The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1919-06-13
Drop of From 8 to 5 Cents on
Topeka Market.
BrOilers Have Descended at
Rate of 12 Cents a Pound.
TEXAS STEERS CAUSE DROP
Flow to Market and Exports
Are Maintained.
Belief Now That H. G.. of l., Has
Reached the Crest.

Is the high cost of living showing a
decided tendency to drop slowly
downward? For years, the cost of
commodities of every description has
has even careened skyward with a We
locity that tore huge rents in the pock-
etbooks of the ultimate consumer but
it seems to have been checked now.
and in some cases lowered
The price of beef in Topeka has
! dropped to cents, and the market
on broilers has lowered from 10 to IL
cents on the pound.
Roy l. Testerman, an Armour rep
/ resentative, explains the drop in beef
, as follows:
''The flow of Texas steers toward
the packing centers has caused the
price of the better kinds of beef to
lower. Texas carcasses are selling for
) to II cents. and this has had an
effect on the retail price of good beef. y
Mr.. Testerman declared that Eng
land and France are still importing
great quantities of American meat
and are willing to pay rs and 81 cents
! for it in New York harbor. AS long
as Europe needs American beef, and
is willing to pay high price for it. the
price will not drop noticeably here.
The Armour man offered an eX-
: PLANTATION of the difference in the
price the retailer pays for side OF
beef. and the selling price to the con-
SuIileI III DuN ING SiOU VI OCcL a
: % cents a pound, the butcher includes
soup bones, fore quarter and other
weighty portions of the COW. He mus
consequently retail his porterhouse
sirloin, and club steaks at a higher
price in order to derive any profit
, whatever.
Don't Like Cheap Meats.
The butchers say that the housewife
in Topeka does not care for th'
/ cheaper parts of the COW which, the.
claim, is lhore nutritious and more
tasteful if well handled than the bet
ter steaks. Several large packing con
Germs, among them Swift & Com
pany, have begun a campaign of edu
cation in favor of the cheaper kind
of beef
/ Topeka grocers report a small droI
| in the cost of home grown vegetables
Peas, which formerly sold for o cent
and II u cents a. pound, now sell thre'
4 dropped from 121z cents to 10 cent
a pound Turnips, beets and simila
vegetables, formerly selling tw'
punches for 5 cents, now are retailet
at cents per bunch. Cherries ar
abundant and lower than last year
The price of strawberries has no
dropped. Retailers are buying then
for 81 to SIS a crate.
=! Statistics Arc Encouraging.
The bureau of labor statistics ha
compiled table of the. cost of living
which reached its highest level in De
cember, 1918, being 81 per cent high
er at that time than in 1918. 1t is i'm
possible to say whether the marke
falling off in the average prices sine
March is a temporary decline, o
whether it represents a definite chec
in the upward movement OF foo
prices.
Between the time the armistice wa
signed. and March of this year tn
changes which occurred in the aver
age cost of living were, as far as ca
be estimated, as follows:
Food 4.4 decreas
Shelter ................. II decreas
Clothing Observation-Disclosures 6.2 decreas
Fuel heat, light ............. 3 decreas
Sundries ..................... No change
The above decrease is a very sma
part of the previous rise.