny to three pence dozen dearer than they were this time last year. But ter Is two pence to six pence pound dearer than usual: cheese has risen, bread will be dearer, and so will flour. In fact, whichever way the housewife turns this coming winter she will be faced with a rise in food.
 shilling this winter will only go as far as nine pence would last winter.
 A well known politician had very nar- row escape from domestic trouble during the last few weeks. It appears he has been taking the cure at Marienbad, his wife having remained at home. Like A dutiful husband, one day he wrote 8 long letter informing his faithful spouse how lo'ely and miserable he felt by himself and how much he missed her cheerful companionship. Unfortunately for him he had at the time also written letter to a charming lady, who was also undergoing the cure, inviting her to a quiet little dim ner for the following evening. It was perhaps, natural. under the circumstances he indicated how much pleasure he had derived from her company at a previous little social engagement. In the course of few hours he received a note from the Marenbad lady informing him that he had sent her a letter which obviously was not intended for her.
 He at once realized the situation. He had put the two letters in the wrong en- velopes, and unfortunately the envelope addressed to his wife had already been posted. What was he to do? He sent a long telegram to his wife imploring her by all the love she felt for him not to open the letter which she would receive from him on the following day, but to re- turn 1t unopened. Like the dutiful wife she was she did so. In order to show his appreciation of her obedience his friends say that he has presented her with a beautiful set of most expensive ftlrs. If would be interesting to know how many wives would have acted in such an abso- lutcly loyal manner. It is only necessary politician in question to induce him 70 dis play a tremendous desire to change the subject of conversation.
 Hobbe skirts have led to serious labor disturbance at Northampton. All the giris employed by the Brook Manufactur- ing company, numbering 12O0 were locked out. The girls owing to the introduction of the hobble skirt and the consequent de- crease in the demand for underskirts had been assigned to other work at which they declare they cannot earn living wage. Tie discontented hands went out on strike and failing to reach a settlement the