The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1916-02-26
RETAILERSI IN QUANDARY
LOCAL MERCHANTS THIS WEEK
ADVISED on MOST RADICAL
PRICE INCREASES.
"HIGH COST OF DYEING"
COST OF SOME RAW MATERIALS
NEARLY 80 PER CENT
STILL GOING UP.

High cost of living" has ceased to-
be a term OF POPULARITY in Madison.
even among those TO whom the actual
cost Of self maintenance is ordinarily
a secondary consideration. You
guessed it right It's the war.
Probably not since the first mod
ern general store, exclusive dry goods
store, mems furnishing store or mer-
chant tailor shop was established in
the United States has wearing apparel
cost SO much as is now demanded for
it. Although far from being ais cheap
a year ago as during some former
years, materials used i'm clothing. in-
Guiding underwear, hats and shoes
lave advanced in price from 10 to Us.
per emit to nearly so per cent. and
indictions are that there viii be Il still
greater increase before the summer
is we'll advanced.
Thousand Per Cent Increase.
The Unprecedented prices of all
things |wearable lis the direct result
of a heretofore untold of jump i'm the
price Of standard dyes. which cannot.
now be brought from Germany. the.
only country i'm which they are manu-
featured. Since the outbreak of the
war, the cost of fast dyes has risen
from SO cents 10 $12 a pound, and
some manufacturers now are unable
to obtain German dyes at any price
Some idea OF the situation con-
fronting the retailer and the con
sumner may be had from advices re-
ceived this week by practically every
dealer i'm cloth or clothing i'm Mad
ison. Pamphlets, personal letters
and travelling statesmen are constantly
arriving to inform merchants of lhe
steady upward trend of prices. The
dealer who orders today from his
latest price list. does so with the as
surance that the commodity he
wishes to buy will probably cost him
more by the time his order reaches
the Wholesale house. Many of the
larger and most reliable m%anufac-
turers and jobbers This week notified
their Madison customers that they
cannot guarantee 10 refill orders even
at a 10 per cent rise over the pres
ent eXhorbitant figures quoted.
No Relief in Sight.
Dealers today cited many specific
instances. One firm recently gave a
travelling salesman am order Tor
sweaters. When the sweaters had
arrived last week, they were worth SIS
a dozen more, Wholesale, than when
the order was placed. a merchant
who last year paid SIS a suit for
mems clothes is now giving about
$3.50 for the same line of goods.
IN illustration of the rapidly with
which even the cheaper grades OF col
ored cloth is rising i'm price was given
by an Egan venue merchant. lie
told that a dry goods dealer in am
other town, of whom he knew. went
TO Chicago IA few weeks ago 10 make
a purchase of print" cloth for sey-
eral retail stores. It was about the
cheapest grade OF cloth made, and a
year ago had sold at wholesale for
ia cents a yard. When told by the
jobber with whom he usually dealt
that the price had advanced TO s z
cents a yard, he went 10 get quota
tions from other concerns. ON the
following day the price had jumped
to sac cents Il yard, and when he fl
nally made up his mind to buy, he
was compelled to pay Z cents a yard.
Gloves and Shoes Affected.
Local shoe dealers have been adj
yised that they may expect TO pay
about 20 per cent more for shoes
than formerly. The price OF gloves
and mittens is soaring steadily. "A
hat salesman told his Madison Gus
toner this week that to purchase the
raw materials used in hats, it had
been necessary for his firm TO bu.
all the yardage that could be spared
by six manufacturers, whereas in the
past a single manufacturer had al
ways been glad to supply the hat fac
tory with all the material it required.
And even at the greatly increased
prices, dyed fabrics cannot be gener-
ally guaranteed, as formerly. Amer
lean dyes, which have gone up in
price, i'm sympathy with German dyes.
cannot be depended upon, is the eau
ton sent out by makers and whole
salers.