El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-01-11
lContIRusd from Page u

could be bought at 1914 cents a pound
while on the other the same cut would
cost % cents a pound. Many people
entrust their marketing to their cooks,
and frequently the explanation Of big
meat bill is to be found there.
The Cooks H0Idup.
A Washington butcher tells an ex-
/ perienee he had with lady Pauncefote.
She had been dealing with him for
/ years One day new cook came to
the British embassy from New York.
/ she went to the meat man and de-
manded commission on all meats
| bought for the ambassadors household.
lie refused to pay the comm fssfOn.
| whereupon she declared she would
| make him rue the day by taking the
| embassys trade away from him. A
! week or so later the ambassadors wife
| telephOned the butcher to came TO the
embassy. She informed him that she
. had not had a good steak or roast for
| several weeks, and wanted to know
/ what the trouble was He told her
/ what the cook had said to him. An
other cook was brought from New York
/ and the British embassy had good meat
/ thereafter. This meat man declares
I mat IN large number Of meat shops
| prices are charged which viii include
commissions to cooks and buffers
When Turkey Was 10 Cents.
Not only has the price OF beef, NUT
ton and pork increased, but that OF
every other kind of meat as well.
could be bought for 10 cents a pound.
A Washington market man recently ex-
hibited an account he kept with Mrs.
Grant when she was in the white house.
The turkeys for her Thanks giving din
ner cost only 10 cents poundl The
account contained dozens Of other items
which showed as remarkable a differ
ence from prices AT present prevailing.
1t is said thai Of all products sold by
the meat men, fish show the smallest
advance over prices one and two de-
cades ago
blame Inspection LAWS.
Some persons attribute part Of the
responsibility for higher meat prices to
the enforcement of the meat inspection
laws They pOirst out that several mil
lion animals are condemned annually,
ana that millions of pounds OF meat
from otherwise healthy animals also
been estimated that approximately ]
percent of all the hogs sent to market
are condemned, and that an average Of
a pound and a half Of meat from each I
slaughtered animal is condemned
Perhaps the most spontaneous and l
rapidly spreading popular movement {
ever inaugurated IN the United States {
was that begun in 1910 in Cleveland /
for boycoting the meat dealers during /
the reign Of high meat prices. The !
movement was started By Fred ". Sc /
vein, a factory foreman. One day he I
wrote on slip of paper a pledge, de- /
reign OF high prices, buy any meat.
He showed this little pledge TO his 4
friends. In a week 10000 others had {
signed q similar pledge. In a fort 2
wide as the nation, and had affected I
hundreds Of cities Many meat men
declared that they lost thousands Of
dollars BY the crusade, However, as
was predicted, the enthusiasm Of the /
fight died out in Q. few weeks and the
famous meat boycott was over.
The Grocer's BIZ.
No other part Of the expense account
of the average town dwelling Amer1-
can family has increased more rapidly
than the grocery bill There are more
than 19,O00.00 families in the United
States Perhaps half Of these patrOnize
the groceryman for the great bulk OF
the things which enter into their daily
diet Assuming that the monthly groc-
cry bill for these families averages SIS
each, or a little more than 20 cents per
day per person, their total annual &C
count with the -grocerynan amounts
designations of the bureau Of labor
show that the wholesale price OF the
commodities going into the family mar
ket basket has increased by nearly
One-fourth in a decade. In other words,
the housewife had TO pay 81 IN 1917
for a basket Of groceries which would
nave cost her a cents in 1900.
Is No EMPTY Phrase.
From these figures it is evident that I
he higher cost OF living IS no empty
phrase to the woman who goes to mar
Set. 1t represents an expansion OF her
account with the grocer Of more than
hree-fourths of billion dollars year
This amount would be sufficient to run
he entire federal government, with the
exception Of the pOstOffice department,
or a full u months.
While the prices of some articles
landed by the grocer are no higher {
oday than they were a decade ago, the
etaiI prices as a rule have increased
rom one-fOurth to One-half over prices
Il similar articles in 1900 The grocer
insists that this increase does not rep z
esent any greater net profit than he
nJoyed before prices reached their y
resent level Rather, he contends, Z
Wholesale prices in many cases have !
one up to such degree that 1t would h
e prohibitiTe to put up his retail prices
q proportion.
No nation wide investigation Of this /
uestiOn has been made since 1897. IN
hat year the bureau of labor under
ook comparison Of wholesale ana
ata1l prices. In 1910 there was an IN
estigation confined TO a few cOmmodt-
les. 1t was found that the price or
aeon at wholesale advanced nearly
ne-half more rapidly than the retail
rice as compared with 1900. Likewise
ne grocer had to be content with
mailer profit on flour. On the other :
and, his price TO the consumer on but
II, graduated sugar, rice and 1resh
5gs increased more rapidly than the 4
price to him. For instance, y
le wholesalers price Of fresh eggs to y
I'M increased by 60 percent while his =
rice to the consumer increased lSo !.
srcent.
Package Goods Higher. G,
While the sanitarian is recommend t-'
g to the consumer that he buy his
pods in original packages to prevent Ll
between the point OF pro =
lotion and consumer Ga recommends 81
on which is being observed to an un- a
iual degree by the American house
ife,) the economist declares that the rs
lying Of goods in packages makes Tor ~
very mitch higher grocery bill Win "
lckage goods he never thinks OF hS
anging IL from a 10 cent TO IL %
mt package He simply cuts down M
e size of the package so that he gets u
s p cents for a given quantity OF NJ
tmeal where he got 10 cents before Sp
wv people ever realize that the price 20
the oatmeal has gone up. The same Tn
true Of the soapma ker. He still sells
s cake Of soap at cents retail. but
simply cuts down the quantity OF Of