The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-08-22
Increase In Food Prices Have Hit Them Hard. Interesting Comments Made Yesterday.
DECLARE THEY MUST
 INCREASE BOARD OR FACE BANKRUPTCY
Sympathize With Men But No Other Resource Is Left-Cost of Living High Enough Before Outbreak of War But Now Conditions Are Even Worse.

Ladies who are proprietors of board- ing establishments in Birming ham or "homcs wherein board might he ob- fained,' are distressed in that condi- lions. natural or artificial. have to such n great extent increased the cost of Iiv- ing.
 Almost without exception, the ladies in- terviewed yesterday by Age-Herald re- porters declared that unless they in creased the price of their service they would have to go out of business. Some of them referred significantly to bank ruptcy.
 Meat flour, sugar, coffee, tea-practi- cally everything demanded by boarders, plain or fastidious-cost more now than some weeks ago. Before the beginning of the war the cost of living was high enough, one lady almost pathetically re marked yesterday. Since the cost was increased with the outbreak of hostilities, she expressed wonder as to what recourse may now be had.
 It is evident that unless changes In conditions occur, boardcrs will he com pelled to pay n higher rate October | than at the present time. Some of the expressions heard yesterday follow:
 Mrs. ], H. Ray who lives on Eleventh avenue, south.
 ''I regret keeniy that I must in-
 crease the charges to my people, but
 one simply cannot feed them on the prices now charged. l have been told 1 by several ladies who accommodate boarders that they intend to make in- creases October l. have about de- cided that E 50 will cover the excess expense at my house so l intend to make this increase effective October l. Tt is very hard you men, as 1 l know your salaries are not going up by reason of the war. yet every house- hold necessity seems to be going high | CT and higher every day. Such condi- l tions will do nothing else but cause 1 us to ask more money for our ser vices. l notice that in addition to sugar and flour. meats have all ad- l vanced. as we'll as coffee, rice lard and | the like.
 l sIn normal times the cost of living 1 we always believed was great enough 1 for the most exacting in this city, but l this latest increase exceeds all that l l have ever experienced. 1 cannot see l any immediate relief
 l Steady Price Increase 1 Mrs. R L. Parrish 2101 Sixth avenue Prices ofl foodstuffs certainly have ad- vanced In the past two weeks. and unless some relief is forthcoming pretty soon We l will be compelled to increase our prices 1 for board. We have not done so vet 1.-Two or three weeks ago ! received 25 pounds of sugar for Sl.I5; now I anu getting 10 pounds for ST. Other things are nearly bad. Flour has gone from 90 cents to xf n sack. Meats have in- creased in price from ? to $ or c cents. For steak I formerly paid IS cents, I am now paying 20 cents. We have barely made living in the past and with the present prices prevail i ing will simply have to increase the l prices of board. l know that is going to work a hardship on the boarder,s but We | have to make a living as well as any one else. I have made no increase yet l in the hopes it would not have to be done, but I fear now that it will have to come soon.'
 Mrs. Arnott Talks Mrs l.. $. Arnott, 2131 Sixth avenue:
 Flour has advanced from s6. flo cents per 1 barrel to s6.75. Two or three weeks ago | paid A. 90 per 100 pounds for sugar and week ago had to pay S550. Now am nearly out again and I understand that It IS selling at s10 per hundred It is terrible I believe it is due to specula. tion.
 Meat has advanced nlso. IL has fn- | creased anywhere from 2 to ] cents n pound. We will either hnvc to increase the price of board or secure a decrease m rents. The average prices in Bir- ming ham now for hoard and room, | thing. is $25. Boarding alone Is SIS and to x2O. It will go much higher in the next few weeks if some relief i'm the increase of food prices Is not forth coming."
 ''Still Higher" Is Said The Misses l.. and M. Hubbard, who operate one of the largest boarding cs- tablishments in the city at Fourth ave- nue and Twentieth street. made the fol- lowing comment yesterday on the rapid ] increase in prices of foodstuffs: We are aghast at the rapidity with which prices have been raised on all classes of food, and doubtless the price of board will have to be increased in | sympathy with the price movement on | foodstuff. As yet, however. We have an nounced no increases and if the cost of food will not go higher than at the pres ent time we are not going to raise the price of board.
 are informed that the prices will cer- talnly go higher within q few days owing to the European war. Whether there is really shortage of food owing tO the European war or the prices are being raised arbitrarily by powerful combines is of course unknown to us, but it appears that as this country produces more than eat-in fsct, we feed the world--thnt a crisis (CQntinued on Page Twelve)