New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-01-28

II e. burden of the plant is that
N workngman and his wife with
MA three children, trying to live on
k&&fEs 500 a month, can't eat-not if
they also want to live in
house and wear clothes. Listen to it;
I've have more than twenty-five thousand
vorkmcn i'm our several factories. we, OF
course. are the great majority. Kindly advise
how 10 raise three children, pay rent, buy
clothes, pay doctor bills, etc, and eat your
menus, fifty cents per person, or $3.50 week,
when Sl00 d month is big pay. Out Of a
weekly pay envelope of $22 this leaves only
$3.50 for everything else Kindly publish
menus adapted to US, the great majority,
working people, living OH 500 month or
theresboutS; we who are the parents OF the
next generation. - L. A.
We tried to file this letter and forget it, but
it would stick its head out of the file every
time we walked by. How could it be done, sure
enough?
We looked in the books; they all agreed that
normally about twenty-five per cent of the IN
come for standard family of five should 60
for food. But the higher the food and the
smaller the income, the larger the relative
amount that must go into the mouth. In these
days, out Of 500 a month or less $50 must go
for food.
And even this means rather monotonous
and not at all fancy diet, and an amount OF
planning and discretion and ability to cook
that comparatively few women who do their
own cooking and rear their children have
either time or strength to acquire or practise.
II you are at all bored, just try to plan
tempting filling" menus for working man
and three growing children on one dollar a
day, while performing all the other duties Of
housewife!
NO WONDER THEY FATTENED
When the recent Chicago diet SQUAD trium-
phsntly got fat on forty cents day head,
they we're spending about double the amount al
lowed our working mans family. That was
no stunt at all compared with real life.
And then they had a past and a future
they weren't remembering and looking forward
to a long vista Of plain wholesome food it
takes a real philosopher and an illumlned sci
enlist to be willing to eat to live--not TO eat
for pleasure While teaching this noble senti-
ment to the poor it is well TO teach them also
how to make the plain foods palatable. SO
long as we have organs of taste and smell the
"savcry" element cannot be overlooked.
Incidentally, our Chicago friends did not
get their moneys worth. Fifty cents day
means ample living, though not luxury.
Time was when We spoke fluenty Of replac-
ing meats with fish and cheese, using beans
and lentils as a source of body building pro
TEN; and when bread and butter, milk and
fruit formed a frugal satisfying and economic
diet for the growing children.
What has happened? While they are cheaper
than meats and eggs, these foods are now so
high as to tax the small income of the working
man.
Uncle Sam took great pains to educate the
public 20 cat the cheap, plentiful and delicious
tllefsh which hayward Gulf Stream brought
again suddenly 20 our midst. He wrote
whole bulletin saying: General Public, meet
the Tilefish, and enjoy him at small cost"
lie wrought not wisely but too well. The
newcomer became SO popular that its market
value went up from eight TO eighteen cents a
pound. Result--prompt exit Of the tilefish as
a cheap substitute for other meat.
TWO DOLLAR A DAY" MENUS
The menus suggested show what working
mans family of FIVE can afford TO cat on 4
budget Of dollar day. In some localities
where milk is, for example, seven cents a
quart a slightly more varied diet may be pro-
vided ON this sum:
Breakfast
MIX, oatmeal and raisins and toast for the