The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-12-28
copyrighted, 1913 by Frank G. Car
penter)


"HIs is a kick against the high cost
of living. l do not mean at home
! where one can figure upon the food
IN the markets and object if the butcher
puts his elbow on the scales when he
weighs out your steak. 1t relates to the
high cost of living to the travelling pub
lie have been going up and down this
country and others for the past 30 years,
and within the past 10 or 20 the cost Of
all things has been steadily rising.
can remember when a commercial sales
nan who had an allowance of IS a day
&c pay his expenses was looked upon as
8 ling. and when If the distances were
short, 50 or 81 suniced. Now a high
class drummer does well if he spends less
than SO a day, and if he makes long
jumps between towns the price runs as
high as s15 and upward, During the past
two weeks l have been moving rapidly
from city to city. I started at New
York and went as far north as St Paul
From ST. Paul jumped to st. Louis and
thence to New Orleans, and from there
10 Atlanta, Cincinnati and Washington.
when needed. The cost of the journey
was more than s15 a day. or almost twice
what It would have been 25 years ago.
1t used to be that the most of our
hotels were on the American plan. You
raid a fixed sum for room and board,
and there were no extras to speak of.
outside the large cities 81 was the ordi
nary day rate, and one could get good
accommodations in the larger places for
low as 49, At that time about the
lest hotel in the United States was the
Fifth Avenue in New York. It's charges
were S. day, and for that one lived
like lord
To-Day the American hotels have about
disappeared Nearly evary large house
is on the European plan You pay
fixed price for your room and a price for
each dish that is served 10 you in the
dining room or the restaurant. The room
rates are now equal to the price you for
mery paid for both room and board, and
often much higher.
Take the high class hotels of New
York. There are but few where one can
get room for less than s. or So, and this
often means a room facing court and
so small that inside it you could not
swing the typical cat by the tail. \ room
with bath costs more and if one wants
really comfortable quarters he must pay
81 or IS and upward In Chicago at some
OF the bigger hotels one can get an in
side room with bath for $50 or 49, and
this is in Minneapolis, ST. Paul and
New Orleans. | stopped at a hotel in
Chicago which has 1200 guest rooms. and
whose lowest room rate is 81. Suites
Iange from $50 to $50 a day That hote,
is fairly well taken, and its average
occupancy the year through must be 800
rooms. These, at an average rental of
81 must bring in s32C1 4 day, or more
than 100000 a year from room rent alone.
] am told that there are several hotels in
New York which are clearing more than
Sl,0o0,000 a year, and that the big city
hotels everywhere are piling up money.
And, indeed. it is hard to see how they
can help it when one thinks of the past
There is first the increased rate on the
looms, and also the extraordinary charges
which one now pays for meals. In the
good old times one could get a dinner
almost anywhere for from 30 cents to ST.
As I remember it, the Fifth Avenue hotel
charged $1.50, and the Palmer and Grand
Pacific of Chicago each charged 81. Now
almost any meat dish on the menu costs
from so cents upward, and a tenderloin
steak runs from 10 cents to ST.
During my two-week journey I have
saved some of the hotel restaurant bills
and dozen of them now lie before me.
The charges are about the same every
where. will give you some Of the items.
Let us start with the oysters. A half
dozen raw cost 80 cents, which equals
about So a quart $50 a gallon. Little
neck CLAIMS cost the same. Do you want
relish? You can have a slice of smoked
salmon bit of herring for 40 cents,
or dozen olives will cost you a quar-
ter. Soups are filing, but not satisfying
cup of consomme costs 25 cents. Scotch
broth with barley costs 80 cents, and
green turtle Is higher
AS to the fish, that is one of the cheap
things on the menu. A piece of broied
bass costs so cents, broiled bluefsh the
same, and portion of live lobster broiled
is S.25. Eentrees are dear. l can buy
guinea hen almost anywhere in Vir-
ginia for 80 cents, but piece OF the fowl
cut from the breast costs s1.25. and a
half of a spring chicken just the same.
When you come to order special dishes
the prices go up. For spring duckling
the charge is 81, roast chicken 81, and
desire a portion of charlotte russo, as
big as you can buy almost anywhere in
confectionery store for a nickel, the