Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1919-03-28
GREAT ADVANCE
IN LIVING COST
IN FIVE YEARS
Everything From Cradle to
the Grave Has Jumped to
Highest Record Price

The steady increase in the prices
of food during the last three or four
years has been the source of more
Investigations, discussions, com
| ments, attempted regulations and
general STRINGS up than could be
put into the average public library;
yet in all the cognitations little or
nothing has been said or written
upon the increase, just as steady,
and often proportionately much
greater, in the prices of all other
things which are necessary to life.
From the cradl eto the grave, from
the tenement to the mansion, prac-
tically everything necessary to the
existence of man, to say nothing of
his amusement and ease, has jumped
in price at a rate calculated to make
the most comfortable income stag
ger.
One of the first essentials to mans
life undoubtedly is clothing. And
who can name any garment, or any
material. which has not joined the
upward procession of the high cost
of living? Wool, silk, cotton, linen
and all the mixtures of these ma
terials; laces, embroideries and all
trimmings-but the list is too long
to complete. Every woman who
sews will confirm the statement
that, with all estimates of the worth
of her labor, time and skill elim1-
mated, the bare cost of dress mate
rial has so increased that nearly all
the economy has been taken out of
home sewing.
Leather, for Instance
And leather-the mere mention of
the cost of leather, which is to say,
shoes, is sufficient to stir up rum
blings of fury and despair in any
group of civilized persons. Time
was-and that not so very far back,
either-when 81 invested in pair
of shoes insured the possession Of
serviceable, lasting, comfortable
footwear of good material, and Sc
purchased pedal luxury in the ex-
IRENE.
And, at that time also, childrens
shoes were even lower in price. From
a dollar and half to three dollars,
shoes of the best quality and work
manship were obtainable for young
sters from the nursery to the high
school. Any fond parent who has
ment the pink toes of his young
hopefu1s will display no hesitation in
admitting that the cost is completely
on a level with that of his own
shoes. And in spite of all regula-
ton of the leather industry, and the
abolition of the use of leather where
it is not needed, prices of footwear
continue to rise with a persistency
that refuses to be downed by any
authority. Last spring it may be
remembered, we were told brightly
that these high shoe prices
wouldn't last long, we'd soon have
the old prices back" Possibly we
will; but those of us who live to
walk this earth long enough may be-
n flor q 1iff1a
of it, to walk it without shoes.
Hats and Gloves
Hats, gloves, scarfs and other &C
cessories have by no means been
left out in the general uphill scram-
BILE; they keep well abreast Of the
tide.
But clothing is not the only requi-
site for sustaining life, although it
is an important one. There are ali
the things Whic hare used in daily
life which, if they are not neces-
sary directly to life, are just as nee
essary through their relation to 9TH
or things in the complexities of our
civilization.
From the piano stool to the tele-
phone, from goIoshes to ported
palms, the ever busy little friend,
the II. C. L., has his minions at
work.
And the H. c. L. is no respecter of
persons, Of tradition, grief, sent1-
ment or romance. He presents his
forces just as crushing1y to the fam
lily suddenly bereaved as he does to
the bride. The cost of wedding
gowns and winding sheets, of call
ing cards and collins, walk ahead
together upon terms of the utmost
amicabi1ity. The cost of living holds
no superiority over the cost of dy-
ing, while the expense of entering
this vale of tears has not been slow
to make a record for itself,