Evening star., 1918-08-23
.ST.PAUL LPAYSLESS
FOR FOOD THAN D. c.
Potatoes 100 Per Cent High
er Here Than in Minne-
sofa City.
COMPARE OTHER ARTICLES

Food articles cost the average
in Washington considerably
more than il she bought the same
articles in st. Paul, Mimi, accord
ing to figures collected by experts in
the two cities for the bureau OF mar
kets of the Department of Agricul-
ture and made public today.
In making a comparison Of the
prices prevailing in the two cities.
on the same date, prices were OBJ
tanned on thirty-seven different food
articles. and all but four Of these
commodities were selling at higher
prices in Washington than in the
Minnesota city. The four articles
mentioned were OF lesser Importance
to the average family. They were
rice, canned salmon and canned milk
and corn flakes.
Potatoes 100 Per Cent Higher.
The outstanding feature OF these
comparative prices was the fact that
washington's potato price was JOG
per cent greater than St. Paufs and
Washington was 90 per cent higher
on string beans, and 25 per cent
higher on bread.
In arriving ut an average OF 1ooo
prices in the two cities, Washington is
credited by the bureau with being lsf
per cent in excess of st. Paufs food
prices, This average is obtained by
means of the .weighting plan SO as
to give special consideration TO those
foods for which the greatest percentage
of the family funds are spent, The
bureau believes this method to be the
fairest and most accurate means OF
comparing general price levels in diff
ferent localities.
Range Of Meat Prices.
=. In a statement. given out by the
bureau, with a table of figures show
ing the comparisons, il is shown that
Washington is rs per cent higher on
sirloin steaks. IL Il higher on round
steaks. SO per cent higher on rib roast,
1914 higher on chuck and rs per cent
higher on plate stew.
AS was the case in all but one other
city whose prices have been compared
with Washington's. butter. eggs and
cheese are considerably higher here
than in St. Paul For instance, print
here than in st. Paul. eggs Az per
cent And cheese 10 per cent
Bureaus Comment
In its report on these two cities the
bureau of markets says:
I'm the fresh meat group Washing
ton is from IL to 40 per cent higher on
all of the items with the exception of
lamb chops. on which the same price
prevails. This is another very i'm
portant food group and carries con-
siderable weight because of the large
quantity consumed.
In the cured meat group Washing
ton is slightly higher on sliced bacon
and ham. with the same price prevail
s-fv
the piece.
In the flour and corn meal group
Washington is 81 per cent higher on
both barley -four and yellow corn
meal.
"In the canned vegetable group
Washington is from IL TO 13 per cent
higher on all articles.
.sWashington is considerably higher
on fresh vegetables. being 81 per cent
higher on string beans, the only ar
ticle listed in this group.
Importance Considered.
sIn the above comparisons the ar
ticles have been considered more or
less as If they were of equal impor-
tance to the consumer. Certain
groups have been mentioned as being
of more Importance than others, but
no adjustment has been made on that
basis. The average family spends
much more money for certain items
than for others. For example. sup
pose Boston was 10 per cent higher
than Denver on meats. but. on the
other hand. Denver was 20 per cent
higher on corn meal. The mere state
ment of these facts leads one to be-
lieye that it would cost more to live
in Denver. but upon giving the proper
relative weight to meats ana corn.
meal it would be seen that on the
basis of these TWO prices alone it
would cost one 9 per cent more to live
in Boston than in Denver"
Prices of fresh beef are higher in
Washington than in any sections of
the country except New England.
where the costly best heavy western
bred cattle is generally used. Lighter
locally killed beef is marketed In the
Pacific coast cities and some Of the
cities of the middle west In the New
England cities the meat is generally
trimmed before weighed, which. Of
course. makes the price per pound
hi0her